Speeches by Milne.

“Do you believe that it would lead to a different Action Plan from the one you would have otherwise?”

“I appreciate that it is a big problem and there are a lot of things going on, but with this specific Action Plan it has been more than a year since it was first announced, so it is a very long time. What is it exactly? Why was it needed to be paused at all as a result of the legal action brought by WASPI? Why would it …”

“Lots of—”

“Good morning. We have had some correspondence with the PHSO, which expressed the serious concerns it has with the Department about DWP’s delay in implementing the Action Plan following the State Pension age investigation and the overall lack of communication of DWP with the ombudsman. This is very concerning since the …”

“I will add another name to the catalogue of water company disasters: Southern Water. In Rudgwick in my Horsham constituency, residents have complained for almost 20 years about effluent backing up into bathrooms, footpaths covered in soiled loo paper and having to keep children and pets indoors. Yet over the last decad…”

“I am sorry for interrupting the hon. Member. Education, health and care plans are not supposed to depend on or require a formal diagnosis of ADHD but, in practice, that is how local authorities apply them. Families are far more likely to be challenged by the local authority if they do not have that diagnosis but, in my…”

“For the second year running, Conservative-run West Sussex county council has applied to cancel local elections, in which the Conservatives face wipeout. Their excuse is that it would be too hard to organise, but it is the seven district and borough councils that run the elections, not the county council, so will the Mi…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. I thank the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) for securing this debate. I am a member of the Work and Pensions Committee, and we have been looking at the impact of the cost of living crisis on a range of vulnerable groups. The ef…”

“And you would agree that no one was really looking out for that beforehand—it was there to be seen, if anyone was looking.”

“I thank the hon. Member for the intervention. We must also place this debate in the wider context of changing rural road use. In Cowfold parish, the accident rate has doubled in the past five years, with three fatalities and 20 serious injuries. Traffic volumes have increased but road infrastructure has not kept pace. …”

“It sounds like you think that was the right way to play it—”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. Horse riders are not a marginal group on our roads and we should stop treating them like one. They are a vital part of rural life. I want to thank Sophie from Billingshurst, a village in my constituency, who wrote to me ahead of the debate. She argues that we …”

“Good morning. You talked a little earlier about how you played a big role in the Mansion House accord. The Pension Schemes Bill is still on its way through Parliament. It is largely welcomed by industry, but mandation is the most controversial aspect. It raises a big principle such as fiduciary duty and the protection …”

“We have mentioned the LDI episode a couple of times; it was a major crisis that led to the fall of the Government. It has been argued that, while the Budget may have precipitated the crisis, there was a weakness or vulnerability building up in the system that should have been identified, but no one appeared to be looki…”

“On the specific issue of fiduciary duty, which one could say is a high principle—whether you think it is a good idea to invest in UK industry or not, there is a principle at stake here—do you think the regulator should have said more about that?”

“Do you think that TPR, as it is now, has the capacity to foresee and hopefully prevent a crisis of the LDI character?”

“So you don’t think they should have exerted a more directional role in it.”

“Do you think the way they worked on that was more informal?”

“That is a very definite answer. What would you view as the most important considerations around financial stability with regard to your new role? Alongside that, to what extent do you think TPR has the powers and capability that it needs to do the job?”

“I recently met Richard, a publican in my constituency, and he told me the trade had never been so tough. He said: “The truth of the matter is, for the first time I’m thinking I shouldn't have bothered taking the risk of going into business. I should have stayed with the big brewer, taken my salary and relied on my pens…”