Speeches by Downie.

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South (Sarah Hall) on securing this important debate. I had not intended to intervene, but my hon. Friend raised issues similar to those in my constituency in respect of young boys diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, who are having difficulty accessing the…”

“I thank my hon. and gallant Friend, and indeed all members of the Defence Committee, for an invaluable report. During his contribution, he mentioned one example of a soldier moving cross-border and that causing problems with NHS appointments. Does the Committee recognise that soldiers and veterans can be disadvantaged …”

“Dunfermline is Scotland’s newest city and as such a large number of homes are being built all the time. However, too often those large-scale housing developments are done without reference to local services, such as GPs, and without proper consultation with local people, partly due to failures in the Scottish SNP Gover…”

“May I thank the Chancellor for her statement and welcome the increase in defence spending, which represents a huge opportunity for Scottish workers? I was delighted to have her visit Rosyth in my constituency recently. Will she work to ensure a continuous shipbuilding programme in this country to maximise the opportuni…”

“Yes. The last week in April would be very suitable.”

“Several MPs got in touch after the application had been submitted. Although we were willing to add their names, we were pushing at a deadline to make sure they were submitted, but we did get significant additional names in place.”

“Thank you, Chair, for allowing me to present this application. April is Parkinson’s Awareness month. Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition worldwide, one for which there is no cure or treatment to slow or stop progress of the disease. All that can be done is management of the symptoms. Part of the r…”

“T4. The Prime Minister’s welcome announcement over the past couple of weeks of an increase in defence spending creates both an opportunity and a challenge for the Department, as well as for the whole skills system in this country. Will the Secretary of State please outline how she will work with the Ministry of Defence…”

“T4. As parliamentary chair of the Coalition on Secure Technology, I have raised several times in this House concerns over the prevalence of Chinese manufactured internet of things cellular modules. Will the procurement review unit carry out a risk assessment of the true risks posed by Chinese supplies of cellular modul…”

“As we know, one of the best ways to grow employment in Scotland is through apprenticeships. A few weeks ago, this UK Labour Government announced changes to apprenticeships in England that will allow businesses to work more closely with colleges and other skills providers to ensure there is a job at the end of apprentic…”

“I thank the Prime Minister for his statement, and for his stamina in all the meetings over the weekend and, not least, in coming to the House for an extra hour and a half—and counting—this afternoon to keep us informed. Like other Members from across the House, I took part in the trip to Ukraine for the third anniversa…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that when this conflict ends, we must examine closely the potential use of chemical weapons by Vladimir Putin during this conflict, as he has previously used them in Syria and other conflicts? Some of us who were on the trip that has been discussed saw that at first hand in hospitals.”

“A pile of dark brown mud next to a hole in the ground; a hole framed by planks of wood covered tightly in smooth, matt-black sheeting; four rough wooden handles jammed in as the mud hardens around them, with invisible silver shovels buried beneath—a pile of mud and four shovels in the sharp, harsh, dry cold of Lviv: th…”

“I could not agree more. I grew up in Berlin during the cold war and could hear Russian artillery and helicopters practising on a live firing range, so that has always been present since I was very young. We must not misunderstand the gravity of this moment. Geopolitical stability and security will be the defining issue…”

“I will just pick up on the point you made there about Short money, Iqbal. If it makes you feel any better, none of us understand what it is either. Certainly, I did not before I was elected. It is available to all opposition parties in the House that secured two seats or one seat and more than 150,000 votes at the prev…”

“Thank you both for joining us today. I am particularly interested in fairness and us all being on an equal level. We have some information that shows that contributions in the Chamber between independent and other MPs are roughly the same. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker have discretion to call whoever they choose, …”

“Thank you both for joining us today. I am particularly interested in fairness and us all being on an equal level. We have some information that shows that contributions in the Chamber between independent and other MPs are roughly the same. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker have discretion to call whoever they choose, …”

“Iqbal, do you have anything to add to that?”

“There is a convention in the House that the third largest party has a responsibility to protect the rights of smaller parties and independents. Were you made aware of that during some of the induction? Slightly related to that, there have been some instances in the past where independents have sat on Select Committees …”

“Did you feel that the benefits in forming the alliance were to improve how you were represented inside the House of Commons? Or did you feel the projection of that was outside that you were working together? I am trying to get a sense of the purpose of forming that alliance and what it was hoped to achieve. Was it insi…”