Speeches by Pritchard.

“I do not know whether the Minister has read Confucius, the Chinese philosopher of 2,500 years ago, and his “Silver Rule”, which talks about mercy and compassion. While all of us in this House will continue to campaign for Jimmy Lai’s release, can the Minister at least confirm whether there is consular access to Jimmy L…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) on securing this timely and much-needed debate. I had a 10-minute speech, but I think that has gone by the wayside with the three-minute limit. What we have heard today is the strength of our constituency parliamentary system: Members acros…”

“I am glad that the Government are committed to that, but I am not sure that Royal Mail is, and that is the problem. Ofcom fines are clearly not working, because Royal Mails keeps repeating the same mistakes. I hope the Minister will note this moment in time—this debate—because I am very concerned by a situation in whic…”

“I am grateful to the Minister for being so generous. On the point about the golden share and Royal Mail having been put on notice, what powers of intervention or sanction does the Minister have? Can he provide to my constituents who are listening to this debate the solution they are hoping for? We have not heard it yet…”

“Thankfully, Iranian influence is in decline in the south Caucasus and central Asia, but one country in which it seems to be in the ascendancy is Georgia. Does the Minister share my concern about allegations that there are up to 13,000 Iranian companies registered in Georgia, with 700 registered to one small building in…”

“With reference to what the Minister said earlier about trade and investment envoys, I remind him that I was a trade and investment envoy to Georgia and Armenia some years ago. The problem is that the trade and investment envoys are now pretty much all Labour, whereas previously, under all Prime Ministers, they were cro…”

“While I always enjoy the soliloquies of the Minister of State, it might be an opportunity for the Minister who has responsibility for Royal Mail and postal services to answer this question, given that I wrote to his office about the catastrophic failure of the letter delivery service throughout Shropshire. Would he agr…”

“Over the past month, more than 35,000 men, women and children have been shot dead—murdered—in Iran. Overnight, the French Government backed a move to put the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the EU’s terrorist list. The majority of those shot have been shot by operatives of the IRGC. The Government have said that t…”

“The Secretary of State is a fellow west midlands Member of Parliament, and he will know Shropshire very well. Many WASPI women born in the 1950s from my constituency will be very disappointed by today’s announcement. He talks about miscommunication and maladministration but, of course, says little about compensation, w…”

“A Crown court judge in Shropshire recently referenced the county’s “shoplifting epidemic”. Page 6 of the Minister’s statement says that “more credible punishments outside prison…include a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences for less serious offenders—because we know these do not work.” Does the Minister ac…”

“Of course, poverty of aspiration contributes to inequalities. As the Minister will know, over 100,000 children in this country are in looked-after care, in secure homes, children’s homes and foster care. Every single one of those children has a skill, an ability, something to contribute to society. With her Secretary o…”

“Q14. The UK’s nuclear deterrent has kept this country safe for over five decades. As the Deputy Prime Minister will know, it is operationally independent, but it still relies on US defence supply chains. Given the shaking of traditional alliances, could the Deputy Prime Minister reassure the House and the country that …”

“I am not sure whether the Minister has volunteered yet for “Strictly Come Dancing”. Today, from the Government of U-turns, we have seen a half turn or a reverse turn or a pivot, as it is known in ballroom dancing circles. The Minister will recall that I invited him to join me on a pub crawl in Shropshire. So far he has…”

“We all want to see more effective and efficient policing, but I am not quite sure whether this White Paper will deliver it. Clearly, the devil will be in the detail. The Home Secretary will know that West Mercia police, covering Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, is a high-performing police force. Can she re…”

“When President Trump was frustrated with President Zelensky last year, he withdrew intelligence sharing with Ukraine for a short period. Will the Foreign Secretary, who oversees GCHQ and MI6, assure the House and my constituents that should such a threat that intelligence sharing with the United Kingdom be withdrawn, e…”

“Order. I remind Members to bob if they wish to speak—I think that is happening right now, so thank you. Given the popularity and importance of this debate, there will be an informal limit of four and a half minutes on speeches.”

“Order. Some hon. Members are standing. It is only convention that Members sit on a particular side of the room. Perhaps there will be a cross-party love-in today; we have started to see one already. If Members want to move to the other side of the Chamber where there are seats, they are able to do so. I will recognise …”

“Before I call Gagan Mohindra, let me say that, while the screen on my left is not showing the time, the screens behind me and on my right are. Members should be conscious of others when speaking.”

“I will call Sarah Dyke, then Juliet Campbell, and then Gideon Amos.”

“I call Gideon Amos. I will then call Amanda Hack.”