Speeches by Dickson.

“I have a quick question on pension regulation. We are now coming up to the three-year anniversary of the FPC recommending that The Pensions Regulator should include financial stability considerations in the way it supervises the industry. Thus far, this has not happened, and it is not implementing the recommendation. C…”

“Just returning to the US for a second, we talked about political instability in the US and how things like that leading to issues around tariffs and trade could potentially pose a risk to us. On the aspect of public debt rising that we see in the US, how do you assess that risk to the UK? For instance, is there a possi…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his great speech and for the excellent way in which he is taking all the interventions. As someone who lives with a cat—I hesitate to say that I own one; it usually seems the other way round—I can see for myself, and from the emails I have had from Dartford residents concerned about their…”

“T8. As in many communities across the country, in Dartford there is a real need to improve access to places and spaces where people, especially children, can be physically active, including through play and sport. What plans are there to increase the use of facilities on school sites, including through enrichment and i…”

“My hon. Friend raises an extremely tragic case, which I will deal with later in my speech. She also makes that link between sport, gambling and addiction, which is so pernicious, and which we need to see action on to ensure that we create an environment in which people are prevented from becoming addicted, rather than …”

“9. What steps her Department is taking to improve access to youth activities for young people.”

“In Swanscombe and in much of my constituency, less than 50% of young people are physically active. That is only slightly lower than the national average, which is highly alarming. Under the previous Government, community sports facilities such as Swanscombe Pavilion in my constituency crumbled, with no resources to bri…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend—and fellow Kent MP—the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) on securing the debate and on his extremely insightful speech. He showed his background as a clinician, but also his concern for his constituents. As other…”

“Should those who have already settled at less advantageous terms than are now on offer approach HMRC to discuss that, or is that just history, finished? “Sorry, you settled at the wrong time on the wrong terms”.”

“I thank the Minister for giving way during an excellent speech introducing what I think is an extremely positive change. Like many Members, I have campaigned for some years to ensure that the most harmful and addictive forms of gambling attract tax that is commensurate with those harms, so I welcome this measure, as I …”

“One thing that you are seeking to do as a result of the McCann review is often to ensure that there are payment terms stretching into the future over a longer period, which, clearly, makes it easier for those attempting to settle. Those who have already settled but still have outstanding payments might be able to have …”

“I have a couple of questions on changes to the loan charge. I have a small number of constituents among the 37,000 or so households nationally affected by the loan charge, and the view taken by HMRC since about 2017 on how that should be repaid. I know that a number of those constituents will be relieved to see that th…”

“The residents in Dartford who voted for me wanted to see us deliver the things that I am talking about: infrastructure to improve their roads, a better NHS, additions to their local hospital and police on the streets. They are appreciating that. We are rebuilding the relationship between the police in Dartford and loca…”

“Not very many. Actually, Dartford is in receipt of significant additional infrastructure spending, which is putting people into work. An example of how young people are going to be in work in Dartford in the future—”

“I am still responding to the last intervention. Dartford is lucky that North Kent college is the recipient of one of 10 national centre of excellence awards for construction. Dartford will be the south-east centre, and that will allow young people to get into jobs as infrastructure spending takes place in the constitue…”

“I say: look at the additional spending going into Dartford to create jobs, and look at the Connect to Work project, set up by the Department for Work and Pensions, which is helping young people who are a long way from the labour market into good, well-paid jobs. We clearly have much more to do to ensure that we have th…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I welcome this debate. My comments tonight will be directed at everyone in Dartford who signed the petition and all others in my wonderful constituency that I have the privilege of serving in this place. Ahead of the election in July 2024, this country was crying …”

“I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate and the excellent speech he is making. He mentioned that the Government have said they will shortly publish the national cancer plan, which will include details of how they will improve outcomes for patients, speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensure that patients h…”

“Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. I was pleased to meet NFU representatives for Dartford and for Kent in late 2024 and January 2025. Following those meetings, I passed on the view to Treasury Ministers that it was right for the Government to close the inheritance tax loophole and s…”

“The Chancellor’s Budget, delivered at the end of November, enables the Government to deliver on the priorities that we set out clearly in our manifesto last year. I pay tribute to the work that the Chancellor and the Ministers on the Front Bench tonight and across the Treasury team have done on that. As the Minister sa…”