Speeches by Billington.

“I agree with my hon. Friend. It has been striking in my community to see the local social energy of our businesses, particularly in Ramsgate, coming together to help tackle antisocial behaviour, work with the police and bear down on some of the worst excesses of the consequences of the last 14 years. We also need to be…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution. Other consequences of the past 14 years for our high streets include retail crime. I am sorry that the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) is no longer in his place, because he spoke strongly about the consequences of shoplifting. Shop…”

“I gently remind the Minister that, simply because people live in the south-east, it does not mean they are dripping in gold. My constituency in particular experiences distinct levels of deprivation; only 10% of our children manage to pass the Kent test in East Thanet. The opportunity to access the international baccala…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) on securing this debate. Dartford grammar sounds much like Dane Court school in my constituency, which offers the opportunity of the international baccalaureate to children from across the academy chain—I know that some of your constituents benefit fro…”

“What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that the UK arm of the company, which is an in-demand business with a highly skilled workforce and many successful contracts, has a long-term future in the UK, particularly in the context of our clean energy jobs plan announced last week and, as my hon. Friend the Member for …”

“I, too, have a school in my constituency that offers the international baccalaureate. Dane Court school in Broadstairs has an extremely successful programme in breaking down barriers to opportunity for a large number of pupils in an area of significant deprivation. Only 10% of the children in East Thanet succeed in pas…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Despite significant investment under a Labour Government in High Speed 1, which benefits my community, it often feels as though many people are still cut off from those opportunities. We need to break down barriers to opportunity, and the restoration of international services at …”

“On competition and the former Conservative Government, I remind Members that they were the ones who brought Southeastern, which serves my constituency, into public ownership, because of the failures of the commercial process.”

“The case the hon. Member is making may have some valid points, but is he prepared to take responsibility for the fact that the British Government do not have a say in what Eurostar does because a previous Administration—run by the Conservatives with their then allies, the Liberal Democrats—ended up without the British …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I can see France from my constituency on a clear day, and yet my constituents cannot get there easily or affordably for work or pleasure. Last week, I was speaking with one of my friends about her plans to go to Paris for the Christmas markets. A quick overni…”

“The probation officers I have spoken to are supportive of the early release scheme inasmuch as it was necessary to deal with the chronic overcrowding in our prisons—a legacy of the previous Government’s dereliction of duty. Many offenders on the fixed recall scheme with a determinate sentence, however, are not being ri…”

“2. What steps his Department is taking to support probation officers.”

“I would like to talk about the importance of the impact of both austerity and covid on entrenching the regional transport inequalities we have heard so much about today. I will also talk about the importance of our making the most of our existing infrastructure, which has ended up crumbling and neglected after the prev…”

“Forgive me, market research does that too. People get quite a lot out of market research, including language, policy, design and so forth. It is not just about your brand, is it?”

“Do you think that campaign groups—climate action campaign groups such as Greenpeace and indeed some of the stuff that I have been involved in, again before I came to this place—are well placed to engage with people to design things that will work for the outcomes of the people, bearing in mind that climate campaign gro…”

“I cannot remember all the things that I wanted to ask in relation to this. Lorraine, it strikes me that what you are sort of saying, I think, is that this is not a comms problem, this is a policy design problem.”

“That comes to my second question. Stephanie, in relation to your experience about citizens’ juries—which I have contributed to by giving testament and so forth in the assembly that Luke oversaw before I came to this place. I know and understand the purpose and so forth of citizens’ assemblies, but it does strike me tha…”

“No, no, I mean when we were talking about the north-east of Scotland. Why does Greenpeace think that it is in a good place to talk to oil and gas workers about what is right for them and what is best for them?”

“Heaven forefend you should meet them.”

“Why don’t you leave them alone and leave it to people who do know those organisations, those communities, those institutions, and those workers better than you?”