Speeches by Butler.

“I will have a word, Chair.”

“Does that mean that I should pitch for the main Chamber?”

“Yes. I am happy for it to be in the main Chamber instead, because I think it is an important debate that all MPs are familiar with: their constituents will have had their phones stolen, and a number of MPs have had their phones stolen. There were 78,000 phones stolen in the year up to March 2024, which is a 153% increa…”

“Brilliant.”

“Yes. I put it out via email, but I will happily do that. I think when some Members saw it, they thought that we were advocating bringing back plastic straws; they did not understand the implications of PFAS. That is a good suggestion—thank you.”

“Thank you, Chair. I am sure everybody is familiar with having a paper straw and probably with getting frustrated that it gets soggy before you finish your drink. I investigated this, and I was shocked to find that paper straws included PFAS, which are also known as forever chemicals. They can contaminate your drink and…”

“Cool. Can I also ask about the International Women’s Day debate?”

“I would sing it, but my voice is a little bit croaky today. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Liz Mitchell? Maybe we should have a debate in Government time about music and how it can be a unifier and bring about community cohesion.”

“Brent is known as the reggae capital of Europe. Bob Marley wrote some of his best hits there, and we have Janet Kay and Carroll Thompson, who celebrate their birthdays this week, too. Today, in the Jubilee Room, we will be honouring one of the lead singers of Boney M, Liz Mitchell. As people will know, the band’s hits …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his powerful speech, which shows just how important it is that living memory is passed on and why we should continue to have this debate in Parliament.”

“It is a pleasure to take part in this debate and to listen to the powerful testimony from my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (David Pinto-Duschinsky). Racism and antisemitism is on the rise—that is without a doubt. It is on the rise behind closed doors. It is on the rise on the dark web. It is also hiding in plain si…”

“My constituents in Brent East work extremely hard, and some are able to purchase a smartphone. Yesterday, we heard from the Met that an estimated 64,000 phones were stolen across London in 2023; I think one mobile phone is stolen every four minutes in Westminster. The Met and the Mayor of London are working together to…”

“International Women’s Day falls on 8 March, which is a weekend, so I would imagine that we would have the debate during the week, on the Wednesday or the Thursday—the 6th maybe.”

“Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Committee. In 2016, I was instrumental in ensuring that we had the first International Women’s Day debate on the Floor of the House, and I worked with the then Government to ensure that it happened. Since then, we have had a well-attended debate every year for International Women’s Day.…”

“No problem. I am sure more people will add their name—those 36 came within 24 hours.”

“A big thank you to everyone who has participated in this debate; it has shown Parliament at its best, and it is great to see that there is no real opposition to championing equal pay. It has taken a long time, but we now have a Labour Government and we can deliver it. That is the beauty of having a Labour Government wh…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If our ambition is to make the workplace fairer and secure it for everybody, we should take the opportunities laid before us. That is one opportunity to ensure that we not only close the gap but make workplaces fairer. There was one case that was easy to identify as a trade union off…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered pay gaps in the workplace. Thank you, Sir Roger. I wish everybody a happy new year, too, and it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. There are multiple pay gaps in the workplace. I have had emails about the age pay gap, size pay gap and accent pay gaps—as a certi…”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“If the hon. Member came into a new job and discovered a £22 billion black hole, I think he would look a bit miserable as well.”