Speeches by Newbury.

“The world has watched in horror as humanitarian aid has been blocked from reaching Gaza, leading to a famine that is claiming the lives of those who survived the bombs. Meanwhile, in the west bank, the Israeli Government turn a blind eye to rampant settler violence and openly approve new settlements that could end the …”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. I would like to draw on the time that I spent working at the brilliant Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership trust. That part of my career still has a huge impact on me and what I do in this place. In particular, I would like to focus on T1DE, or type 1 diab…”

“16. What steps he is taking to help restore the ceasefire in Gaza.”

“It is a privilege to speak in this summer Adjournment debate—named, of course, in honour of Sir David Amess. Sir David understood the quiet power of Back-Bench MPs in this House shining a light on issues that are all too often left in the shadows. In that same spirit, I rise to speak about Ehlers-Danlos syndrome—a grou…”

“I thank the Minister for her statement and for launching the inquiry, thus keeping our manifesto promise. In coalfield communities such as mine, many former miners still bear the scars, physical and mental, of what happened at Orgreave 41 years ago, and our towns and villages still feel that collective sense of injusti…”

“The right hon. Gentleman is making an important point about the potential for gene editing or precision breeding. Does he agree that one of the clearest examples of its promise is the humble potato? During a recent visit that the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee made to the John Innes Centre, which he ment…”

“The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has heard unbelievable statements from 10 major water companies. We also took a long, hard look at Ofwat, as Sir Jon Cunliffe did, and found a regulator that is too cosy in dealing with water companies and too bureaucratic in dealing with customers. A weak regulator and…”

“Thank you. I really appreciate that from my hon. Friend. I think that everybody who puts themselves forward to be an adopter or a foster carer does so with a huge amount of compassion. It is a journey that is often fraught with difficulty, and it certainly presents its challenges, but I think that all parenthood does. …”

“It is a privilege to contribute to today’s debate on giving children the best possible start in life. As a father, this is an issue that matters deeply to me, not just politically but personally. We all understand that our experiences in our first years shape the adults we go on to become. The memories formed in those …”

“You have obviously not done a great job of retaining your frontline staff either; for example, you have told us you have 700 vacancies for engineers. Why is it 100 times as important to retain somebody at the top of the organisation? You have said they have a lot of demands on their time and they have to go above and b…”

“Are any of those people going to get a retention bonus within their first year to stay in the role?”

“Could you not have, for example, set out your thoughts in a letter so you could explain from your perspective why the plan was necessary and what you thought it should include, but then say, “Given that I may be in line for this, I am going to recuse myself from the process?” Why did you feel that it was necessary for …”

“Is it not the case that you basically left at the end while the vote was taken, and that you were present for the vast majority of these meetings?”

“The minutes also revealed that while you were potentially in line for a payment before you withdrew, you were involved in shaping the plan. You were present at all meetings of the remuneration committee where the plan was discussed. You did not just pop in for 20 minutes to give your view and then allow the committee t…”

“Thank you, Chair. I would like to address my question to you, Mr Weston. You previously told the Committee that you were not part of the management retention plan, but the board minutes reveal that you were. Could you tell us when and why you decided not to take part in the plan?”

“It is clear that he was there for the vast majority of it. If the plan really is around retaining key people and you eventually came to the judgment that you thought it was inappropriate for you to be part of the plan, why did you not remove yourself from that right at the beginning so that you could say, “I have no ve…”

“We all know though that you can shift money around within the business. To say, for example, that customers are not directly on the line for paying for this plan is not really genuine.”

“I hope that none of your PR people are going to be in this MRP. I will be honest with you, I do not think they have done a particularly good job. When I was a local councillor, if I ran a business that was bidding for a contract with the council, I would not be able to sit in the meeting, make my case at length and the…”

“Mr Pearson, you said that it is not unusual that you benchmarked it. What we would question is that we are not seeing this level of remuneration in other parts of the water industry. You may be benchmarking yourself against financial institutions, but I would like to remind you of the context: Thames Water is deliverin…”

“Not in the water industry.”