Speeches by Blake.

“I wholeheartedly congratulate the hon. Member on the work that she is doing to encourage and support young women into politics. That is something really important in our role as Members of Parliament. I definitely agree that we need to be supporting women into politics, as Members of Parliament and throughout public li…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the International Day of Democracy. It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir John. It is an honour to speak on this topic, not only as an MP deeply invested in the state of our democracy, but as the representative of the Cities of London and Westminster, where we …”

“The hon. Member has spoken passionately about local government schemes, and I have quite a lot of experience of them. Does she agree that they have many regulations that would meet some of the proposals in new clause 2? That might allay some of her concerns and mean that we do not need a Division on the new clause.”

“I have read the new clause with interest, and listened carefully, and I am sure that this Committee is united in wanting there to be good advice on pensions. It would help me to better understand the proposal if the hon. Member could describe why he thinks the Money and Pensions Service is not already providing that, a…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) for her leadership and wisdom on this topic over a number of years. Today we have heard powerful testimony and evidence about the desperate need for doctors an…”

“Constituents in Marylebone want to see improvements to the railway engines that go into Marylebone station. Does the Treasury agree that more work can be done to ensure that the overall investment in those trains is supported by the benefits that accrue across the whole line, all the way down to Aylesbury, as investmen…”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way again?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the Petitions Committee for scheduling this important debate, and I welcome the spirit in which it has been conducted so far: the original purpose of debating indefinite leave to remain has been respected and we have risen above the appalling and divis…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for those remarks about the concerns of his constituents in Harrow. In any forthcoming consultation, I will focus on ensuring that we stick to those values of fairness and stability. There is already a high bar for those seeking indefinite leave to remain, who came to this country expecting to co…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that contribution. I want to focus my remarks on those who have BNO visas and particularly on the importance of stability in that system. I first became particularly interested in the lives of people living in Hong Kong because of my constituent, Jimmy Lai, who is currently interned in Hong …”

“I wish to speak against Lords amendments 58 to 62, which expand eviction grounds, and Lords amendment 27. I also wish briefly to revisit the core principles of the Bill, which are: ending no-fault eviction, and providing stability, not just for individuals but for the private rented sector; introducing a private renter…”

“I was intrigued by the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks about the success of the private rented sector. If the sector is so successful and is working so well, why have the Opposition consistently held the position—both when they were in government and, I believe, going into the election—that they would go forward with en…”

“That would be helpful; thank you.”

“There must be data on whether demand has gone up for personal loans, so that could inform this.”

“This is chart 2.5, so the wedge is staying about the same, but it just happens to be a bit—”

“So we do not know.”

“Thanks very much. Governor, the experience of borrowing is not the same for everybody, in terms of the types of product that they are turning to. We have seen, in a really positive sense in terms of stability, mortgage rates coming down, but we are also seeing personal loan rates stay quite high. What do you think that…”

“Is the concern about shock from your data or your analysis to do with shocks such as covid or Ukraine—that kind of inflation—or are people anticipating more personal shocks and becoming more aware of those? Are people just becoming more financially aware through education? Do they know that there are good standard reas…”

“May I probe that caution point? You don’t have survey evidence to say that they are any more concerned about unemployment, but are you able to untangle whether the interest rates or generalised caution are driving the behaviour?”

“They are not saying that.”