Speeches by MacAlister.

“It is humbling to contribute to a debate with contributions like that from the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom). I pay tribute to him for sharing Declan’s story in this place, and to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for her very personal contribution. I warmly welcome the f…”

“I thank my constituency neighbour for suggesting the types of solutions that we should look at. Some areas of the country have much higher rates of suicide than others, and we know far too little about why those areas have those trends. Around half of children in care are expected to have some sort of mental health dis…”

“T6. West Cumbria, like many parts of the UK, is a dental desert. In some communities, urgent dental access centres have proved to be a real success at building up dental services, so will the Minister support my campaign to introduce an urgent dental access centre in west Cumbria?”

“11. What steps his Department is taking to implement neighbourhood health centres.”

“I thank the Minister for her answer. Workington suffers from some really poor health outcomes and has an incredibly fragmented health system. I have worked with local leaders in my constituency to pull together a plan for a new neighbourhood health centre called the Workington health zone, based around multidisciplinar…”

“Today marks the 45th anniversary of the Kielland disaster off the coast of Norway in the North sea, which took the lives of 123 men. Twenty-two of them were British, including Michael Fleming, Keith Hunter, Brian Graham, John Grady and Colin Lamb from Cleator Moor in my constituency. Many questions remain unanswered fo…”

“In my constituency, we have hundreds of acres of land that is perfect for new nuclear power to be built. As a country, we have not completed a nuclear power station in over 30 years, and part of the reason for that is the state of our planning system. Does my hon. Friend agree that by making the changes in this Bill, w…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that the changes made to the winter fuel payment to secure it for those most in need actually save £1 billion net, with the extra costs of the rise in those claiming pension credit? Does she also agree that the Government’s choices across the board mean that we are able to make the decision to…”

“18. What steps her Department is taking to support care leavers into employment.”

“Some 39% of care-experienced young people are not in education, employment or training—three times the average rate—and that is costing the UK over £145 million a year in lost tax revenue alone. We cannot achieve the ambition of getting Britain working unless we unlock the potential of this amazing group of young peopl…”

“Does my hon. Friend share my shock that Cumbria police did not hand out a single penalty notice for disorder in 2023? That is down from 1,000 issued in 2010. Does he also share my enthusiasm for this Bill’s measures to introduce respect orders?”

“I completely agree that there is an urgency to this issue, and the strength of feeling out in the country among not just parents but children themselves shows that we should take action.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. Updated advice from the nations’ CMOs is so important because it can cascade through health systems to guide professionals and parents. Finally, the Bill calls on Government to conduct more research and further develop the evidence and guidance that is so important for futu…”

“I welcome the Minister’s intervention, and I am glad to have boxed off those five. There are moments when politics falls behind the public mood. The process and traditions of our democratic system make it difficult to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of tech and social media, but this Parliament works best when …”

“The hon. Member will know, as many in this House do, that private Members’ Bills are often a shot in the dark. From the beginning of this process, my aim has been to have a national debate, but also to put all of my energy into securing some action and progress. Regardless of party, this is an issue on which it has bee…”

“The hon. Member is, of course, a connoisseur of private Members’ Bills and has been known not to be keen to see many of them make it to Committee. I am sure he will not mind me gently making the point that I am here today, as so many Members are, to make a difference and ensure that the Government take action. The Bill…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that important question. Most countries landed on the age of 13 as a result of a protracted negotiation in the US Senate about data and online safety many years ago. That policy was not based on evidence; it was based on the compromise of a committee in another country. We must base such deci…”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I began my career as a teacher. I first entered the classroom in 2009. At the time, we were just beginning to see the use of smartphones among teenagers—there was the odd phone in the classroom and the odd instance of a child being bullied through their device—but…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The campaign they have started will only grow over time.”

“I will get to that in my speech. I am keen to get on to those points, and I will address the questions the hon. Gentleman has asked. The Smartphone Free Childhood campaign has grown from zero members to over 200,000 in less than a year, which shows the strength of feeling in the country on this issue.”