Speeches by Mohamed.

“I did benefit from the expertise of the different Members’ officers and staff, and we could co-ordinate around EDMs and questions and other things. Out of Chamber, out of Committee Room co-ordination helped me a lot but—similar to what Shockat said—I do not have any evidence to know if it would have been different had …”

“The people who put us here put us here as independents. As I said earlier, if that changes that will change based on what my constituents want me to do. I have not investigated or looked into and never considered even until now the organisation and the elements to bring a party structure together. My constituents elect…”

“Primary for me was the impact in this place, so being one alone versus one of five, and having that coverage. If I am not there, I am not around. If there is an important topic, I know somebody is there. They will be speaking, and they will probably be saying what I would want to say. Participation in the questions and…”

“To build on what Shockat said, I was elected as an independent to put in all my resources, intellect, time, energy and some finances that I was able to use for serving my community. I would like the opportunity to be able to do that to the maximum in this place. On Short money—thanks for the summary—there are two views…”

“I do not see any disadvantages of being formally recognised as a technical group. The challenges of a party—I have never been in one, and I have never tried to start one—would be many and would probably distract us at the moment from the work we have been elected to do.”

“If I may clarify—sorry for not being clear earlier—I was not comparing parties to groups; it is just an MP is an MP is an MP. I was talking about individual MPs, whatever party they belonged to or did not belong to. As I say, when the electorate go to the voting booth they are not voting for a party because that party …”

“Yes.”

“I learned about proxy voting in preparing for this session—I did not know before then—and I have not had to avail myself of it until now. With my children all grown up, I probably do not expect to be availing of it, God forbid, unless I am ill. But I am happy to know that I could avail of it if I needed to. There are p…”

“I don’t think so. I am good.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller) on securing this important debate. We are here today because maternity services are not at the level that they need to be at. There are many, many fantastic services across the country,…”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for her statement. As a child brought up on free milk and free school meals, I very much welcome and support the Government’s plans to set up universal breakfast clubs in all primary schools. However, concerns are reported among headteachers, unions and charities that the plans w…”

“What measures is the Minister taking to address the record backlog of court cases in the UK, which, as the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office has warned, is on target to hit 100,000? In particular, can she comment on the call for changes to be made to the way that court cases are …”

“I stand in support of the objectives and aims of the Bill. Having worked with data and technology for more than 30 years, I wholeheartedly support the ethical, responsible and equitable use of technology and data to benefit and make easier the lives of the people of the UK, and to increase the efficiency of service del…”

“I welcome the limited protections in the Bill, but I know from experience that many applications for benefits—especially disability benefits and personal independence payments—that are processed through automated systems are refused, and the applicants have to go through a complicated and laborious appeals process in o…”

“To add to that, my team and the other independents referred more to the policies of the parties to which the candidates belonged. There was no literature or comment on an individual in any of our campaigns. Although there was a key issue that culminated in our election, we are all extremely proud to be MPs—to represent…”

“I am a first-time, newbie MP. I had never run for office before. It was just a maze and a mystery from day one. Knowing that I had to go and fill in the form, pay the deposit and get registered as a candidate, I expected some kind of induction pack, with dos and don'ts, guidance, contact numbers for security, police, r…”

“To add to that, my team and the other independents referred more to the policies of the parties to which the candidates belonged. There was no literature or comment on an individual in any of our campaigns. Although there was a key issue that culminated in our election, we are all extremely proud to be MPs—to represent…”

“Just to reiterate that I think a code of conduct would help, but it has to be enforceable and consistently applied to all candidates from all parties. As independents, we got an impression that we were being held to a different standard than other candidates in the run-up to this election, or even in past elections. I …”

“That is what I remember, and I have had not found anything else. There were no packs, contact numbers or people to follow up with.”

“I am a first-time, newbie MP. I had never run for office before. It was just a maze and a mystery from day one. Knowing that I had to go and fill in the form, pay the deposit and get registered as a candidate, I expected some kind of induction pack, with dos and don'ts, guidance, contact numbers for security, police, r…”