Speeches by Darlington.

“I welcome the Minister’s clarity on tackling the threats that China poses, including the transnational repression of Hongkongers in the UK. That will be a real reassurance to the many British nationals overseas who live in Milton Keynes. I would like him to go into further detail, particularly in the context of the Int…”

“As the Minister may know, Milton Keynes used to be called “tent city”. We reduced the number of rough sleepers down to 16 when I was deputy leader at the council. We were able to do that because we understood that rough sleeping was more than just a housing issue; it was a whole-person issue. Is she willing to meet me …”

“20. What recent progress the inter-ministerial group on homelessness and rough sleeping has made on the development of a cross-Government strategy to end homelessness.”

“I agree. I have spoken a lot to you both about my worries about where we were going on life sciences and how we needed to up our game in this. It is clear that, as we and the industry recognise, the ideas and the reality are there. Do you think the two of you together can make that case to Treasury to make sure the inv…”

“My final question—just because you have raised it as an issue—is around the tariff discussions. President Trump is landing tonight. Are the two of you going to be involved in any discussions with US officials around the tariff arrangements over the next few days during the visit?”

“Can we maybe hear something from the outcome of this visit that may improve the landscape in terms of tariffs?”

“I have a quick question. Who do we lose that to? What country is going to pick it up, given the US problems? You are saying we have problems here.”

“First, welcome to your new role, Dr Zubir Ahmed. I am very happy to see that we have a life sciences Minister at the Department of Health and Social Care in that role. We have heard from industry that there has been a credibility gap between what we say—our life sciences strategy—what the Prime Minister said at the con…”

“This is specifically in your role. A big issue that we have is innovation take-up. I did a project with Nesta looking at prescriptions and how long it takes GPs to start actually prescribing new drugs. That challenge is obviously amplified with GPs, because they are contractors into the NHS, but we could talk about NHS…”

“Right. I wanted to come to you, Tom Keith-Roach. We have met and had chats before. I was surprised to see that you are pausing the £200 million development in Cambridge. I know in the past we have talked about cost in the Cambridge area. Is this a Cambridge issue or is this a UK issue? When you say pause, does that mea…”

“Let me ask my follow-up question to that, because I really appreciate the honesty of that response. You will find a lot of agreement around this table; it is something we have talked about quite a lot here. What you are talking about, in terms of setting an environment of innovation and absorption into our own health s…”

“Can I just ask the obvious follow-up question? If it is really constructive, and it has been difficult over the last decade or two decades, what is happening in terms of the conversations that is going to make it any different or better now? It is very difficult, it has been like that for 20 years, but there are very c…”

“We heard from industry that there was a credibility problem. I was welcoming you to your new role and wanted to understand how you saw your new role fixing between what we say in our life sciences strategy and what we are able to deliver in terms of everything from clinical trials through to potential negotiations on p…”

“Before I go on to something else, I just have a quick follow-up question for you, Ben. MSD Animal Health is in Milton Keynes, in my constituency. Are there any jobs at risk there?”

“No, I am not.”

“Yes, I have met the team on several occasions and, in fact, hosted them and helped to facilitate meetings with Ministers for that team. I thought that was in anticipation of not closing that site. That is clearly what the local team were hoping for. I did not realise that the decision was final.”

“Milton Keynes has more than 15,000 specialist school places, but there has been a 114% increase in children with EHCPs. Even with the level of specialist provision that the council has been able to provide, it still cannot meet the demand. How should we square that circle?”

“Mike, I asked you a blunt question, and you have given me a great analysis about why I asked you the question, which is fantastic. What is the answer? Why should the UK public care about Government funding and research into HIV/AIDS?”

“I will start with a question to Professor Dame Jenny Harries in the same kind of vein. Could you tell the Committee what the key biosecurity-related questions are for the UK and the world, and how that links to some of the global challenges that we see, so that we have a better understanding of the depth and the breadt…”

“Mike, I am going to make it easier for you. What is the impact of growing HIV and AIDS numbers across the world on the UK population?”