Speeches by Powell.

“I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue. She will be aware that applications such as the one from Luton airport are to be considered in a quasi-judicial capacity by the Secretary of State for Transport, so it would not be appropriate for me to comment directly on that. However, I can assure her that any decisions …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising the difficult and tragic case of Jagtar Singh Johal, who is in prison in India. We have raised this issue with Prime Minister Modi on a number of occasions, and on every occasion we underline the need for an urgent resolution. I will ensure that my hon. Friend has a full update from M…”

“I think every MP in the House will have had constituents contact them about the use of anti- depressants, how they are prescribed, their effects, and whether they are fully understood by those they are given to. This is a really important issue, and I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman gets a full response, but I thin…”

“Like my hon. Friend, I fully support the hospitality industry. I recognise the unease and worry of many in the industry about how difficult business is at the moment; we have seen demand fall over recent years and costs go up as inflation went through the roof under the previous Government. We had to take difficult ste…”

“I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s meeting with the Harrogate branch of the National Autistic Society. Autism and other special educational needs and disabilities are regularly raised in these sessions. We have already had some debates. The Government and local authorities are putting more support into special educational …”

“The issues of the knife crime epidemic—that is the only way to describe it—are profound, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising them. I join him in supporting the work of Idris Elba, who recently met the Prime Minister in Downing Street as part of the coalition to tackle knife crime. We are doing a range of things, and…”

“I join the hon. Gentleman in congratulating Julie Meares and all those who have supported the community centre in Braithwaite. I think we would all like to spend a bit more time in this place celebrating volunteers like Julie. They are the backbone of our communities, without whom we would not have the places that we a…”

“My hon. Friend is right that e-scooters can be a plague on our communities. We will legislate to ensure that e-scooters are used responsibly and safely. We will also make it easier to seize vehicles, including e-scooters, that are ridden dangerously on the pavement or left abandoned. These measures will come forward so…”

“Retail crime was effectively decriminalised by the previous Government, and we are taking steps to reverse that through our crime and policing Bill, which will also have measures on online fraud. The Bill will be introduced imminently, and there will be ample time to debate these matters.”

“I was appalled to see the pictures and the evidence that my hon. Friend sent to me of her predecessor effectively parading around her constituency as an MP or a shadow MP, or other such things that do not exist. Using the portcullis symbol in that way is absolutely against protocol. I take this matter very seriously, a…”

“As ever, the hon. Gentleman raises an important issue of freedom of religion or belief. I reassure him that the Chancellor and the Foreign Secretary raised human rights and matters of freedom of religion or belief on their recent visits to China, and that these issues are taken very seriously by this Government. I than…”

“We have to be honest that a phenomenal number of police stations were closed under the previous Conservative Government, and that community policing was left on its knees. We are determined to fix that, which is why we are bringing in more neighbourhood police officers and more police community support officers so that…”

“After years of cuts and austerity, we have seen the decimation of youth services and youth hubs in many of our communities, so it is not surprising that knife crime and other issues have increased as a consequence. My hon. Friend knows that this Government are committed to prevention education and to bringing youth hub…”

“I am sorry to hear about that case. I assure my hon. Friend, his constituent and other survivors of domestic abuse that we will be strengthening the rights and protections available for women in co-habiting couples, including addressing issues around joint tenancies, so that they can remain in their homes. I look forwa…”

“My hon. Friend is right that we need to put more power back into the hands of local communities and local government to ensure the long-term future of community assets, like the ones she describes.”

“My hon. Friend rightly highlights the importance of that bridge to her community, and its closure is causing huge disruption for many of her constituents. I know she has been touch with Defence Ministers about the matter, and I will follow that up for her, so we can get that bridge in Monmouth open as soon as possible.”

“I know that this issue is close to my hon. Friend’s heart and that it is something he strongly supports, as I do. Votes at 16 was an important measure in our manifesto, but he will know that it has not been identified in a Bill to be introduced in this Session. I hope that an elections Bill, including votes at 16, will…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on holding more Change NHS consultations in her constituency than any other Member has held in theirs. As a result of those meetings, she has raised the important issue of free prescriptions. I will raise her concerns with the relevant Minister and ensure that she gets a full response.”

“I join my hon. Friend in thanking John Clarke for all the work he has done over the years to raise awareness of these issues through Dates-n-Mates, which is a great name for an organisation. My hon. Friend will know that we are actively encouraging employers to create disability-inclusive workplaces. I will ensure that…”

“I am a close neighbour of my hon. Friend, and my husband works in Warrington and uses those roads regularly. I share her frustration that the road networks in the north-west, around our region and across many parts of the north of England are in a poor state, and insufficient to cope with the increased traffic that she…”