Speeches by Smith.

“Let us be straight: immigration is a good and necessary thing for our country. Successive waves of immigration over hundreds of years have helped make Britain the country we are, whether we are talking about the Huguenots fleeing French persecution in the 17th century, or the West Indians answering Britain’s call for w…”

“Two months ago my constituent, farmer Ian McKie, was subjected to a burglary in which his workshop was broken into and a quad bike was stolen. According to Mr McKie, such crime is happening more frequently and boldly in North Northumberland. What reassurance can the Minister give me about rural crime and the seriousnes…”

“Good afternoon, panel. In about 2004-05, I was living in Belfast, and there was a bit of a spike in anti-immigration rhetoric, with attacks on some houses, especially in the Holylands area of Belfast. I and a few friends decided to go around leafletting—this was pre-politics—and we put out little cards saying “Welcome”…”

“I have a final question for anybody on the panel. There is a particular dimension to Northern Ireland, which is paramilitarism. I was going to ask this in a roundabout way, but I will just say it as a statement. Paramilitarism is involved in disorder in Northern Ireland, and, it seems to me, was involved in the horrend…”

“In the interests of time I will pass to someone else.”

“You have begun to answer my follow-up question, but I will just give Minister Patrick an opportunity maybe to add to that. Clearly, as you said, there is a limited role for Government. When we think about how we live in socially cohesive communities, it is an all-society issue, but there is a role for Government, and o…”

“I thank the Minister for his comprehensive speech, and especially for touching on the issue of fertiliser. That issue is significant for all hon. Members here, and we will follow up on it. The discussion has, for the most part, been cross party. If the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Mo…”

“If the right hon. Member bears with me, I will get to exactly that point. The second area of concern is the marketplace. The FFCC reports that farming productivity increased by 60% from the ’70s to the 2020s, but that farming incomes have not increased in line with that. The size of and competition between supermarkets…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the financial sustainability of the farming sector. It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. In a shameless effort to garner sympathy, I thank you for allowing me to sit down if I need to; I have a bad back today. Members can feel free to be sympathe…”

“”

“Motion lapsed, and sitting adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 10(14)).”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. He will see this in the road map and in the Government’s approach. There needs to be the right balance between environmental approach, renewables and food production. I agree that the decision about where solar farms go is key. We need to help British farming to develop grea…”

“Young people in Berwick in my constituency have been taught for over a decade in a crumbling high school—the only high school in the town in a wide surrounding area. Following sustained calls from families in Berwick, the Conservative county council promised five years ago to rebuild Berwick academy. A planning applica…”

“13. What progress the school rebuilding programme has made.”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his detailed and nuanced statement. Notwithstanding the risks of using puberty blockers on children, which he has outlined, and the inability to guarantee that they will not be harmed by participation in the trial, how can the trial determine long-term impacts of the use of puberty bloc…”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. He has just made the point that I wanted to make, which is that we surely cannot make an ideological decision that it is always right to put national assets of sovereign capacity back into the private sector when, over generations, private industry has singularly failed to …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger, and an absolute pleasure to stand alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter), who made a fantastic speech. She was exactly the right person to make it: no one in this place is more of a Sir David Attenborough superfa…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger, and an absolute pleasure to stand alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter), who made a fantastic speech. She was exactly the right person to make it: no one in this place is more of a Sir David Attenborough superfa…”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. He has just made the point that I wanted to make, which is that we surely cannot make an ideological decision that it is always right to put national assets of sovereign capacity back into the private sector when, over generations, private industry has singularly failed to …”

“Steven, from an agritech perspective, is it similar in terms of that?”