Speeches by Kirkham.

“Q Hello, Mr Gerrard. Thank you for coming today. I am a Labour and Co-operative MP, so I am pleased to hear that you think the Bill will be good for the Co-operative Group. My first question is about the limit. You say that it will probably help you overall. Perhaps this is hard for you to answer, but for retail as a g…”

“Q What percentage are we talking about across the board—theatres, theme parks and so on, and hospitality? I think you said 7%, which is fairly low. Kate Nicholls: If you look at hospitality venues, which would include nightclubs and the larger hotels—it would not include theme parks necessarily, but it would include ca…”

“Q I was going to bring in hospitality and leisure, which is probably something I will ask other witnesses about later. I am from Cornwall, where we have some big leisure and hospitality sites. To look at exemptions purely for shops— Helen Dickinson: There is absolute recognition that there should be other exemptions fo…”

“Then you are looking at a much bigger thing. Helen Dickinson: The proportion in retail is much bigger than the proportion in leisure. We will share some data with the Committee, because we looked at retail and hospitality as well. I agree that it should be both.”

“Q I am from Cornwall, where we have full business rates retention, so that puts a slightly different spin on it. Given that that varies across the country, maybe you could mention that. You talked about high street rents going up or down. I come from a place where there are lots of seaside towns and limited space by th…”

“Q I have a quick question. I am glad you are here, Mr Lord, because we were talking about the super tax and the £500,000 limit. I am from Cornwall, so I completely understand what you said about large hotels. Will other parts of the leisure sector, such as theme parks, the night time economy, music venues and theatres,…”

“Thank you, Mr Speaker. Last month, it was announced that several Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government offices will be closing, including the one in Truro in my constituency. The next nearest office is about an hour and a half’s commute away, making relocation difficult. Will the Leader of the House fac…”

“Waiting lists on the NHS have already been mentioned, but they need to be mentioned again, because the last 14 years have made such a difference to constituents in Truro and Falmouth. They have really struggled to work and to live, having to wait one or two years for orthopaedic operations. Please will my right hon. Fr…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that the best thing the Government can do is give some direction and certainty to farmers with the new land use framework and the new pipeline of sustainable farming incentives, which are upcoming to balance food production, nature recovery and carbon reduction, so that they have the confidenc…”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for seeing me today. The potential for floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea is absolutely vast. It is so important for the south of Wales, all around the south-west and down to Cornwall, where I am from. The issue is that the potential has been unrealised for a long time. I am part of the APPG for the Cel…”

“I do not wish to make too much of this, but looking at the other side of it, Scotland has been lucky enough to get the headquarters of GB Energy. Maybe we could think about the alternative as well.”

“Fishing is such an important part of Cornwall’s history and its future—as you can probably tell, Mr Efford, because half the MPs from Cornwall are here today. We are surrounded by the sea on three sides. Fishing has been integral to us for centuries: Cornish people have fished for pilchards for hundreds of years in New…”

“Cornwall is covered with sewage alerts, and proceedings have been taken against South West Water. Does the hon. Member agree that the new water review will be vital to reform regulation and infrastructure?”

“The other question, of course, is water demand, which is frustrating when you are getting leakage. It seems harsh to put the onus on consumers. I think all companies now also have targets for reducing consumption. Does the water sector have a general plan for this? Where I am in Southern Water there have been mandatory…”

“I have been in a similar position as Helena with South West Water. I represent Truro and Falmouth. We have had outages for days, in the hospital as well, where people have struggled to get water. Now people are trying to get compensation but they have been told there is limited compensation and they are struggling to g…”

“How far have we got? I understand there is quite a long way to go in the last year of the current five years—”

“I read earlier that there is still 30% of the way to go in the last year, so they do seem to be struggling to cope with that, don’t they? They do not seem to be managing to keep up with this level of requirement, so how do you think they will cope in the future?”

“Measures have been quite controversial, haven’t they? People have been put on them—”

“—and had their tariffs changed almost without their agreement. Are they mandatory? We have been told that the water companies have been told to make the changes; that they have to do them. Is that the case or is there leeway?”