Speeches by Cleverly.

“No, I will not give way. The hon. Member had his chance. This is the point: the Government love putting up taxes. We in the Conservative party put up taxes when we had to; this Government put up taxes at every chance they get. And the reason they put up taxes whenever they get the chance to do so is that they think tax…”

“I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “That” to the end of the Question and add: “this House declines to give a Second Reading to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, because the Bill does nothing to empower local communities, but instead contains measures reducing the democratically elected r…”

“I think the hon. Member said the quiet bit out loud: this is about putting up taxes on local people. That is what this legislation is fundamentally about; we know that to be true. I promise the House that I did not tee up that intervention—it was the next bit in my speech. Labour, by imposing this restructuring from th…”

“I will mention Paul Bristow later in my speech. The difference is that under Conservative mayors, we keep costs down. Ben Houchen, for example, is delivering a zero precept. If more places get mayors under this Labour proposal, how much more will local people pay? Will Ministers—whether that be the Secretary of State o…”

“My hon. Friend’s point goes to the heart of these proposals. For all Labour’s warm words about community engagement, community voice and communities actually having a say, that is a classic example. I have visited the Isle of Wight, not only in a personal capacity but as a guest of my hon. Friend, so I know full well t…”

“The hon. Gentleman really does need to keep up. I addressed those comments at the time. I have been to Stockton. I have campaigned with my good friend and colleague the Conservative mayor of the town. I have knocked on doors in Stockton, and I have a huge amount of respect for the town. The point I was making was about…”

“To zoom out, you have said, if I understand you correctly, that while term-time holidays are headline-grabbing, they are not the biggest or broadest issue. You have touched on a number of areas, whether it be poverty or chaotic home life, and those things have always existed in the education environment. If you were to…”

“No, that is good. Julie, you mentioned the social contract, and you are not the only person who has; Amanda Spielman has also spoken about it. Could you expand on that a little bit?”

“To zoom out, you have said, if I understand you correctly, that while term-time holidays are headline-grabbing, they are not the biggest or broadest issue. You have touched on a number of areas, whether it be poverty or chaotic home life, and those things have always existed in the education environment. If you were to…”

“No, that is good. Julie, you mentioned the social contract, and you are not the only person who has; Amanda Spielman has also spoken about it. Could you expand on that a little bit?”

“The hon. Gentleman, for whom I have a huge amount of respect, keeps saying that the Government had no choice but to do this deal. I do not believe that to be true. My successor, Lord Cameron, did not believe that to be true either, which is why neither he nor I signed off an agreement. Will the Minister please explain …”

“Can I just clarify? You are saying that there is not a guarantee of continuity of provision. You are saying that where it is good quality, it will continue, but you are not giving a 100% guarantee of continuity of provision.”

“In broad terms.”

“Minister, you started off by saying that the current system is not working. You then also said that no one who is currently receiving provision would lose that provision. That suggests there will be a no-losers one-way valve for stuff going into the White Paper. What will change fundamentally? I think everyone can see …”

“Yes, but you are saying there is not a 100% guarantee of continuity of provision?”

“You are saying that where it is good, it will continue, but you are saying that that is not a 100% guarantee.”

“That is not a 100% guarantee of continuity of provision. I think it is a yes or no answer.”

“There are Members on the Government Front Bench who know a thing or two about leadership—I can say that with confidence, because the Prime Minister is not in that place. The Government have a commanding majority and do not need the support of Members from any other Benches to hit 3% of GDP, and further, if only the lea…”

“I welcome the element of the Prime Minister’s statement where he explicitly links defence, diplomacy and domestic security. He is absolutely right to highlight that interconnection. Therefore, will he revisit the spending review, which sees 4.5% and 5% real-terms reductions in Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and …”

“Does the Minister recognise that the UK’s armed forces are a visible manifestation of the philosophy and values that underpin the country? If society does not value the armed forces, would he concede that it might be because we have consistently failed to defend the principles and values that underpin our society? We s…”