Speeches by Powell.

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are committed to the Young Futures programme, which, as she will know, is progressing well. I will ensure that the House is kept updated on it; that will give her a chance once again to praise the fantastic work of the youth club in her constituency.”

“I join the hon. Gentleman in thanking the Scouts for their work and all the adults who support them. The Scouts are vital for our young people, and I thank him for making time on his weekend to support them. As ever, I hear the strong representations of the Backbench Business Committee. The Chair and I are due to meet …”

“I did not realise that Torquil Norman created Bluebird Toys, and all of the toys that that involved, so I think all of us owe him a great debt for inventing such fantastic toys. The hon. Member raises an important issue about the DVSA on which we get many complaints. People are waiting too long to get their driving tes…”

“The hon. Lady is absolutely right that the roll-out of fast, full-fibre and gigabit broadband has been too slow, especially in rural areas such as those in her constituency, which sound like they are between urban and rural. This Government are committed to that roll- out by 2030, but I will absolutely ensure that she …”

“I can absolutely encourage everyone to go to Blackpool, have fish and chips on the promenade, and perhaps go on the Big One, which I am too scared to go on. I look forward to joining my hon. Friend there soon.”

“Those issues absolutely remain central to our diplomatic relations. The Foreign Secretary and the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West), are here, and they will have heard the hon. Gentleman’s question. We stand firm on…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for using his own experiences to highlight the important issue of homelessness. I join him in wishing well everyone taking part—including my hon. Friend himself—in the forthcoming Snooze in the South Stand event. He is right: we have to tackle the root causes of homelessness. We have put more mon…”

“The hon. Member will know that in recent years—since long before we came to government—we have seen a huge acceleration in the closure of banks on our high streets because of banks’ changing practices and decisions. The Government are committed to bringing in 350 banking hubs. We have allocated 200, and 100 are already…”

“I would gently remind the hon. Gentleman —I can see he knows what is coming, because he is grimacing already—that under his Government we saw inflation go to 11%, the economy crashing, taxes raised to their highest in 70 years and debt out of control. We have had to come along and put the economy back on a stable footi…”

“I will arrange a meeting for my hon. Friend, who is right that the availability of law centres— I am lucky enough to have one in my constituency—is vital to ensuring that people get the justice they deserve.”

“I absolutely join my hon. Friend in passing on the Government’s condolences and pay tribute to Barry Panter for his contribution to public life, both as a former police officer and dedicated public servant. My hon. Friend has served his constituents very well today.”

“First of all, I congratulate the hon. Gentleman: I think he has a new role as chief adviser to the Leader of the Opposition, the right hon. Member for North West Essex (Mrs Badenoch), because they seem to be on the same page this week. Like her, though, I am afraid he is wrong on this issue, because we cannot ignore ne…”

“I can absolutely identify with what my hon. Friend describes because I have had many similar issues in my constituency. I know that there are systemic problems in Royal Mail to do with staff morale and systems that it uses, which mean that people do not get a service that they can rely on. I advise my hon. Friend to ra…”

“My hon. Friend has taken the opportunity to draw attention to a really important issue. I join her in congratulating Macie White on making the GB deaf women’s football team and wish her well. I hope that in raising it today, the team maybe gets the extra sponsorship and support it so deserves.”

“First, let me thank the hon. Member for his tribute to Torquil Norman. I am sure that if the shadow Leader of the House were able to respond to his question, he would want to do so by thanking him dearly for painting another lovely picture of his father.”

“Absolutely. I was sorry I could not join my hon. Friend and other Greater Manchester colleagues at the event with the Greater Manchester hospices provider collaborative earlier this week—I saw the photos—and I fully support his work on this. I will take this opportunity to thank Springhill hospice in Rochdale. I am rea…”

“The right hon. Member raises a good point. Dementia gets raised a lot in business questions and, I know, in Health questions. We are committed to early diagnosis and to getting up the diagnosis rates. He raises a particular issue about access to pensions that I think requires further consideration, and I will certainly…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, which I know he has campaigned on for a long time. I am sure he recognises that, certainly in recent years, the process has been too slow for many of those infected and affected by this terrible scandal. That is why we moved at pace after the general election, when we firs…”

“I am happy to answer the question anyway, because the hon. Member raises a really important matter. This is a big Bill, with lots of good and important measures in it. It is one of my favourite Bills, not least because it will give the police the powers to seize quad bikes and off-road vehicles, which is very popular i…”

“Absolutely, and I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the invitation to his constituency. I have had many invitations to the region, and I hope to come good on them one day. This has become a very big issue in his constituency. I understand that a petition about this matter has garnered much support, and he is absolutel…”