Speeches by Wood.

“Equality before the law is at the heart of the rule of law. As the great Roman statesman Cicero said: “For rights that were not open to all alike would be no rights.” The revised guidelines from the Sentencing Council fundamentally went against that important principle. To introduce a presumption that pre-sentence repo…”

“I have to wrap up. When will the Government get serious, get a grip and put an end to this, once and for all?”

“Clearly, Parliament needs to have oversight of revisions to sentencing guidelines, so that they reflect the will of Parliament. The Government failed to act and have now brought forward this lacklustre measure. In the past few months, my hon. and right hon. Friends have uncovered multiple instances of two-tier principl…”

“That is not true.”

“It is an honour to respond to this debate on behalf of His Majesty’s official Opposition. Having spent just over a year and a half in the Government Whips Office before the election, during which time the longest speech I was able to make in this Chamber was probably to move that this House do now adjourn, today is a c…”

“The Minister for Civil Society knows about the fantastic work that Gordon Moody does at its Dudley treatment centre to help people rebuild their lives following gambling-related harm. The Secretary of State may not know, however, that Gordon Moody faces having to suspend its residential treatment because of the Governm…”

“The Northern Ireland Farming Minister estimates that three quarters of dairy farms in Northern Ireland could be hit by inheritance tax following the Chancellor’s disastrous changes. Given the particularly high cost of agricultural land compared with farming incomes in Northern Ireland, does the Secretary of State recog…”

“I thank the Minister for presenting the draft regulations. I am particularly pleased that my right hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury agreed to bring his enormous expertise on this matter to the Committee. When he was Paymaster General, he worked tirelessly to make sure that victims and their families could at last r…”

“The Minister is being generous in giving way. Prosecutors have a choice as to which charge to bring. They can still bring a charge under the common law offence, which as the Minister says, has a high maximum sentence—but one that is very rarely imposed—or, as with benefit fraud, they could bring it under a specific off…”

“I thank the Minister for her response, but why does she feel that benefit fraud ought to be a specific offence, with maximum sentences under the Social Security Administration Act 1992, but that it is not appropriate for a specific offence to apply to people who deliberately defraud other public authorities?”

“I wish the hon. Gentleman’s mother a very happy birthday. It is a great date of birth to share. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that the ombudsman’s report concluded that there had been maladministration between 2005 and 2007, and that some women had suffered a loss as a result of that maladministration. The Gov…”

“When we look at dietary habits in recent decades, we see that that is not confined to parts of the income spectrum. There has been a deterioration in the quality of diets going back over several decades that is quite separate from issues of poverty. As of January 2024, more than 2.1 million pupils were eligible for ben…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur), both on his good fortune in being drawn in the private Member’s Bill ballot and on his wisdom in picking this very important issue to take forward. Having been similarly lucky in being drawn in that ballot a few weeks after I was first elected, nearly…”

“The hon. Lady is obviously right, and I know that she approaches this subject with, tragically, a huge amount of personal experience. We have already seen drugs—in some cases, long-marketed drugs—being applied for new purposes and new conditions. Without those costly clinical trials, they will not be licensed or approv…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) on promoting this Bill so ably. The last Conservative Government massively expanded eligibility for free school meals, meaning that the proportion of children and young people eligible is much higher than was the case under any previous Government. The evidence he…”

“I really must continue. The Government have promised to move on to the next Bill at quarter to two, so I need to keep interventions to a minimum. We also introduced extensive protections which have been in effect since 2018. They ensure that while universal credit is being fully rolled out, any child eligible for free …”

“T3. I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Some 66% of hospitality firms say they will have to cut staff or staff hours, 75% say they will cut investment, and 97% say they will increase prices because of the Chancellor’s manifesto-breaking national insurance increases.…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Clearly, the people who are best placed to avoid paying the tax are the very people who ought to be paying and contributing: the mega landowners. For the average cereal farmer, however, who could face inheritance tax bills of 1.5 times the value of their annual profits, the only reco…”

“We believe in a future in which farming thrives—one based on stability, growth and sustainability. Sadly, Labour’s policies jeopardise all three. Whether it is the disastrous last-minute overnight closure of the sustainable farming incentive, the relentless family death tax assault on family farms, or the negligence to…”

“Given what the hon. Lady just said about the number of farm holdings, would she regard it as a sign of failure of this Government if that number is lower at the time of the next election?”