Speeches by Lamont.

“Good afternoon, Minister. Is the centre of Government operating effectively?”

“What action did you take after those incidents that I gave as examples, in terms of trying to enforce the policy that you have just articulated?”

“There have been a few examples of where communication has not been so good when you have been in charge. I am thinking about the Budget, the speech from the Chancellor and the briefing, and then the U-turns when the Budget came. Then you had the briefing against the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, the night before he …”

“You have mentioned a few times the need to improve communications, and that is one of your responsibilities. Can you give some examples of where you have made a clear difference to Government communication?”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Is he aware of some research done by the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, which shows that, under the current inheritance tax rules, farmers in Scotland typically pay a £20,000 inheritance tax bill, whereas under Labour’s current proposals the figure goes up to a stagge…”

“There are hundreds, if not thousands, of farmers in Parliament Square this afternoon, blasting their horns about the family farm tax. The shadow Chancellor and many other colleagues from the Opposition Benches have been out to meet the farmers to understand their concerns. Has he heard, like I have, their frustration a…”

“3. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the freeze on income tax thresholds on working people.”

“There seems to be only one word that the Chancellor understands: tax. Her decision to continue the freeze on income tax thresholds is a hammer blow to working people. In fact, even one of the Chancellor’s favourite unions, Unison, has said: “Freezing personal income tax thresholds disproportionately impacts lower and m…”

“Good morning. My question relates to the Ethics and Integrity Commission; as you will know, the current Government made a commitment prior to the last election to set this up and replace the Committee on Standards in Public Life. What is your view on that change?”

“In terms of the office that you hold, how do you envisage that relationship with EIC? Is it clear, or does it need to be refined a little?”

“The EIC, as I understand it, has a much more formal role in terms of co-ordinating all these different bodies. Is that not a step in the right direction?”

“I mean in any respect.”

“That is helpful, thank you. The Government have said they have a commitment to, “Restore confidence in Government and ensure Ministers are held to the highest standards.” We have touched on this already, but what further reforms or changes do you think might be put in place to achieve that?”

“Yes.”

“If you fast forward the clock five or 10 years and look at the EIC, how would you measure success or failure?”

“What role do you think the EIC should have in terms of making appointments to the House of Lords?”

“You mentioned that there are a lot of different bodies that operate within this space just now. Some are part of the EIC structure, and others are outside of it. Are there any bodies not currently in the formal structure that you think should be being brought into it?”

“The Scottish Government have announced a review of the grooming gangs evidence in Scotland, but that falls short of a full inquiry and disappoints many of the victims. I have asked for this before. Please will this UK Government extend their inquiry to the whole of the UK so that the victims of these appalling crimes g…”

“I am grateful to all hon. Members for their contributions this afternoon. We have demonstrated the importance of rail services to the rural communities that we collectively represent. I am grateful to the Minister for his response. I have two points of concern. We again heard from the Minister about the importance of t…”

“I am grateful to my neighbour for his contribution and for the cross-party, cross-border working we have secured on this issue. He is right that the consultation took place back in 2021. There was great opposition at that point and then there was a further, much smaller, consultation. I think a lot of people assumed th…”