Speeches by Norman.

“I am sure that the whole House will want to join me in wishing a very happy Thanksgiving day to all our American friends and family, and a happy big birthday today to the Clerk: the Joe Root of the parliamentary estate. Huge thanks to him for his stylish and expert first century—half-century, I should say! Mr Speaker, …”

“I want to come in on the back of what Emma was saying, but first I have one quick question to ask, if I may, Secretary of State. You have made some play of the decisions of the 2010 Government, but isn’t it true that you were a member of the Government before that, who published a document, in March 2010, that planned …”

“I associate hon. Members on the Opposition side of the House with the comments made about Lord Prescott’s death. I am delighted to hear that the House administration is aiming to win the National Autistic Society’s autism friendly award. I know that all colleagues will want to join me in wishing the House team good luc…”

“I have a final question, Secretary of State. Can you give us an update on your thinking and review of the damage to the undersea cables in the Baltic sea in the last few days? I think that is potentially quite a significant further escalation.”

“You have talked about, and I completely respect and agree about, the importance of realism and honesty, but would it not have been a bit more realistic of you to acknowledge the financial circumstances in 2010 and a bit more honest, by your own lights, to say that Labour were planning £73 billion-worth of public spendi…”

“Will the Leader of the House present the forthcoming business?”

“Thank you very much indeed, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am sure that the whole House will want to join me in wishing a very happy birthday today to His Majesty the King. The last few days in global politics have been extraordinary, featuring one of the most incredible comebacks of modern times. It was wildly hard to predic…”

“Professor Chalmers, you mentioned that, very broadly speaking, the degree of seriousness in spending across Europe and across NATO was very positively correlated with how close you were to Russia. There is a degree of seriousness about the border states because they know that they have Russia breathing down their neck …”

“Could you not argue that we are doing a great job of supporting Ukrainians with finance, compared with many others? But I am really thinking about our, as it were, UK domestic capability—the effective spending of money to create preparedness and capacity that can be readily and quickly deployed. That is my worry at the…”

“So you understand it?”

“I just want to pick up your point about the relative underspend—or the slowdown on spending—on conventional forces and to mention a couple of recent things. A recent report stated that the head of the French navy said to the French National Assembly that there was a problem because Britain could put out only two of its…”

“rose—”

“I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his excellent speech. I want to make a simple point, which is that we are naturally respectful of evolution in nature because we see that it leads to progressive improvement, in general, in species, and diversification, but we are extraordinarily foolish when we consider the evolu…”

“My right hon. Friend is absolutely right, and it is always good to have a mention of Bagehot in any constitutional debate. Bagehot draws the distinction between the dignified and the efficient parts of the constitution, but I thought that my right hon. Friend was making an argument that the House of Lords is no less an…”

“I apologise if I was hypnotised by your gaze, Mr Speaker. I worry about the Government’s grip on strategy all together. First, they have given away the Chagos islands before the strategic defence review. Now they are putting at risk the global combat air programme by including it within the SDR. Is the Minister aware o…”

“10. What progress he has made on delivering the global combat air programme.”

“I would add one thing to what the shadow Secretary of State is brilliantly saying: this is a matter for farmers in Herefordshire as much as for those elsewhere. Ross-on-Wye, a rural town, was under water as a result of the floods. Does he share my view that the whole ecosystem ultimately feeds into the river, and into …”

“Can the Secretary of State give me some comfort that the money that was allocated for the action plan for the River Wye will be retained, even if not necessarily for the purposes that it was created for? Will he also reappoint the current champion for the river who has so far done excellent work?”

“I am delighted to hear the right hon. Lady talk about engines of growth and opportunity, because that is exactly what universities are when they are well run. In my county we have a new university, the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering, which is doing exactly that, and offering incredible opportunities…”

“I congratulate the Secretary of State on her recent reappointment, and also on her dancing skills. The stronger towns fund has been extremely successful in Hereford, and the question has arisen as to whether any of the funds that may be within that scheme and have not been used elsewhere could be redeployed. May I invi…”