Speeches by Whittingdale.

“Sofia and Estonia are great, but for most British holidaymakers, Spain, Italy, Greece and France will be the priorities. We also have the EU’s new entry-exit system coming into effect. Can you say that by the summer holiday period next year, you would hope that the vast majority of British tourists will be able to ente…”

“It is a nice place to go.”

“Finally, Minister, you are absolutely right that I spent a lot of my time listening to complaints from touring artists about the difficulties they face. You are also correct that for orchestras and big bands such as Iron Maiden who have a fleet of trucks, it is not just the admission of the performers; it is all the ki…”

“Absolutely right.”

“May I turn to dynamic alignment? Behind that rather technical-sounding phrase, what it actually means, for those of us who supported taking back control, is giving control away again, because we will now be required to accept EU laws that will be decided upon without our having a vote or any influence. I understand tha…”

“I hesitate to disagree with my right hon. Friend, but it was actually the case that they were required to pay something. They had to purchase a set-top box, but the Government offered support to those who could not afford one. Perhaps that is an analogy we can follow in the future.”

“Thank you, Mr Twigg; I will do my best to keep to your limit. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) on obtaining the debate. This is an important issue, and he is absolutely right that not enough discussion has taken place. Even though the potential f…”

“It is 17 days since President Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin—during which time, as the Secretary of State said, Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Ukraine with drones and missiles. I thank him for his remarks about Andriy Parubiy, the former Speaker of the Rada. I knew him well and admired him hugely. …”

“Further to the answer the Foreign Secretary has just given, does he share my horror that, among the thousands of civilian deaths that have occurred in Gaza, it is estimated that at least 200 journalists have been killed, some of them deliberately targeted? Does he agree that those of us who are supporters of Israel’s r…”

“T10. Essex has seen a huge increase in the number of requests for education, health and care needs assessments, and is failing to meet the target, in part due to the difficulty of recruiting educational psychologists. Rather than trying to bury the problem by scrapping education, health and care plans, can the Minister…”

“The deaths of those trying to access aid in Gaza are truly shocking. The Foreign Secretary will be aware that the number of civilians killed is being disputed by Israel and there are suggestions of disinformation. Does he agree that one way in which we could establish what is actually happening is if international medi…”

“On the question of the US contribution, there is now an element of doubt about the extent to which the US is going to maintain it. Have you had any conversations about the impact that reductions in the UK’s contribution may have, alongside potential reductions in what the US is willing to support? If those two countrie…”

“On Friday, I visited C&M Precision Ltd, a small manufacturing company in my constituency. Electricity represents easily its biggest cost. What is the Minister doing to listen to small and medium-sized enterprises like C&M who feel that their voice is simply not being heard?”

“25. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce industrial electricity prices.”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I am delighted to present this Bill on behalf of one of our great national institutions, the Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences, known to most of us as the Royal Albert Hall. I do so as someone who has enjoyed many performances in the hall, ranging from …”

“rose—”

“I think the hon. Lady raises two separate points. There is the ticket return scheme, which the hall itself has put in place, but that operates on a basis where the sales are all pooled together and then distributed among the seat holders. A lot of seat holders prefer to use that, but they take a slight risk because it …”

“It would have been very difficult.”

“The Minister and I will undoubtedly debate the Government’s proposals for secondary ticketing at a future date, but I want to make it clear that what we are talking about here is not touts or bots, but people who own a seat and the right to sit in that seat and who choose to sell it to somebody else, which is a very di…”

“Of course, the hon. Lady is right. Essentially a seat in the hall is a property asset—in the same way, if one’s grandfather purchased a property and the descendants eventually decided to sell, it is highly likely that they would receive an amount of money way greater than the original investment. That is a very importa…”