Speeches by Rankin.

“I thank the Minister for raising, in his answer to the shadow Foreign Secretary, the plight of Avinatan Or, who I am proud to be twinned with. He was brutally captured by Hamas terrorists 544 days ago. In March, his family received a sign of life for the first time, and in that same month a number of colleagues heard i…”

“Surrendering sovereign territory based on a non-binding legal judgment and forking out taxpayer money for the privilege—what kind of deal is that? It is one done behind closed doors, evading the scrutiny of this House. Does the Minister agree that this deal is a prime example of what happens when we have a Government o…”

“On the more substantive point, there were some missed opportunities to toughen the clause up a bit. The perception of respect orders is that they could become ASBO mark 2. I recognise that they are a little tougher than past measures, but there is bit of a missed opportunity.”

“I agree with that.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. As members of the Committee have said, antisocial behaviour really is one of the scourges of our communities right across the country. Although it might often be described as low-level, compared with more serious crimes, it is deleterious to community coh…”

“I am glad to see clause 9 because, as several hon. Members on the Opposition Benches have mentioned, fly-tipping is a particular problem in many rural constituencies. In Berkshire, where the majority of my seat lies, there were 7,700 instances of fly-tipping in 2023-24. We are a small county, but that is 20 reports a d…”

“Clause 10 introduces a new offence of “possessing an article with a blade or point or offensive weapon with intent to use unlawful violence…to cause another person to believe that unlawful violence will be used…or…to cause serious unlawful damage”. The introduction of this new offence bridges the gap between being in p…”

“Say yes, Matt!”

“Say yes.”

“She was not there.”

“I feel so strongly about the subject of this debate because of one particular campaigner in my constituency, Millie-Anna. Her commitment to raising awareness and campaigning on a range of issues for people with Down syndrome is inspiring. She is a leading light for people with this condition everywhere. The main thing …”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his remarks, and also associate myself with the same remarks from my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage). We have to be a little careful about the inadvertent effects of what might be the goodwill of all of us in this House. Regardless of how one sees the state’s…”

“Can I ask Jenny a quick follow-up on the energy skills passport? Have the Government been involved at all in the passport development and would you like them to be or not? Maybe not; it should be business led. Is there any way that you would want more Government involvement or improvement in that?”

“My substantive question was going to be about skills; we have talked a lot about it already. What skills does the clean energy sector and its supply chain need from the workforce and what needs to happen for employers to invest in those? We have covered lots of it but I will give you the opportunity to add any comments…”

“Thank you. It is just to highlight to Members my financial interests on the register of interests and that my career was in renewable energy, particularly trading electricity and new build development. I remain a shareholder and director of an advisory business that helps funds originate and structure long-term power p…”

“I agree about the practicalities of needing to pick between two adults of similar age in a shop. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the person selling the cigarettes will probably be a shop lad aged 18 or 19? He will have to draw a distinction between adults much older than him. We should consider the position th…”

“I am assuming, to be honest, that it would be the same people who are responsible for the licensing of alcohol advertising. All my amendments speak to the principles that I have outlined, which I think are consistent with the aims of the Bill, and for which I have received support from across the House. I hope that Mem…”

“I hesitate to break up the consensus ever so slightly, but I do disagree fundamentally with the Bill. In my view, a generational smoking ban misrepresents the proper relationship between the state and the individual, and creates two tiers of adults. Members will be heartened to know that, recognising the will of the Ho…”

“Does my hon. Friend accept that there is not a risk that a black market will open, because a significant black market in tobacco already exists? In 2021, some 23.6 billion cigarettes were sold under duty, whereas in 2024 the figure was 13.2 billion, a 44% reduction. Yet an Action on Smoking and Health survey has found …”

“14. What steps she is taking to improve management accountability at multi-academy trusts.”