Speeches by Kirkham.

“As my hon. Friend’s constituency is next to mine, he will know that we have exactly the same problems in Truro and Falmouth, and I will move on to that next. I have had wash-up meetings across my constituency since the storm, and we have been talking to Ministers. I welcome the suggestion that Cornwall could serve as a…”

“Yes, I agree. One of the most profound lessons that we must learn from Storm Goretti is to increase communications infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. Many of our constituents were left without power or broadband in areas that have weak or no mobile phone signal, so they struggled to get help. Although we are …”

“Yes, a great deal of work will have to be done in future, because this will not get better; it will get worse. Businesses that rely on electricity and broadband are paralysed by outages during extreme weather events, and hospitals risk losing power or water. Heavy rainfall has even led to overflowing septic tanks and s…”

“That is actually different from what would happen in a civil court—we are debating those today in the main Chamber—in which a victim would not have any say at all over where or how the case was heard. But they would under this system. That is quite interesting.”

“In your written evidence you quote statistics that the conviction rate in 2024 for rape-flagged offences in service courts was 29%, compared with 23.1% in civilian courts. That is quite interesting because it is a bit higher than in the civilian courts, but obviously still low.”

“I agree; the fire service is absolutely fundamental, particularly in Cornwall, where it did amazing work during Storm Goretti. In its response to the UK’s third national adaptation plan, the Climate Change Committee called on the Government to urgently refresh NAP3, as it fell short of preparing the UK for the climate …”

“I agree that farmers have been incredibly helpful in so many ways; I am thinking about Storm Goretti and all the work they did with clearing trees. Of course, hopefully some of the work that this Government are doing on the sustainable farming incentive will also enable them to do that work to store water. We need to b…”

“Of course, the EA has struggled with funding for the past 10 years, after it had been cut so badly.”

“Do you think there is anything in the Bill that will help with that low conviction rate?”

“I agree with the hon. Member. We must prioritise flooding, which is becoming more and more of a risk. Every week when I get on the train—which has often been a bus—from Cornwall to London, I see what looks like a lake or sea, but it is in fact the Somerset levels submerged under floodwater.”

“I am a Cornish MP, and we are a people on the edge. With sea on three sides and cut off from England by a river and a precarious train line, we have become used to being at the centre of a world that is a long way from everyone else. That has made us resilient, independent and proud. But being at the edge of the countr…”

“Absolutely. You are answering it a little, but the Environmental Audit Committee warned of a potential conflict if Natural England is the creator, executor and regulator of EDPs. What other steps are you taking to minimise those kinds of risks?”

“Can you talk us through why that is? We all know lots of reasons why, but why is the conviction rate so low for these offences, and why do you think there is a discrepancy between civilian and service courts?”

“There has been some controversy about the wording of the Act and the conservation measures. We have finally come up with, “Conservation measures will materially outweigh the negative impacts of development.” That term is not really specifically defined. How do you define the term, “Materially outweigh”?”

“Will Natural England have a specific definition, then, or will it be more on a case-by-case basis?”

“The Secretary of State will know that working in the visitor economy is so good for young people’s confidence. The extensive Cornish hospitality sector would like to be part of the youth guarantee pilot. Will he consider meeting us to discuss that?”

“I just have a few questions about that. I know this has been considered before, but of course families are not the same as they used to be—I have some personal experience of that. We have single parents who are not living with their children all the time, and people in long-term relationships who are not living with th…”

“There is a recommendation, isn’t there, that families of all shapes and sizes need to be accommodated?”

“So it is more disposal than development?”

“As I understand it, it is almost like social housing. You have your main contractor and then subcontractors underneath. The subcontractors do one little job, and the main contractor does not really check or do much about it—they have a contract until 2029—so on the ground we are trying to get the housing officers to ma…”