Speeches by Snell.

“9. What steps the Commission is taking to increase the proportion of House of Commons purchasing from British manufacturers.”

“The Minister has said that the tax change will disincentive the most harmful form of gambling, but can she cite any evidence that will demonstrate that? I have no problem with taxing a profitable industry to pay for the wonderful policies that we announced for the sector, but the report from the Office for Budget Respo…”

“There is a danger here of getting into the inevitable jokes about champagne socialism, but I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. He is right: there needs to be fair play. If we even out the taxation across the sector, that means that we can have targeted support in other areas where we know that there should be an u…”

“Absolutely, we do need to do that. I am an old-fashioned state regulator; I like the idea that the state can regulate things. I like the idea of tax and spend as well, which is what we are doing in the Budget. It is a good thing—[Interruption.] I was so close—I raised the hopes of the hon. Member for North West Norfolk…”

“I entirely understand the point about trying to ensure we are cognisant of issues of propriety; I am just conscious that you started a number of your answers by saying that you are governed by the rules of the standing orders. The standing orders on these matters are very clear: they are about recommendations to this C…”

“Can I tease that out a little further? To take one example, in your Times Radio interview you gave some pretty forthright opinions on what the hospitality rules should be and what you would be saying if you were a Member of Parliament. That is obviously a subject that this Committee has been corresponding with you on, …”

“It is a similar sort of thing, commissioner. Looking at Standing Order No. 150(2), paragraphs (b), (c) and (d), advice notes are a tool of your creation to assist Members to better understand the code of conduct. Again, I am just conscious that you construct and publish these documents to the House. I am curious about …”

“In terms of the threshold at which you operate to determine that an advice note is necessary, how many consistent or similar requests would you have in front of you before you think, “Actually, this is something that probably requires an advice note, as opposed to individual and confidential advice to individual Member…”

“I understand that, but in answer to my earlier question you said that the authority under which you issue advice notes is Standing Order No. 150 (2) (c), which gives you the right to advise the Committee, the Sub-Committee or individual Members, and that you publish them to all Members—all 650 of us—as individuals. You…”

“It is a pleasure to follow my county colleagues, the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) and my hon. Friend the Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier). Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire as a county are rich in the heritage of brewing. Burton is a prime example of that, but in Stoke-…”

“He just read my notes!”

“I am!”

“That is nonsense, frankly. Some 7,500 people work for that company in my constituency. If they were all my constituents, that would mean one in 10 people in my constituency were getting paid a salary that is greater than the average for the region. Whether we like gambling or not, that company and the people it employs…”

“As has already been pointed out by a number of colleagues, my constituency is home to bet365. My hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) said something about there being no meaningful employment in gambling, but I would say to him that there are thousands of people in my constituency and in that of my hon…”

“I entirely understand and appreciate the importance of the operational independence of the role of the Commissioner, and having the flexibility and leeway to investigate fairly and freely. I am just conscious that it is a perverse situation that you, Commissioner, are the regulator of some members of this Committee, an…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I thank the Minister for that answer. Stoke-on-Trent has benefited from money from the brownfield regeneration fund. However, there are many brownfield sites across the city that could be used for local planning development, but the owners are simply not engaging with the process. Given that we are not in a mayoral com…”

“16. What steps his Department is taking to help support house building in Stoke-on-Trent.”

“No, that was not what I was going to ask, but I am glad that the hon. Gentleman got to the “It was all covid’s fault” argument so early in the debate. I was going to ask whether he has an in-principle objection to freezing the rate, or whether he objects to it because he thinks it is somehow a breach of the Labour part…”

“When the Minister rolls out digital ID, will he give serious thought to engaging organisations like conformity assessment bodies and the public libraries network so that those who need the ID can get help at the point of application?”