Speeches by Taylor.

“I totally agree that one of the best things about reading is the reason it develops empathy is because it allows you to put yourself in the mind and eyes of someone else and see the world through their perspective. The challenge we have is that 25% of boys enjoy reading for pleasure. That means that three quarters do n…”

“Starting from some of our focus groups, one of the things that was most interesting was when young people, particularly the young boys we were talking to, were asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” it was always either an influencer or a sportsman. If it was a sportsman, it was a footballer. When we are talk…”

“Ed, you mentioned at the end there the study that suggested that people do not feel like democratic institutions are serving their value. We are all watching the news, and the fact that we are being broadcast suggests that people might be screaming at their televisions and talking about the very obvious major cases tha…”

“Just picking up a couple of things, Ed, you have given me one in your last sentence there. John, first of all, you talked about the independence of the Electoral Commission and the importance of that. If that is re-established and given much greater importance, is there an opportunity for the Electoral Commission to re…”

“I thank the Minister—I am not sure whether I do thank him—but I want to push back gently on that, and I would be interested in his response. Does not the fact that we have had 15 years since Andrew resigned in disgrace and it did not come before Parliament demonstrate that there is such a reluctance, or is it a true mi…”

“Let us not get into the whole ONS conversation again, but thank you. You have answered the questions that I had.”

“You mentioned very briefly the powers or the practice that you have to highlight both poor use and, in this case, positive use. Do you have sufficient powers, audience or visibility to jockey on the rest to see that best practice and to see where positive trust is being generated by those behaviours?”

“Does the point about what the protection officers knew not show the outrageous power imbalance between a royal and an employee? We are talking about whistleblowing and reporting what has been seen. Is the prospect of having somebody in that situation—whereby they are being held to account for not calling out the behavi…”

“Do you have any examples of good practice, where an organisation or a particular use of statistics has built trust? While we want to stop undermining trust with poor use of statistics, where have you seen that improved and done in a positive way?”

“Ed, you mentioned at the end there the study that suggested that people do not feel like democratic institutions are serving their value. We are all watching the news, and the fact that we are being broadcast suggests that people might be screaming at their televisions and talking about the very obvious major cases tha…”

“I apologise for breaking that convention, but it is a useful demonstration that, however right the Speaker is in acting with such utter wisdom that we will never question, it remains a challenge to raise issues like this one in the Chamber. During the debate, Liberal Democrat Members have been clear that we have to hav…”

“We have talked about—you have used the quote already, because it is quite a good one—how statistics are the lifeblood of democratic debate, and the misuse of statistics results in an erosion of trust, not just in Government but also in all of politics. Do you have any examples of how that has been manifested in electio…”

“I hope this intervention adds to my hon. Friend’s point. Does she find it ironic that the only person who has been imprisoned as part of the Epstein scandal is a woman?”

“Just picking up a couple of things, Ed, you have given me one in your last sentence there. John, first of all, you talked about the independence of the Electoral Commission and the importance of that. If that is re-established and given much greater importance, is there an opportunity for the Electoral Commission to re…”

“T10. Children’s cancer services are due to move from the Royal Marsden to the Evelina hospital next year. Concerns have been raised with me about the provision of a teaching space for children undergoing cancer treatment and its provision in the new plans. Will the Minister meet with me to discuss that transition and c…”

“I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I thank the Minister for his early acknowledgment of support for the Humble Address. He has engaged constructively with comments about its scope and exactly what it says. I thank him for his supportive attitude, as there has been across the Chamber. To return to the point about n…”

“Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. You will have to forgive me for dancing around to aid my pained back. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That quote from 1887 is of the British historian Lord Acton, and its explains how power in its most essential form inevitably corrupts. Today we are dis…”

“rose—”

“Do you have any examples of good practice, where an organisation or a particular use of statistics has built trust? While we want to stop undermining trust with poor use of statistics, where have you seen that improved and done in a positive way?”

“Let us not get into the whole ONS conversation again, but thank you. You have answered the questions that I had.”