Speeches by Newbury.

“Yes, absolutely. It is just quite a muddled landscape at the moment. People sort of understand what Red Tractor means, but perhaps not from a welfare angle. Then you have organic standards, which are different, and the Soil Association and EU organic standards. You have RSPCA Assured. Waitrose has now introduced its ow…”

“I am really grateful to have the opportunity to speak on this. It was something that we did not manage to get to when we last had you in front of the Committee, because of certain other things that we talked about at length. As a Committee, we will shortly be launching an inquiry into the circular economy, which you pr…”

“Yes, absolutely. It is encouraging to hear that the conversations with each sector are happening as part of this overall strategy. Hopefully, we can knit all of that together, because these sector-by-sector conversations can sometimes be quite siloed, and you miss the wider gains that you get from the whole system, so …”

“That is fantastic. All power to your elbow for that. We will look out for that as well.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) for enabling us to speak on this subject. I declare an interest as an adoptive parent and foster carer. That experience has shown me the transformative effects that adoption can have and the immense …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Mundell. According to the Rainbow Map, which ranks European countries based on their legal and policy practices for LGBT people, the United Kingdom is now as low down as 22nd. We should bear in mind that just 10 years ago we were at the top of tha…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons), a fellow ageing millennial, for securing this debate. I speak not only as a parent who would love to see well-funded youth services, but as somebody who has witnessed the consequences of short-term thinking when it comes to youth services. In 2014, Con…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Stringer. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) for securing this debate, and for her frank and wide-ranging speech. I will use my time to highlight the significant and growing concerns within the hospitality sector, par…”

“To ensure that pensions are as they are now?”

“Yes, thank you, Chair. Just finally, Chris, you have painted a very concerning picture. This clearly is not a pension scheme that is in good health. It is not unique there, but it is obviously very concerning to staff. I asked earlier about staff headcount, pay, terms and conditions, but can you assure your staff, past…”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Okay, I would like to come back to that in a second but Sir Adrian, you acknowledged earlier that Thames Water is funding some, or possibly all, of KKR’s due diligence costs. Are your customers footing the bill for that?”

“Okay, well on that point we understand that CKI was an alternative bidder. It was expecting a far bigger haircut because it wanted to reflect the extremely strained state of the business. So is this really about getting a new owner that understands the state of Thames Water, or is it about making sure that everybody wh…”

“We would like to return to this discussion around KKR. Obviously, we have spoken a lot about it this morning but there is still some clarity that we need to get. KKR has obviously been designated as the sole bidder, in effect. Is that because KKR offered senior bondholders a smaller haircut? So in other words, it is of…”

“So if you have a potential new owner who is looking to perhaps reduce terms and conditions and undermine staff numbers, you will make the case for that not to happen?”

“The alternative view could be that it is trying to spot opportunities to extract as much value from the business as possible, given that it wants a quick exit. But I would like to move on, if I may, to my final question. Sir Adrian, you mentioned KKR’s existing shareholdings in Northumbrian Water which we understand is…”

“If you cannot use the word “guarantee”, can you commit as chief executive through this process of a change of ownership that you will fight for your staff’s jobs, terms and conditions as that ownership changes?”

“Okay, thank you for that clarity. Recently, a peer and accountant, Lord Sikka, told the Lords that KKR’s business model is, “Profiteering, high leverage, low investment, asset stripping, and high cash extraction.” As you mentioned, KKR previously owned South Staffs Water, which is my local water company, for five years…”

“Chris, one reason that many of your staff are so worried at the moment is the lack of long-term certainty over the ownership of Thames Water and what that picture might mean for them. You have the opportunity today to allay some fears, so can I ask you whether you are willing to guarantee that job numbers, pay, and ter…”

“Thames is clearly a company that needs long-term stability and stewardship in what is going to be a very difficult period, as you have said. Yet it is clear that KKR will be in it for a quick return and a quick exit. Is that really the right approach? To me that seems reckless.”