Speeches by Billington.

“SNP Members talk about a period before Brexit that was ideal, and yet their proposal for this immigration system would increase the complexity at the border, including by creating a land border, despite the complexities of dealing with the island borders that we already have.”

“What is important is not only economic security for individuals and the opportunities that a strong economy would provide for them, but the economic security of our country. The SNP voted against Great British Energy and opposes nuclear power, both of which are vital to our energy security and our economic security. If…”

“In the context of my hon. Friend’s experience as a lesbian mother, will she consider the experience of lesbian mothers in their 70s and 80s, mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Tipton and Wednesbury (Antonia Bance)? Does she agree with me and my hon. Friend that there is an argument now for an apology to those m…”

“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for securing this debate. In the light of what she is saying about young lesbians, I want to champion the work of Schools OUT, which is led and was founded by one of my constituents, Sue Sanders. The organisation educates people in school about the importance of LGBT diversity, challenge…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I first declare an interest: my wife is a professional photographer. People who create art in any form add value to the world. They inspire people, provoke ideas and push boundaries—and deserve to be fairly paid for it. In East Thanet alone, we have the famous…”

“Copyright is often enforced by people who have licensing departments to enforce it, but smaller creatives, such as many in my constituency, find it extremely difficult to enforce copyright as it currently stands. That is one reason why we should use this opportunity to strengthen our copyright law to protect those low-…”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman clarify whether he was aware that the Chinese company that is now in possession of British Steel was sold it by a Conservative Government of which he was part?”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require energy companies to provide social tariffs for low income customers; and for connected purposes. Last week, we saw people’s energy bills go up by another 6%, as Ofgem raised the energy price cap again, meaning that typical households now face bills of not…”

“It is interesting that we started talking about devolution, moved on to place and quite quickly ended up talking about very specific places with very high-end jobs attached to very big bits of kit. In the previous panel, we were talking about how we have to do retrofit across the whole country. I am interested in the f…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for her statement, and in particular her recognition of the excellent work of Labour-run Thanet district council, which is building more social homes with local firms and employing local people, including local apprentices. The Government’s recent planning changes mean not only council home…”

“The domestic abuse charity Oasis in my constituency has alerted me to the appalling situation whereby young women are being coerced into setting up OnlyFans accounts to generate income. Will the Secretary of State outline what steps he is taking to ensure that the sector can root out coercion and exploitation?”

“It tends to end up being a fancy model, because we need to have accountability and governance.”

“Obviously it will create the demand.”

“Also a small amount of responsibility?”

“I am interested in the scale and strategy point.”

“It is interesting that we started talking about devolution, moved on to place and quite quickly ended up talking about very specific places with very high-end jobs attached to very big bits of kit. In the previous panel, we were talking about how we have to do retrofit across the whole country. I am interested in the f…”

“It is okay, we have wind farms as well, so go on.”

“Good. Tell me about that.”

“We have heard that this is an ageing workforce. I am also aware—and we have been told this before—of how spectacularly underpaid FE teachers are in comparison with other parts of the education sector. If you have a whole load of skilled former construction people who might not want to climb up a ladder anymore, would t…”

“That is literally what colleges should be doing, finding out why people are dropping out. That is their job, isn’t it?”