Speeches by Asser.

“Does the Minister agree that expanding our military expenditure creates a golden opportunity to deal with the shortage of people going into science, technology and engineering jobs, and that as we expand the military budget, we should make sure that the defence industry expands the number of apprenticeships and builds …”

“As the Secretary of State is aware, my constituency contains London City airport, which sits closely alongside residential and business buildings, so safety is something we are very alive to. It is also an area of massive regeneration, so we are also alive to power pressure, and that part of her statement will be inter…”

“My constituents in West Ham and Beckton are extremely concerned about knife crime. We have had a serious number of incidents over the last few years, including in the last few weeks. Could my hon. and learned Friend reassure my constituents on the work that the Government are doing to take a stronger approach on prosec…”

“7. What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of serious and violent crime in West Ham and Beckton constituency.”

“I thank the Committee for seeing me this afternoon. As everyone is aware, we are on the fifth anniversary of the pandemic. Hopefully this is uncontroversial. I am not looking for a change in policy. Nor am I looking for any funding from Government, which hopefully makes life easier. I am also not looking for any inquir…”

“Lovely. Thank you. Lee Pitcher made representations.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Like him, I have a very diverse community, as he knows, because he was once a resident there. My seat in east London has long had, as east London has historically had, a reputation for communities working together and supporting one another. My hon. Friend has talked abo…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Riverside (Kim Johnson) for securing this debate; she has made important points. The voices of the people affected 40 years ago will never have been heard. Does the Minister agree that poverty and deprivation—she talked about their impact on educational standards—often ma…”

“Just to probe, because obviously you did write to the Speaker about this because of the confusion it caused, and you suggested that your descriptor be changed to “Labour (suspended)”. Could you outline what you thought—”

“You slightly pre-empted my next question, but I think it will be useful to probe. I would like to probe you, John, on the suggestion you made when you wrote to the Speaker. When the Whip is suspended, either temporarily or permanently, the “independent” tag is used, as it is, indeed, if you quit the Whip. Clearly, you …”

“Your time may yet come!”

“To follow up on the description. You put a suggestion that there is a degree of flexibility, and you want to explain it. Essentially there are two forms of suspension of the Whip, aren’t there? There is the party discipline process that you have broken a Whip, and the Whips have decided to withdraw it for a period. Als…”

“Just a quick one: when you reached out, was there any discussion with the Whips about the descriptor or was that not a conversation that was had?”

“That is helpful because we have probed the House authorities in a previous session, so it is useful to hear.”

“Your time may yet come!”

“You slightly pre-empted my next question, but I think it will be useful to probe. I would like to probe you, John, on the suggestion you made when you wrote to the Speaker. When the Whip is suspended, either temporarily or permanently, the “independent” tag is used, as it is, indeed, if you quit the Whip. Clearly, you …”

“That is helpful because we have probed the House authorities in a previous session, so it is useful to hear.”

“Just to probe, because obviously you did write to the Speaker about this because of the confusion it caused, and you suggested that your descriptor be changed to “Labour (suspended)”. Could you outline what you thought—”

“To follow up on the description. You put a suggestion that there is a degree of flexibility, and you want to explain it. Essentially there are two forms of suspension of the Whip, aren’t there? There is the party discipline process that you have broken a Whip, and the Whips have decided to withdraw it for a period. Als…”

“Just a quick one: when you reached out, was there any discussion with the Whips about the descriptor or was that not a conversation that was had?”