Speeches by Western.

“I thank the Secretary of State on behalf of my constituents, many of whom work for Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin. This update is very welcome news, especially the changes for small and micro manufacturers and for hybrid, too, particularly in the light of Washington’s tariffs last week. Electrification and hydrogen…”

“Had this been the right hon. Members for Salisbury (John Glen) or for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), I would have stood in support of them, as I am sure many colleagues would have done too, because this issue affects us all. I therefore find the Leader of the Opposition’s comments extraordinary. We must not forget…”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, you might not be aware that there is such a thing as the RAC pothole index. It shows that something like four out of 10 incidents of damage to cars happen as a result of potholes. The owners of vehicles are paying road tax and fuel duty, but they do not have the road infrastructure to support them…”

“Last Saturday was the eighth anniversary of the sad passing of PC Keith Palmer, who died in the line of duty. He died securing this place and we should remember him. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Up and down the country, as we saw last summer, police officers put themselves in harm’s way securing and making safe the pu…”

“Clearly, the absence of an industrial strategy in the past five years has had an impact, so I welcome the Government’s notion of a steel plan. Given that the industrial strategy features three major elements—construction, defence and energy infrastructure—will the steel plan look not at a 10-year horizon but at one of …”

“Obviously, the work of carers is important, as we have been hearing. Can the Minister help me with one constituent’s case? He is a carer, but is now suffering from long covid and would be due PIP. What will happen to him under the points system?”

“Will the Minister update us on the zero emission vehicle mandate consultation? When can the sector expect an outcome?”

“I am concerned. We have heard about the UK losing its virgin steel production capacity. Is this not an opportunity for us? I do not know whether it is possible for such sites to produce armoured steel, but, given the UK’s strength in the defence sector, is that not an opportunity?”

“I mean in your work with suppliers.”

“Is there anything that needs to be done to increase industrial capabilities, in terms of scaling up production and working with partners or start-ups?”

“When will that plan be published?”

“How are people adjusting to this?”

“Presumably, there is some process going on within the Department about how we can rationalise this in a wartime or conflict era.”

“We could be learning from this and simplifying the process.”

“There are parallels with the pandemic.”

“Is it less than half the time?”

“Is it half the time?”

“Just on that, Minister, give us a flavour. It is not our area of expertise, but procurement has struggled under Governments of all hues. You mentioned that you have been able to speed up the process. It is the same people. You talked about delegation downwards. If the time the procurement process takes in the UK is 100…”

“Minister Jones, we were talking earlier about the plan for steel. What, in the view of the Government and the market, are the greatest opportunities for UK steel in the future?”

“Minister, when will the Department have established what the total opportunity market is for UK or for export?”