Speeches by Hamilton.

“I agree with the Government that we desperately need to tackle illegal migration. I hear that on the doorsteps, and I see it in my mail each week in Birmingham Erdington. How quickly after the changes come into force will the Government ensure that safe and legal routes are in place? That will be key to stopping the bo…”

“What would be the one thing you would like to see so that does not happen?”

“I am going to stop you there because I will run out of time. I want to ask Professor Orton about certain groups. What are the opportunities for expanding access to exercise for older groups from both under-represented communities or marginalised groups? In somewhere like Birmingham, a super-diverse community, it is nev…”

“I did enjoy it.”

“I would not go as far as that. I see some people around this table have got addicted to exercise. Fortunately, I am not one of them. I used to do parkrun every Saturday, I swear. I have the card; I have the evidence. But once I stopped, I did not miss it. I really did not, but I thoroughly enjoyed doing it at the time.…”

“On what they need to do.”

“Finally, as somebody who is an expert in public health, how have the funding cuts in public health really caused problems in some areas? You struggle to get people in those areas because the funding is removed, so where you would once have worked with local churches, mosques, synagogues and what have you, where you wou…”

“Over what period of time do you need to do that to actually start seeing the evidence? I am of an age where I should be doing all that you talk about, but I do not do it. I walk, so I am not building up my strength.”

“Good morning. My question is on the activities themselves. The chief medical officer wrote a report in 2023 talking about an ageing society. What interests me is that he felt people needed to exercise for at least two days a week. Then I read that you, Professor Todd, had performed a systematic review on what was going…”

“Fantastic.”

“How do those groups get linked in? If you were going to give any advice while you are talking to us now, who would you say are the key people in getting people into these groups?”

“It has just not been done yet.”

“What about mobile phones? I asked a question about mobile phones and you have talked about everything else. I am talking about young children who are influenced by phones. What could we do? What could we suggest in that area?”

“My question is about mobile phone advertising and the fact that young people are getting mobile phones at a much younger age. The problem is that they are being influenced by the apps on their phone and the advertising that is then produced on those apps. What do you feel is the impact of these apps and that advertisin…”

“You have given me all the negatives. I know that you are right—spot on—but if there was something that you wanted us to support you with to help change that, what would that be? What would you want us to tell the Government?”

“So that could be a recommendation.”

“Good morning, all. Sir Muir and Dr Boulton, the 10-year plan talks about the Government’s plan to move from analogue to digital. For some reason, we seem to be moving to digital by default—we are going to get there in the end—but what does that mean for people who are trying to get physically active? How can we ensure …”

“I am going to press a bit further, and I will bring Dr Easton in at this point. As you have said, there are issues with digital inclusion, but everything you guys have said is quite middle class and about people whose first language is English, and they can understand these things because they have very professional ch…”

“That is a good place to end. Thank you .”

“Will the Minister outline what steps she is taking to ensure that equality and opportunity are at the heart of this Government’s five missions?”