Speeches by Murphy.

“This is my final question. Given all the discussion about value for money and performance metrics, how does the NDA—and Sellafield specifically—measure productivity, and what are the hard metrics for whether it is improving or declining?”

“What are the biggest changes that you might expect this time?”

“The NDA is the biggest line item on the DESNZ budget, and Sellafield is the biggest line item on the NDA budget. Could you say a bit about why the Sellafield site is so expensive and so difficult to manage?”

“I hear what you are saying about the lack of thought that may have gone into it 50 years ago, but the NAO highlighted that Sellafield has missed the majority of its important hazard reduction targets since 2020-21. Some of the key milestones for emptying the legacy ponds, which I think you have mentioned, have slipped …”

“Reflecting on the current strategy, what do you think are the biggest successes and failures or areas for improvement in it?”

“Last month in Basingstoke, three women were victims of spiking while on nights out. That appalling crime robs individuals of their autonomy, puts lives at risk and leaves women feeling unsafe. Victims, including Skylar, Laura and Jade, have highlighted serious gaps in the awareness of and response to spiking, so I welc…”

“On the point about facts, I was fascinated by the end of the shadow Secretary of State’s contribution. She opined on whether Labour was sticking to its promise to end the decline in the countryside. I wonder who was in government for the last 14 years while the countryside was declining. The Conservative Government sol…”

“I apologise for being late, and I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. I agree that the market of critical minerals is intensely concentrated in China. Therefore, for security reasons, for economic opportunities and to achieve net zero, it is vital to secure the domestic supply chain. Does he …”

“I am not sure that it is for me to give reassurances—it is probably for Ministers to do that—but what I can do is repeat what the Minister said earlier: the Government will bring forward the settlement for GPs in the usual way.”

“As I have already said, we are protecting small businesses through this Bill and we have an industrial strategy. We are delivering record levels of public investment in the economy, and I doubt very much that the measures that the hon. Lady set out would deliver the kind of funding that this Bill will deliver. We need …”

“I take it that the hon. Lady must oppose the large investment in public services that the Government are proposing, and that she opposes the Government’s industrial strategy, which is one of the ways we will grow the economy. I remind Opposition Members that workers in small and large businesses depend on the NHS. As o…”

“Both the back door and the front door of the NHS have been broken over the last 14 years, so we will take no lectures from the Conservatives about the state of the NHS or the impact of policies. The protection of small business is also built into the Bill. The increase in the employment allowance to £10,500—as the Mini…”

“The Bill, and the Budget, protect the smallest businesses, as the Minister has already explained. It is disappointing to hear the hon. Member sharing the Conservative party’s cakeism. Opposition Members must surely support the investments that the Bill will deliver, but if they oppose the Bill, how do they propose to f…”

“For too long, this country has suffered from irresponsible and short-sighted fiscal management from Conservatives, saddling working people with the bill for their broken promises, incompetence and chaotic approach to governing. They hiked taxes for working people to record rates and left behind a £22 billion black hole…”

“The hon. Lady has cited the IFS, which said of the Liberal Democrat manifesto that “there are clear risks that their package of tax measures would not raise the £27 billion a year that they claim.” The IFS also described some of the measures as “a bad idea economically.” Confronted with a Bill promising actual investme…”

“Is the hon. Member about to come on to the part where he welcomes the largest real-terms settlement for Wales since devolution?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner) on securing this urgent question, and I thank the Minister for her response. She will be aware that a significant number of members of the Bangladeshi Hindu diaspora in the UK, including in my constituency, have expressed concern about the attacks…”

“There is an interesting discussion about the balance of trade-offs. One of the other considerations is cost, and the cost of undergrounding is multiple times the amount of overhead pylons. The previous Government were not able to demonstrate that they could do it at the same cost, so how does the right hon. Gentleman b…”

“I echo the very warm tributes to Lord Prescott from across the House. One of the warmest tributes to him from outside this House was by former Vice-President Al Gore, who described him as “an unwavering champion of climate action”. The Government’s global clean power alliance builds on that legacy, uniting countries to…”

“I had a question I was going to ask specifically related to that, around whether it would make sense for GB Energy and GB Nuclear to be one body. I feel like you have answered that by saying maybe in the future, but maybe you want to answer that at the start of your next answer. I want to come back to value for money. …”