Speeches by Dowd.

“The petition states: The petition of residents of the United Kingdom, Declares that current laws and procedures relating to drink driving, drug driving, and dangerous driving are failing to protect the public, as delays between arrest and prosecution allow suspected high-risk drivers, including repeat offenders, to rem…”

“The petition states: The petition of residents of the United Kingdom, Declares that current laws and procedures relating to drink driving, drug driving, and dangerous driving are failing to protect the public, as delays between arrest and prosecution allow suspected high-risk drivers, including repeat offenders, to rem…”

“The NHS will carry out screening and evaluation of newborn babies for spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, which causes spinal cord deterioration. It is a devastating genetic condition. The evaluation will start in October in England, but not in Northern Ireland or anywhere else. Does my hon. Friend agree that the will mus…”

“It is a delight to see you in the Chair, Ms Jardine. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham) on bringing this debate to this Chamber. I will talk about the port of Liverpool, which is actually mostly in my constituency of Bootle, and set out its importance. I am not able to see N…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on introducing this debate and welcome your chairmanship of it, Mr Mundell. My hon. Friend referred earlier to 90% of children who are untreated potentially dying before their second birthday. That is a sobering statistic, but it is not a statistic; it is the reality of the lives of childr…”

“A group of SMA experts wrote an article in The Lancet in February 2025 entitled “The human toll of slow decisions”. They recommended that “expert opinion and international evidence should be more thoroughly integrated into the decision-making process of NSCs” and that “the decision of independent bodies such as the NSC…”

“I am pleased that the right hon. Member referred to my generosity, which extends even to Liverpool supporters.”

“Thank you reminding me that I am almost a year older.”

“I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.”

“I remind Members that we have about five or six minutes, give or take, per person. Just bear that in mind. I also remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called.”

“Order. Everyone who wishes to speak is bobbing. Because of the number of hon. Members who have indicated that they wish to speak in the debate, and with the authority of the Chairman of Ways and Means, I am imposing a time limit on Back-Bench speeches of four minutes.”

“I remind hon. Members to be as brief as possible with their interventions. We should just get everyone in with the four-minute time limit.”

“We have 10 or 12 people, including the Minister and Opposition spokespersons, wishing to speak. There are lots of people here, and I am sure there will be lots of interventions. I will therefore impose a four-minute limit on speeches, but that will have to be reduced if we have too many interventions. I have fired the …”

“Natalie Fleet will move the motion and the Minister will respond. I remind other Members that they may make a speech only with prior permission from the Member in charge of the debate and from the Minister. As is the convention in 30-minute debates, there will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up. …”

“Q8. National Highways, a Government-owned company, has reneged on a promise to replace a demolished footbridge at Park Lane West in Netherton. The footbridge crossed one of the busiest roads and junctions in Merseyside, used by countless residents, particularly children and parents going to and from infant and primary …”

“I thank the Minister for the update, and I welcome progress made on the counter-political interference and espionage plan. Would the Minister return to the House as appropriate to further update us on that plan?”

“The original footbridge over the A5036 at Park Lane, Netherton, provided a safe crossing for thousands of children and adults for decades. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to ensure that the pedestrian footbridge over the A5036 at Park Lane West junction is rebuilt, honou…”

“I thank the Secretary of State and his ministerial team for listening to my representations and those of my council. My experience of Tory Secretaries of State is that having them listen, let alone act, is about as rare as rocking-horse dung. The Opposition, who did not properly fund local government for 14 years, are …”

“Order. I remind Members that 20-odd people wish to speak. That means that everyone will get a maximum of about two minutes—I might as well give everyone a heads-up on that—so if there are to be interventions, then, as I have said in the past, can they be a sketch, not an oil painting, please?”

“I assure the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon that I read his parliamentary contributions assiduously, side by side with the Labour manifesto—so there. Question put and agreed to.”