Speeches by Edwards.

“I recently met the family of Davinder Singh Thandi, who died in suspicious circumstances in India. This has obviously been a distressing time for my constituents, and unfortunately they have struggled to get timely advice and support from the Foreign Office. I thank the Minister for her recent letter, but will she meet…”

“I really welcome this Bill, which delivers long-overdue reforms to protect victims and goes a long way to rebuilding confidence in our judicial system. I particularly thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Natalie Fleet) and for Knowsley (Anneliese Midgley) for their powerful contributions to the debate. I also …”

“I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and the Government’s continued commitment to promoting vocational and technical education, which is welcome. Can she outline how the White Paper will address the capacity issues that a lot of colleges and sixth forms are experiencing, including in my constituency? That will …”

“I completely agree that all the evidence points towards the need to invest in prison training and employment programmes to reduce reoffending. Doing so is good for society and for the public purse, but does my hon. Friend agree that we should reform the system to support shorter, more modular learning in our prisons, i…”

“Perhaps there should be guidance in terms of best practice?”

“One of the deficiencies of the current system that has been touched on in the past is the lack of a mandatory code of conduct for lobbying. What is your view on whether there should be one?”

“My understanding is that membership of those two bodies really only covers a fraction of the lobbying industry, though. How do you think that then gives people confidence in transparency?”

“The previous version of this Committee recommended that the UK consider following the example of the European Union, whereby Ministers and officials only meet lobbyists who are signatories to one of the recognised codes of conduct. Do you have a view on that?”

“I have a lot of experience in this area and probably a lot of engagement with your international counterparts. Picking up on the WhatsApp/text issue specifically, are there other jurisdictions where that is captured in Government transparency data, and would you consider that international best practice?”

“Thank you, it may be something we could follow up elsewhere. I am also interested in any other international comparisons that you think might be useful. You have obviously talked about some other jurisdictions having perhaps overly burdensome regimes. Are there any particular countries where you think there are some ve…”

“Are there any other areas where you feel that you need to develop your knowledge or skills to perform the role effectively?”

“The lobbying Act precludes those with direct experience of consultant lobbying from holding the role. How do you propose to overcome your lack of knowledge of the sector that you will be overseeing?”

“Thank you. Once you have that knowledge and relationship with the consultant lobbying sector, how do you propose to balance the need to remain close to it with the independence and objectivity that is required by the role?”

“We have obviously heard a lot about leadership style and priorities throughout this inquiry. Could you briefly describe what you hoped to achieve in your time as National Statistician?”

“Would you say, then, that the Government constrained your ability to prioritise the things that you wanted to focus on?”

“Do you think that the Government were asking you to do too much with the resources that they allocated to the ONS?”

“The Committee heard criticism that you focused funds and resources on transformation programmes—some of which were described as a bit unrealistic—at the expense of the UK’s core economic data. How do you respond?”

“T4. Last Friday, I visited Demelza children’s hospice, which does amazing work for children and their families, but it needs certainty and sustainable funding to survive. Will the Chancellor consider extending the children’s hospice grant for the next five years, increasing it in line with inflation, to help it to plan…”

“I take your point, and it is helpful to understand that the Government are listening and learning as we go through this process. I appreciate that these can be quite difficult judgments that you need to make collectively, but reflecting on your time in the role so far, are there any decisions about which, on reflection…”

“Do you not think that you have set out a bit of an argument for how the House’s expectations have changed as well and that there is perhaps a case for recommending that the Ministerial Code be revisited?”