Speeches by Powell.

“In the interests of setting the record straight, I must say to the House that I am a complete lightweight these days and much prefer zero-alcohol beer over anything else. I am sure that there were some fantastic zero beers at the festival in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I join him in congratulating Mike Lane and all …”

“I join my hon. Friend in that call. When post offices close, especially at short notice, it causes huge consternation in local communities. I call on him and other Members of Parliament to stand up against the Post Office on those decisions and get the best for their constituents.”

“I am sorry to hear of the action of her Conservative council in her area in relation to the Sycamore adventure centre. We had the Second Reading of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill this week, and we will give more local communities like hers the power to take over such provision as she describes.”

“I know how hard it is for people to see churches go in their area and to transition to going to a new church. She raises an important issue, and I will ensure that she gets a response.”

“Train station accessibility is an important issue to many Members. I am sure that if he joins together with some of the Opposition Members who have raised that issue with me today, it would attract the interest of the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman).”

“I know the new guidance from the EHRC is of great interest to many Members across this House; it is something that I get many emails and correspondence about myself. A parliamentary process will sit alongside that, but I will absolutely ensure that there is appropriate time to debate and discuss these issues, which I k…”

“I join my hon. Friend in thanking all those who have come together to tackle the wildfires in Yorkshire that we have all been hearing about. As our climate changes every day, we will see more wildfires and more flooding. That is why we have set up the national resilience wildfire adviser and will take further steps on …”

“The hon. Gentleman raises an issue about not only health services and where they are located, but access in constituencies such as his to affordable and reliable buses and transportation. This Government are tackling both of those after years of devastation in our health services and our buses. After 14 years of the Co…”

“This is about the third complaint about the Environment Agency in today’s session, so perhaps colleagues should get together to try and get a broader debate on those issues. We have announced the largest programme on flooding in history, and we have our flood resilience taskforce, but the hon. Lady is right to say that…”

“I certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating that collective in her constituency, and I am always happy to get an invitation to a hospitality venue. I am well aware of the challenges for the hospitality sector relating to rising costs, access to staff, still dealing with covid repayments and so on. That is why the…”

“I join my hon. Friend in congratulating all those who got their GCSE results this summer, in his constituency and around the country, on all their hard work, particularly those at Worden academy. The headteacher and leadership team there have turned that school around and are getting fantastic results this year.”

“I am sorry to hear of the trouble that my hon. Friend is having in her constituency and of the challenges in supporting her council and police to take action. We keep powers under constant review to ensure they are effective in tackling unauthorised encampments. I will keep her updated on that.”

“The victims of this scandal, like Jean, have suffered terribly for many years, as my hon. Friend describes. I am sure he will agree that no amount of compensation can make up for that, but that is not to say we should not continue, as this Government have, to ensure compensation is delivered swiftly, fairly and substan…”

“As ever, my hon. Friend raises important activities happening in his constituency. He is a powerful advocate for community empowerment in his constituency. I join him in thanking those behind such initiatives, which we will have ample opportunity to discuss in the coming months.”

“I know it is of great concern to many Members across the House when they see properties becoming HMOs and they do not have any recourse over that, particularly where they see Government agencies such as Serco going in and undermining the needs of local communities. We are looking at this, and I will ensure the House is…”

“I am really pleased to hear that the police hub in Shrewsbury has reopened. That is exactly the kind of action we want to see. That is why we are investing so heavily in neighbourhood policing and we have our neighbourhood policing guarantee, and I look forward to hearing more about it in the future.”

“I thank the hon. Member for raising that issue. We are unashamedly pro house building as a Government, but as he says, that does not mean we are pro developers getting away with poor developments. That is why communities need to continue to have a say in what they are doing. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is in t…”

“Absolutely. We are taking steps in England to ensure that local communities have more of a say over their local area—we invest in our high streets and local communities—and I implore the Scottish Government to do the same in Scotland.”

“I am sorry to hear that false claims have been made on social media. My hon. Friend has just outlined how irresponsible that can be and the devastating impact that it can have on jobs and investment in constituencies such as his. I am sure that Mayor Houchen has heard his question and will rectify the situation.”

“It might not be quite an Oasis concert, but I am sure that the railway gathering in Derby that my hon. Friend describes was a fantastic event to champion the rail industry in his constituency. I am really pleased that Great British Railways will be based in Derby so that we can continue to provide the jobs of the futur…”