Speeches by Pritchard.

“I have a constituent—I am not going to name him today—who has been illegally arrested in international waters, and I agree with the Minister that there should be early, indeed immediate, consular access. Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to Egypt’s role in peacemaking in the region, particularly in seeking to…”

“May I just say for the record that I have not made any formal application to be a trade and investment envoy? I previously was a trade and investment envoy under Prime Minister Theresa May, who is now in another place. What I am concerned about is the fact that this particular programme is not cross-party. It was set u…”

“They’re Labour.”

“On that point, will the Minister give way?”

“The right hon. Lady.”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—[Interruption.] I usually get cheering at the end, not the beginning, but I appreciate it. Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank you for calling me; it is a lovely surprise. I want to pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting). He is not in his place right now, but I h…”

“rose—”

“While I welcome the Type 26 global combat ship, as I am sure my hon. Friend does—that is an important naval deal with Norway—will the timeline of its delivery not give the first ships to Norway rather than to the United Kingdom? If I am wrong, that is great, but if that is the case, there must be a discussion in the MO…”

“The Minister is right to focus on procurement and on defence kit and equipment, but all of that is nothing without defence personnel. I do not know if he is going to come on to personnel in his speech, but may I pivot his thoughts towards that subject? When they are redeployed to different countries, or even when they …”

“I pay tribute to the Minister, who has been tough on Russia for many, many years. He is sanctioned in Russia, as am I, and we have both previously chaired the all-party parliamentary group on Russia, so I know today’s announcement will sit uncomfortably with him. I welcome the new sanctions through third countries, but…”

“If I am wrong, great—I am used to being wrong on many occasions, but I am happy to be wrong on something we need to get right.”

“The hon. Member is absolutely right. There is a patchwork of quality, if you like, and it is different depending on the local education authority, so there is an argument at least to look at whether there should be—forgive me—uniformity between Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England when looking at the particula…”

“Big tech is a force for good, but so often it is used for bad. Is there not a fundamental conflict of interest for this Government, and even the previous Government, in that big tech companies are so embedded in Government Departments and agencies that the Government are not prepared to take the tough action necessary …”

“Of course, the youngest children in care are babies. It might shock the House to learn that there are 36 babies residing, through no fault of their own, in mother and baby units around the country. Given that babies are taken away from their mothers on a case-by-case basis after 18 months, I wonder whether part of the …”

“Let us be honest: tens of thousands of young people have been let down in this country by successive Governments. The right hon. Gentleman said that those in care are drawn “disproportionately” into the justice system, and all that talent—in my view, forgive me, God-given talent—is wasted. We talk about productivity in…”

“One way to support growth in Wales, and indeed in Shropshire, is to support the Wrexham, Shropshire & Midland Railway’s open access application to the Office of Rail and Road. Will the Secretary of State make a commitment, similar to that of the Transport Secretary, that the Government will not get in the way of th…”

“Will the hon. Lady write to the Local Government Minister, because I think some councils are a little bit timid when it comes to faith-based organisations? The dioceses of Lichfield and Hereford, which fall under The Wrekin constituency and are partly in the Telford constituency, do a fantastic job, but I think there i…”

“Chapter 4, paragraph 23 of the North Tyneside local plan, which covers an area that includes the Leader of the House’s constituency, talks about protecting the green belt. As there is green-belt land in the north of his constituency, I am sure that he shares my concerns about over-development, which is referred to in t…”

“Six days ago, the UK Government’s security group rightly launched a leak inquiry into the leaking of very sensitive information from the National Security Council. I do not expect the Defence Secretary to comment on an ongoing inquiry, but does he agree on these principles? First, the very least that our armed forces s…”

“The United Kingdom remains one of the most tolerant nations in the world, but social cohesion can never be taken for granted, as the Minister knows. As well as the welcome work to increase security around faith schools and places of worship, what more can the Government do through the Secretary of State for Education t…”