Speeches by Powell.

“I join my hon. Friend in thanking all the carers in his constituency and right across this country. The Government remain committed to supporting carers. They do a fantastic and wonderful job—and, as he says, they also save the state a huge amount of money through the work they do.”

“My hon. Friend may be slightly better at puns than me, but I join him in celebrating Whit walks. I can confirm that his constituency does a great turn at that, and I join him in trumpeting all those in his constituency who participate.”

“This sounds like a particularly frustrating situation for my hon. Friend’s constituents. If she gives me the full details of the case, I will make sure that HMRC deals with it quickly.”

“I of course join my hon. Friend in condemning this awful incident in his constituency. I thank his local police and the school for their swift response, and I look forward to justice being served.”

“We are committed to providing mental health support, especially for our young people. We have an ambitious programme to do just that, and I am sure that Health Ministers will keep us updated.”

“I certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating all those involved in improving the Southwick village green, and thank all volunteers in all our constituencies for what they do.”

“I hear what the hon. Lady says. Many of us have met constituents with fluctuating illnesses like the ones she describes, and I understand that this is a worrying time for people. We have had the Green Paper. We will shortly bring forward a piece of legislation to consider further the eligibility criteria for the person…”

“We have inherited a very difficult situation when it comes to cancer diagnosis and many other diagnoses across our health service. That is why we are boosting healthcare spending in the coming years, as we did yesterday in the spending review. We will publish a dedicated national cancer plan shortly, and that will incl…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As I said earlier, the lack of investment in many of our northern towns and cities has really held those communities back. I am well aware of the challenges in Rossendale and Darwen and how much his constituency could flourish if it had better rail and road connectivity, and I look f…”

“I am not quite sure that I understand what that race is, but it sounds very unique to Knaresborough, and I will take an interest now that the hon. Gentleman has raised it with me. That would make a good topic for a debate.”

“May I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue? The Government remain deeply concerned about the use of blasphemy laws to undermine human rights in Pakistan, and those conversations between our Government and other Governments happen continuously. The Foreign Secretary is in his place, so I am sure that he has h…”

“Well, I can confirm that it was not Mr Speaker’s 100th birthday—he falls well short of that. Weren’t you 21 again this week, Mr Speaker? I join my hon. Friend in congratulating Doncaster Free Press and all our local newspapers on continuing to provide a trusted source of local news that many of our constituents rely on…”

“I am aware that that was my hon. Friend’s 132nd question to this House since he was elected in July, which is double the number his predecessor asked in his first year, so I congratulate him on that. He raises the very important issue of electric vehicles and the need for us to get access to them.”

“I am really sorry to hear of the case in my hon. Friend’s constituency. She is absolutely right to raise that here and with others. It sounds like a good topic for a debate, because I am sure we would all want to know that our children were safe on school transport.”

“I join my hon. Friend in thanking all the volunteers in her constituency for getting those defibrillators, because they can absolutely save lives. It is really important that we get them into as many communities as possible, and we are committed to improving access to them. As ever, I am sure they would make a good top…”

“My hon. Friend is certainly a great cheerleader for his constituency and for this sport, which has been raised with me before. It provides great opportunities for people to engage with sport and showcases what can be done.”

“My hon. Friend raises the really important issue of World Continence Week and the availability of appropriate bins to dispose of things in men’s toilets as well as in women’s. I am sure that we can take up those issues.”

“As the hon. Gentleman knows, the numbers he describes are within the normal fluctuations of these things. I am not clear whether this Conservative party supports getting more teachers into our state schools. As a result of the changes we have made to VAT on private schools, we have got over 2,000 more teachers in our s…”

“If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I will never tyre of hearing about the great events in Members’ constituencies, and this sounds like a wheely good one. [Interruption.] No? Okay, we will do better next time. I thank her for raising that event.”

“This Government are absolutely committed to supporting carers, and we have already taken steps to do so. We recognise how worrying it is for people when we are discussing changes to PIP and what those would mean for passported benefits such as carer’s allowance. As the Green Paper sets out, we will be considering all o…”