Speeches by Pritchard.

“I will call Dr Scott Arthur, Sarah Hall, Kirsteen Sullivan and Elsie Blundell, and then I will vacate the Chair for my replacement. I call Dr Scott Arthur.”

“The Minister does not have to defect to Reform to get a pint, and I am very happy to show him round the pubs in Shropshire’s villages and market towns. I will show him that pubs are not just about having non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks; they are often at the very heart of village communities. Local charities, the wo…”

“Following on from my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), I too would be very surprised, as a co-author of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on China, if the Committee had not seen the National Security Adviser on such an important issue. The director general of the Securi…”

“You have 10 minutes—that is a joke.”

“I commend the Home Secretary for her robust statement and the leadership she has shown this afternoon. On community relations, can she assure me and other Members that lessons will be learned from this report and that other chief officers of other forces will look upon it as a reminder that they should be acting on beh…”

“Can the Foreign Secretary reassure the House that freedom and justice—rather than the pursuit of oil and gas, however important that might be—will remain at the heart of British foreign policy? I stand with her in standing up for those who are courageously and bravely standing up for freedom in Iran. Of course, freedom…”

“Will the Minister join me in putting on record my thanks to West Mercia police, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, West Midlands ambulance service and all the local government officers at Telford and Wrekin council and Shropshire council who helped? At its peak, 10,000 homes were without power. Currently, there are 20…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I seek your guidance. Since Christmas, hundreds of my constituents have not received a single letter via the Royal Mail. That is causing huge anxiety for those waiting for medical results, important documentation, job offers and so on. The local post office team of postmen and…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I welcome the Defence Secretary’s statement today, but I want to press him a little on a vote in Parliament. In his statement—it is pretty much the same wording as the Prime Minister’s, as I would expect—he states that a decision on deployment will be brought to the House “for a debate beforehand and for a vote on that…”

“Is the shadow Secretary of State aware of the great concern in Shropshire among the rural community, in particular farmers, that the Government are conflating lethal firearms with shotguns? Of course, shotguns should be controlled, but they are already strictly controlled, and they are a vital part of rural life, espec…”

“It is humid in here. I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. She is talking about important subjects for all our communities, including infrastructure, SMEs and transport. We can differ on who is to be praised or not. On the Government’s legislative priorities—many of these things require legislation or have alre…”

“I will vote against it!”

“As you will know, Mr Speaker, I have been calling for the Government to publish an Africa strategy for a very long time. Has it been worth the wait? No. Yesterday, we got a written ministerial statement with a new approach—a partnership. It is not a strategy. As has been said, of the 54 nations, 21 are Commonwealth nat…”

“This is a dark day for Shropshire’s green belt—places like Albrighton and Shifnal in my constituency—for the remaining green belt in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, in places like Preston upon the Weald Moors, Edgmond, Bratton and Church Aston. Another time in this place, the Minister referenced the number of local …”

“I welcome the Rycroft review. In an earlier reply, the Secretary of State said that the role of the Electoral Commission will be in scope. If that is the case, it needs involvement from Opposition parties across the House—earlier in his statement he said that that probably would not happen, but perhaps it should happen…”

“I remind colleagues that if they wish to speak, they should bob—quite a few colleagues are bobbing already, so thank you for that.”

“Before we continue, could I ask that everybody has their phone on silent, please?”

“T3. The Defence Secretary says that this country should get on a war footing, but the UK currently has no comprehensive anti-hypersonic, anti-ballistic missile defence system. Given the threats from Russia and elsewhere and their capabilities, that means that all our constituents, whether they vote Labour or Conservati…”

“We heard from Labour Back Benchers about the previous Government’s borrowing, but that was for the country as a whole—for example, covid recovery loans. We have seen with this Budget what I would call career recovery loans, which are for the benefit of two people: the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister.”