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.”

“I am struck particularly by what my hon. Friend says about the impact being felt elsewhere in Whitehall when a lever is moved. I give the example of a friend of mine, who was a doctor working in a depopulated part of Cumbria for part of the month and in Orkney for another part of the month. How would we organise the vi…”

“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…”

“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…”

“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-…”

“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…”

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

“Good. Tell me about that.”

“Obviously it will create the demand.”

“What impact do you think the Government’s decision to raise the standards expected in the private rental sector to EPC C will have on creating the demand that you are talking about?”

“Bear in mind that with minimum energy efficiency measures, one of the things we know from local authorities is their weakness in being able to enforce them because they do not have the capacity. It is all very well having the standard in practice. What risks do you think there are around lack of enforcement? I am also …”

“Brian, would that create the demand that you are talking about?”

“Forgive me, but a lot of what you said I have heard before. Why do you think it has not happened before now? The long-term strategy, the implementation, the targets, the investment—literally, the things that you have said—I have heard since 2008. Why is that? Why haven’t things changed?”

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

“On the 200 different skills programmes across the country, I am all in favour of letting many flowers bloom, but that sounds to me like a huge lack of strategy. Would somebody like to express some views on that?”

“We have heard that 70% of learners are not finishing. Is that because they get a job before they finish, or is it because they do not like it?”

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

“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…”