Speeches by Stafford.

“I was pleased that you mentioned the Getting It Right First Time programme, which I worked for until becoming a Member of Parliament. Just to push you on that, do you think the sharing of data at a local level, either within or across organisations, is good enough?”

“With the increasing threats we see around the world, the Government are entitled to conduct a strategic defence review, but that should not be an excuse not to commit to increasing defence spending. Given that the Secretary of State refused to provide a timetable at last week’s urgent question, will he now say yes or n…”

“3. What his Department’s planned timetable is for the strategic defence review.”

“My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. When I visited Pierrepont farm in my constituency, which has just been taken over by a new young female farmer, she talked about the stresses and problems that she is facing. They do not just affect young women, however, but families too; Mathias & Son Nurseries in my cons…”

“I think there is unanimity in the House that this is a moral issue. When I raised the issue of deterrence with the Home Secretary at her last statement on 22 July, she seemed to agree that we needed a deterrent. Since then, the Government do not seem to have brought forward any specific deterrence. If not the Rwanda sc…”

“9. What steps she is taking to protect the green belt in Farnham and Bordon constituency.”

“I thank the Minister for that response, but the Government are proposing to double the housing targets in Waverley and East Hampshire. Over 57% of East Hampshire is in the South Downs national park, so it rightly cannot be built on, but if the target is still based on 100% of the East Hampshire district, that causes ma…”

“On Friday afternoon, alongside my right hon. Friends the Members for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) and for Godalming and Ash (Jeremy Hunt), I arranged a meeting with parents, governors and teachers at independent schools. They were unanimous that imposing an education tax partway through an academic year will have disa…”

“Colin and Coryne Hall, residents in the Bordon part of my constituency, are being evicted by the Ministry of Defence from their property, along with a number of other residents in the area. Could we have a statement from the Secretary of State for Defence about the MOD’s treatment of its non-military tenants? This is j…”

“20. What assessment he has made of the potential security implications of the agreement with Mauritius on sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory.”

“My hon. Friend is making a powerful point about taxes on alcohol. Many pubs are shifting away from being wet pubs and are becoming dry pubs. David Lee, who runs the Holly Bush in Frensham, told me that he wants to be able to serve good quality fresh food, but the VAT on it is really hitting his margins. Does my hon. Fr…”

“How can the Minister continue to defend the ceding of the Chagos islands to Mauritius when China is rapidly expanding its influence in the Indo-Pacific? With no binding agreement against Chinese military involvement in the future, have the Government recklessly compromised British and allied security just to appease ve…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Mr Rand) for securing this important debate. It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. Hongkongers live across the UK and in my constituency of Farnham and Bordon, including in Haslemere and Liphook. I declare an interest—this is also a plug—in t…”

“Services at Chase community hospital in my constituency, in Whitehill and Bordon, are being run down by the ICB. This is based on a promise that a brand-new health hub will be built in place, which is much welcomed. It has the support of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which owns the land, East Hampshire distr…”

“Does the Minister not agree that this is about not just transparency but hypocrisy? When my constituents, because of Labour’s scrapping of the winter fuel payments, have to choose between heating their homes and clothing themselves, they can see the hypocrisy of the Prime Minister in getting tens of thousands of pounds…”

“Does the Minister not agree that the reality is that a low-level border guard at the Gibraltarian-Spanish border would not implement this without at least knowledge and tacit consent from Madrid. Given that, how can she continue to negotiate with Spain if it continues this low-level aggression at the border?”

“I thank the hon. Member for Tipton and Wednesbury (Antonia Bance) for her passionate speech. I think I am correct in saying that she was an Oxford University Student Union officer when I arrived at the university. I remember her passionate defence of socialism then, and I have seen it again today. Her daughter, sitting…”

“The hon. Gentleman talks about the elite, but does he understand the impact of the policy he is advocating, which is essentially that the elite, the rich, will still be able to afford independent education, while those who are making sacrifices to be there will be the ones who fall out, especially those with special ed…”

“The bionic man.”

“24. What estimate she has made of the number of pensioners in poverty who will not be entitled to the winter fuel payment in winter 2024-25.”