Speeches by Law.

“On the subject of today’s debate—investment and renewal—may I express my delight at the establishment of a local, publicly owned investment fund for Cornwall? It is only by investing in the SMEs and supply chains that underlie our most promising industries that we will ensure that the benefits of growth are spread thro…”

“Does the right hon. Member care to remind us how much the NHS strikes cost under his Government’s watch?”

“Does my right hon. Friend agree that some of the real-world and market impacts we saw last week underscore the importance of following proper process with the OBR? We saw the evidence to the contrary just three years ago, when the then Government chose to ignore and bypass the OBR entirely, causing interest rates and m…”

“As chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on critical minerals, I greatly welcome the strategy released this weekend. Domestic supplies of critical minerals are of huge importance to our economic security and resilience in an ever more turbulent world. They are also a potential source of jobs and prosperity, par…”

“I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement, the care and fairness with which she has crafted the proposals, and the incentives that they instil. In my work on the International Development Committee, I have seen the immense negative impact of global displacement and the loss of over $20 billion of economic activity every…”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for the recent boost to the local transport grant for my constituents in mid-Cornwall, but one of the barriers to more transformative rail investment in Cornwall remains a lack of shovel-ready projects to proceed with, which I have been talking about with residents in the western…”

“18. What steps she is taking to help ensure that the transport system supports economic growth.”

“Professor Haastrup and Eva, you have both spoken about the resource challenges to a degree. How can the UK best continue to implement its commitments on WPS in the constrained 0.3% world?”

“That is really concerning to hear.”

“A brief follow-up. On mainstreaming, Professor Haastrup suggested that proper oversight from an envoy-type role could work to address this, even if there is not necessarily the level of dedicated resource on the ground. Eva and Reem, would you agree with that?”

“The hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) makes a fair point. When raising public revenue, one should at least expect a decent return on that spend, whether it be a social return or otherwise. Does the right hon. Member not consider investing in our NHS to be such a decent return?”

“The hon. Member is making a spirited speech that gets to the heart of what we are all trying to address. There are fiscal levers that we can pull to ensure that we bring down bills. Does he share my sense of disbelief about the irony in the Conservatives’ earlier motion suggesting that there should be no further tax ri…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way again. Will he acknowledge the massive dead-weight loss caused by the strikes that were going on, unbelievably, under the previous Government, and the negative returns as a result of the previous Government’s actions?”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this important debate. Accessibility on our railways is not simply a question of engineering and infrastructure development; it speaks to the kind of society that we want to build: one that…”

“I certainly agree that the Department for Transport and Network Rail must look where there are gaps in funding those schemes to see what can be done to help plug those gaps. As we have heard from hon. Members across the Chamber, the Access for All scheme has sadly come to represent the kind of pork barrel politics that…”

“Despite representing only around 9% of the UK’s economic output, the retail and hospitality sectors contribute around a third of all business rates paid. Does the Minister agree that high streets such as that in St Austell are public goods, and will he ensure that independent small businesses such as those he has descr…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. Official development assistance is changing. Just two weeks ago in Nigeria, one of the UK’s largest development partners, my colleagues and I from the International Development Committee had a glimpse of the future. Although the FCDO runs dozens of central…”

“Yes, because it seems that is happening anyway, albeit that it is not necessarily systematised or forward-looking, or at least has not been forward-looking.”

“To perhaps come full circle back to helping the Department triage its priorities, you referred to some conversations—presumably in private, you have been having many of those conversations. Is there a role for ICAI to more systematically take this triaging of different—again, I am not necessarily talking about the moda…”

“Lastly, perhaps I can ask you to be a bit more normative on how that could look. I know it is not your role as ICAI to be political or set the strategic direction of the Department, but when we talk about the cuts across various themes or programmes, which ones ring alarm bells purely in relation to value for money, fr…”