Speeches by Ryan.

“It sort of feels like cash, cash, cash, but it is all justified because of the benefit of taking carbon out. That is the argument, isn’t it?”

“That is what worries me—the revenue support agreement. I realise that the next two of them—the two biggest ones—are associated with decommissioning or it not going ahead. I feel we are slightly too far down the track.”

“I have a question on a point of information, and it relates to Question 1, which I realise feels like it was about four hours ago. Will the Committee see the contract that has been agreed already?”

“That makes sense.”

“I start by thanking the Secretary of State and my hon. and gallant Friend the Minister for Veterans and People for their intense understanding of this issue and of the whole veterans’ community. This debate comes at a critical juncture in the story of these people—these people of service who have been let down by our n…”

“I completely accept that. As a political argument, without drifting into the policy area, there is something to be said for this idea. When the value-for-money assessment is made, I would like to see a little less of that and more of the economic benefits to the thing, and more of the fact that it will be mega-efficien…”

“Thank you all for being here. To touch on the history, it is hard not to be sceptical about the basis of the industry. To be honest, it feels a little bit like paying one group of people to dig a hole, paying another group of people to fill it in, and hoping that there is some kind of ecological output that helps us me…”

“Yes please—and what you have done in trying to address safeguards in the new round, to make sure that historic failures, for whatever reason, whether political or operational, do not happen again.”

“On that last point, I realise they were at different stages, but will this round that has been agreed be more expensive than the previous rounds would have been had they been agreed? My caution is that you have to provide some sort of assurance to an industry that you have created, and you have to provide some confiden…”

“A lot of what I was going to ask about has been covered by my colleague; it was a good line of questions. You spoke before, Mr Pocklington, about a value-for-money judgment coming at a later date. What do you say to those people who say, “Look, this isn’t really about the value for money. This is the cost of being able…”

“Turning to the contingent liabilities for some of these schemes, the numbers associated with the maximum exposure and the reasonable worst-case scenario in the track 1 cluster are huge. What steps are you taking to minimise the risk that these schemes are not realised? As Mr Esterson touched on, we politicians are havi…”

“My worry, I suppose, is that people have to do this because Government tells them to do it. They then do it and Government pays them to do it. They then put it back out and Government gives them more money to do more of it later. Then the cycle keeps going round, and at every stage, the taxpayer pays.”

“I recently visited Heasandford primary school in my constituency, which is in a dire state. Will the Minister meet me and Lancashire county council to see what we can do to repair the school—the biggest in Lancashire by class number—and make sure that it is fit for children’s ambitions in Burnley?”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. She, like me, is a great champion for young people, and I am glad to hear her comments and commitments today about the new national youth strategy. This funding will be a lifeline to youth workers and to youth organisations such as the Burnley Boys and Girls Club, Parti…”

“T9. In the Budget, an extra £300 million was announced for further education. I know that the Secretary of State is a big fan of Burnley, so will she come back to Burnley with me to meet representatives of Burnley college and talk with them about their brilliant work and the expansion of the campus?”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and am grateful for his experience. It comes as a bit of a reality check that, especially as gay men, we stand on the shoulders of giants in this space. The people who have come before us have lived much more difficult lives and faced much more discrimination than we do, so …”

“I greatly appreciate this opportunity to engage in a significant debate about the implementation of the LGBT veterans independent review. The review not only acknowledges the historical injustices faced by our LGBT veterans, but also brings to light the ongoing barriers, insecurities and inequalities they experience, u…”

“My hon. Friend the Chair of the Select Committee—it is good to see him in his place—is completely right about the recommendations made as part of the review. I will come on to that point shortly. I pay tribute to Fighting With Pride, an LGBT veterans charity, for the amazing work they do in advocating and supporting th…”

“I am not sure whether it is common procedure for someone intervene in their own debate, but I appreciate the Minister’s time, and I thank him for his comments about the compensation scheme. I know that he is doing the work, and that he sincerely understands the scenario for these people. It would be remiss of me not to…”

“I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Chancellor on a tremendous Budget despite a remarkably difficult inheritance. We have kept our promises: change is here, and it cannot come soon enough. Today’s Budget set out firmly the foundations of sustainable economic growth that will benefit towns, cities and villages acros…”