Speeches by Evans.

“If you were to come to Hinckley to watch the rugby, Sir Desmond, I would suggest going to the Union Inn. When you walk in, especially given it is Six Nations weekend, you will see lots of rugby quotes along the top of the room. The first that catches my eye is: “The relationship between the Welsh and the English is bas…”

“The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent point about welfare, but there is a wider issue when it comes to rugby union in terms of participation. If the rules are constantly changing and the game is different every time we watch it every season, why would people join if there is a risk of the rules changing and of inju…”

“The hon. Member is making a fantastic speech about the financial impact, but with all these clubs it is about the fans and the jobs that go out into the community. Does he agree that when we saw this situation in football, we had the fan-led review? Would it not therefore be wise for the Government to consider doing so…”

“I thank the hon. Member who, as always, is making a fantastic speech. He is always a champion for the Union, and rugby union is also suffering in Wales and Scotland. Does he have a view on whether we should have a sit-down discussion? Rugby union is devolved, but it is important to ensure sustainability across all four…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and doff my cap to him for his 21 sittings in Committee. When the Regulatory Policy Committee considered the Bill, it said that eight of the 23 impact assessments were “not fit for purpose”. Is he any more confident that that has been rectified through the amendments?”

“My hon. Friend is a learned man and he may have seen the report in the Financial Times that, for the first time ever, the number of companies registered at Companies House has fallen. Does he think this Bill being on the horizon has anything to do with that, particularly given the points that have been made about it no…”

“10. What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of illegal drug use in prisons.”

“A fan-led review.”

“The Minister is right that the last Government appointed two people to look at this issue, but we are three years on and still the clouds are coming. Will she commit to a review of the finances and governance, a bit like the fan-led review, to ensure transparency and open up this debate so that the fans, the volunteers…”

“Before 2021, less than 1% of seized substances contained anabolic steroids. In 2023, it was 10%, with anabolic steroids being the third most prevalent drug class detected in Scottish prisons. Will the Lord Chancellor meet me and Dr Jayasena and Dr Grant, who are national leads on the topic from Imperial College, to loo…”

“The Home Secretary has talked about neighbourhoods and communities, but I have not heard her talk about the rural communities that I represent, and the rural crime force. What will the Bill deliver for them? I am very lucky to be in Leicestershire, where we have a rural crime team, which saw crime drop by 24% in its la…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“The decision to take FA cup replays away, for example, was taken by the FA itself without any consultation; that is the difficulty. That is a prime example of the heritage of the game being taken away, and that mechanism would not quite address that. I will be happy to meet the Minister to talk through an idea that may…”

“Wherever people go in the world, whichever bar they walk into, the one thing we can guarantee is that they will see a premier league game being played. That is the strength of the United Kingdom’s export and the stranglehold that we have on football across the world. Any other country would want to topple us from that …”

“When the law favours identity over principle, it ceases to be justice at all—Magna Carta taught us that. Will the Leader of the House ensure that the Justice Secretary comes to the Chamber to explain why, under this Government, sentencing is going to become about who someone is, and not what they have done?”

“While we as politicians can read and scrutinise those real impacts, when pensioners who will have to pay tax on their state pension come to the hon. Gentleman’s surgeries—they will have to do a tax self-assessment or pay it back—how will he explain to them exactly what is going on? They will not have the technical abil…”

“The Minister is right to point to the amendments in front of us. New clause 3 looks at household income specifically. If he is so confident in the measures he and the Chancellor are putting forward, why will he not accept new clause 3, which has the ability to show just how fantastic the Budget and the Finance Bill are…”

“I am grateful to my Leicestershire colleague for giving way. He will know that housing targets and housing numbers have gone up in Leicestershire—the figures in my patch are up by 59% and 73% respectively. However, the figures for Leicester city are dropping by 31%. Why is that happening when Leicester has brownfield s…”

“The shadow Minister is absolutely correct. At Davos, the Chancellor said she had listened to that community. Why would she make changes for that community, but not the farming community, the pensioner community, the pupils at private schools or the SEND community, or indeed working businesses such as pubs, restaurants …”

“I agree entirely with the shadow Minister. Only today, the Prime Minister said at the Dispatch Box that our economy is security, and security starts with our defence and looking after ourselves—and that includes energy security. Is it not ridiculous not to use North sea oil—our own reserves—to ensure that security? It …”