Speeches by Asser.

“The Minister will not be surprised to hear that I have had a lot of correspondence on this ruling, and there is great concern among the trans community about what the impact will be. There is also concern among the wider LGBT community that, in this populist age, the ruling may signal a move away from progress on LGBT …”

“The response of this House to what happened to our colleagues at the weekend should be united, because it affects us all. Does the Minister agree that any equivocation from Members of this House risks sending a green light to other countries that wish to interfere in our activities and parliamentary delegations? Perhap…”

“The Minister has been generous with his time, not just today but over the past few months, both in the House and in private meetings, but every time we meet, the situation is bad and getting worse. As the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) said, it is now as bad as it has ever been. Does the Ministe…”

“The Secretary of State said in her announcement that many of these school-based nurseries will be in places with the greatest need. That is certainly the case in my constituency, and I am very grateful that Portway primary in West Ham has been included. I have said in this House before that my constituents do not lack …”

“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.”

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

“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…”

“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…”

“Your time may yet come!”

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

“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?”

“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 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!”

“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 …”