Speeches by Newbury.

“Earlier, you highlighted the figure of 25% of water company inspections being noncompliant. It has been reported that 69% of inspected English dairy farms were breaking environmental regulations in 2020-21. As you said, that led the previous Government to say they would like to bring intensive beef and dairy farming in…”

“Thank you very much, everybody.”

“I believe that I would, yes; I have that week free for this.”

“Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you all for having me in for my first outing in front of this Committee. This is a request for a debate on International Men’s Day, which is an annual event observed in 80 countries, including, of course, the UK. International Men’s Day has been debated in the House for nine consec…”

“Just on the scope of permitting regulations—which we touched on earlier—do you think that lowering the threshold of bringing more medium-sized businesses into scope would help tackle some issues we are seeing on units or do you think the threshold is right as it is?”

“It is a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier) for introducing this petition so thoughtfully, and I thank Grace Carter and the more than 100,000 signatories. For too many families, including in my constituency, our parental leave…”

“I recently met a constituent whose husband died while serving in the police force and who now finds herself in a difficult position. Under the 1987 police pension scheme, surviving partners do not receive lifelong survivor benefits, whereas under the 2015 scheme, they do. She feels, understandably, that this creates an…”

“In terms of public awareness, this is something that we have been quite concerned about as a Committee. Do you think the public are sufficiently aware of both the biosecurity and the food safety risks of illegal meat and the rules around personal imports, for example? What are you doing to improve public awareness? One…”

“It was quite a low bar to begin with, I think. One thing we raised when we were in Brussels is the fact that a lot of Moldovan products are being labelled as Romanian to allow them to pass through more freely perhaps than they would if they were a non-EU good. On how seriously the Government are taking this and how it …”

“Again, that is where the local authority role is so important, but we know that they are under strain as well, which is something that we might come on to later. Just on that offer to Dover, has that been met with positivity? Is it a resource issue?”

“Just lastly, before I hand over to Charlie, you mentioned intelligence. Intelligence-led checks are something that we hear about quite a lot. Clearly, we cannot stop every vehicle or every import of illegal meat. Is the current approach sufficiently protecting our domestic food and agricultural sectors? For example, is…”

“Do you feel like that is on the increase? One thing we have heard from DEFRA is that it feels that the rising figures that we are seeing are just as a result of more checks and more intelligence, as opposed to a rising issue.”

“Did you have anything to add, Geoff?”

“This is a topic that we talk about a lot as a Committee, for obvious reasons. When we published our report recently, the Chair stated that the country could be one carelessly discarded ham sandwich away from a full-blown biosecurity crisis. I do not think that that is a flippant remark, because we know that the 2001 fo…”

“15. What steps he is taking to ensure that women have access to menopause treatments on the NHS.”

“My hon. Friend has given us a prime example of how thinking about problems differently and more collaboratively is rooted at the heart of co-operatives. The roll-out of EVs to people who do not have a driveway and perhaps do not have ready access to charging infrastructure is one of the many challenges that the Governm…”

“Earlier this year, a constituent came to speak to me about shortages of the one hormone replacement therapy drug that was working for her after years of misdiagnoses and ineffective treatment. She told me that GPs have very low awareness of menopause and often recommend alternatives that cause adverse reactions, leavin…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon) on securing this important debate and his impassioned opening speech. I can think of no greater or better-informed champion of our co-operative sector. Although he is …”

“During recess, I became the first interviewee of my constituent Brendan Woodbridge, an inspiring disabled 19-year-old who aspires to be a freelance journalist in order to spotlight accessible places and services so that people like him do not feel trapped at home. Brendan and his mom Natalie told me that when leaving t…”

“Back in May, St John the Baptist church in Slitting Mill near Rugeley held its final service. St John’s is a huge loss to the community—it was such a welcoming and unique church, having been housed in a semi-detached house with neighbours still living next door. Although the closure was sadly necessary to protect the o…”