Speeches by Sollom.

“Terrified, anxious and angry—these are the words that Citizens Advice Rural Cambridgeshire has heard most since these changes were proposed. I recently hosted an emergency forum in St Neots that brought together those on the frontline—food banks, advice bureaux, charities and social organisations—to discuss the impact …”

“The Government have set themselves an ambitious and welcome growth mission, with targets including an 80% employment rate and support for 65,000 additional learners a year by 2028-29. However, some of the decisions made of late somewhat undermine those objectives. Along with Liberal Democrat colleagues, I recently wrot…”

“T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.”

“My constituent Theo, who is blind and a Braillist, has not received a single useable Braille past paper, despite being nearly a year into his A-levels, and reports that his GCSE papers last year contained so many errors that they were nearly impossible to use. Will the Minister take immediate action to ensure that exam…”

“The number of health visitors in England has reached an all-time low, with just 7,000 remaining, and there is a forecast shortfall of 37,000 community nurses by 2036. The Department’s own Skills England sectoral report shows that the health and social care sectors face the highest vacancy rates, at 41%. Has there been …”

“Philip Augar, the chair of the previous review into post-18 education funding, stated recently in the Financial Times that “a handful” of universities are receiving “secret bailouts”. Will the Secretary of State confirm what emergency financial support the Government have already provided to struggling institutions and…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. The regulations before us today represent a change that runs directly counter to the Liberal Democrat approach to tackling problem gambling and gambling harm. Public Health England estimates that problem gambling costs the economy £1.27 billion annually in h…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the contribution of maths to the UK. It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under you in the Chair, Mr Vickers. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this debate, the Members who put their names to the application and those present today. I look forw…”

“I, too, welcome the adoption of a long-standing Liberal Democrat policy and the Minister’s encouragement of other Lib Dem policies in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson). There has been some discussion about the pupil premium. This policy seems to break the link between free school meal…”

“I thank the Minister for the Government’s response to this debate and I also thank all the Members who contributed. The hon. Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) rightly pulled me up on engineering, which I will squeeze into the mathematical sciences, and I apologise. He also shared his love of teaching maths. It was so won…”

“I entirely agree, and I will come on to make that very point. Needless to say, events took a very dark and ultimately heartbreaking turn. In March 2022, a serious incident occurred: Declan became very distressed, and assaulted some staff members. Police were called, and a number of officers assisted staff to restrain D…”

“I wish to draw the House’s attention to the appalling case of a young man who was very badly failed by mental health services and, indeed, tragically lost his life as a result. Today I am representing his family, my constituents Graeme, Sam and Kaitlyn, who have been campaigning to ensure that no other family has to go…”

“I thank the Minister for today’s update. Although I welcome the progress that has been made on the compensation scheme, as he has highlighted, I once again have to highlight the case of my constituent who was infected with hepatitis C during a transplant operation when she was 15. She has suffered terrible physical and…”

“National Numeracy Day is next week, on 21 May. This would be an excellent opportunity for the House to celebrate maths and raise awareness of its important contribution to the UK. From the record, I believe that there has not been a debate solely focused on maths since 2022. We have a different Government now, with new…”

“I think it would still be valuable. We can refer back to it. It was the spark in my mind that motivated me to do this. I realise I left it to the last minute to do it.”

“Yes.”

“I am sorry, I didn’t even notice it. I didn’t expect the third degree! I could go on all day. That teaching aspect is particularly important. Only 63% of the target number of maths teacher trainees were recruited last year. That is a concern, and there is a concern in the higher education space about maths departments …”

“Yes, to celebrate maths. I hope that in a 90-minute debate, there would be lots of opportunity to do that.”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tewkesbury (Cameron Thomas) for securing the debate and for his powerful speech. The individuals he mentioned, the school staff he represents, and the educators and local authorities across the country grappling with similar…”

“I am sorry. I should know; I was just about to say that the hon. Member for Bedford (Mohammad Yasin) is a near neighbour of mine. Although I am here as the Lib Dem spokesperson for higher education, the proximity of St Neots to Bedford gives me a particular constituency interest in the concerns that the hon. Member rai…”