Speeches by Rankin.

“Wales has incredible potential for the next generation of nuclear, but Labour’s announcement yesterday is a fraction of what is needed. Green baseload power that stabilises our grid enhances power generation, as it has done before in Anglesey. Will the Minister give a clearer answer today to confirm that Wales will be …”

“7. What discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the future of nuclear power in Wales.”

“T9. Research from Centrica, which is headquartered on my patch, shows that Hive has saved domestic customers half a billion pounds on their energy bills since its inception. Does the Secretary of State agree that smart data, which gives consumers the ability to control their energy use without the need for top-down ban…”

“I broadly support unitarisation on a strategic scale, but I am concerned about how historic debts will be treated in Surrey, especially those of Woking and Spelthorne councils. How will those debts be handled as our councils come together, and will the Minister assure my constituents in Virginia Water and Englefield Gr…”

“Yes, you made that point about AI. Forgive my ignorance, but how do the pay and conditions of the warehousing jobs compare with the old coalmining?”

“In former mining communities in Yorkshire, I understand there has been quite a significant increase in warehousing jobs that are close to matching local employment levels before the miners’ strike. I understand the growth in Scotland has been more modest; obviously Yorkshire is a more central location and benefits from…”

“I thank the Minister for his clarity that genocide is a legal test of whether a crime has been committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”. That is exactly what the Hamas terrorist group state in their foundational charter: the intent to destroy Israel and Jews…”

“I start by paying a small tribute to the Government because just last week they passed secondary legislation, albeit made possible by the Conservatives’ groundbreaking Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, that will mean more resilient crops, further food choices and enhanced food security. Although it migh…”

“Just to follow up on that clarity point: you consider it clear, but within the force, have any officers expressed any uncertainty on how to police that area, or do you think that that view is shared by all of your colleagues?”

“Thank you, Superintendent, for coming here today. How would you respond to concerns that without a full legal framework there may not be an equal and consistent application of policing?”

“I thank the Lord Advocate for her answer. This is perhaps more of a comment from me than a question back to the Lord Advocate. You make an incredibly compelling case that this facility is in the public interest. I acknowledge that I am not a lawyer—I am a layman and a new parliamentarian—but the case you articulated so…”

“Thank you for coming, Lord Advocate. I want to dig into the answer that you gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Gordon and Buchan. You were quite clear that you see this as being slightly different from 2017, when some kind of blanket immunity was asked for. You think that this is much more limited. But the Home Offi…”

“Thank you.”

“It seems to me that the Advocate General in her prosecution advice has carved out a specific exemption in this instance. Some people would certainly have the perception that that means that the law is being applied differently in different areas of Scotland. They would have that perception at least, even if you might s…”

“1. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing a national maternity improvement strategy.”

“Last year’s birth trauma inquiry report exposed that maternity services in this country are woefully underfunded, and now the Health Secretary intends to cut the budget for maternity improvement from £95 million to just £2 million, equating to less than £4 per child born in this country each year. What kind of change i…”

“I beg to move amendment 51, in clause 86, page 98, line 2, at end insert— “(3) The defence described in subsection (2) is only applicable if a person has given written notice to a police station nearest to the public place that is in a locality designated under section 87(1). (4) Where it is not reasonably practicable …”

“Clause 86 will criminalise the act of wearing or otherwise using an item as a face covering that conceals someone’s own identity or that of another person when in an area that the police have designated. A designation can be made only in relation to an area where the police reasonably believe that a protest may take pl…”

“I appreciate the operational challenges; I would suggest that this would simply be automated online. My aim is to stop whole groups of protesters wearing masks. My view is that police should reject those applications if they are not legitimate, at which point they can treat it collectively as an offence. I have a broad…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his constructive question. The problem with this defence is that it will obviously be abused. People who are malicious will claim these things after the fact; my amendment is an attempt to change the emphasis slightly. I appreciate that there will be difficulties with enforcement, but the po…”