Speeches by Holden.

“I have just been out in the middle east with the Conservative Friends of Israel—I put that on the record before I ask my question. Given Emily Damari’s personal testimony to the Prime Minister that she was held at United Nations Relief and Works Agency facilities in Gaza during the conflict, and that her captors refuse…”

“6. What steps she is taking to manage conflicts of interest in the Attorney General’s Office.”

“Does the Solicitor General agree with the recent Policy Exchange research paper “Conflicts of Interest and the Law Officers’ Convention” authored by Dr Conor Casey, a senior lecturer at Surrey law school, and supported by three former Ministers who are all KCs, that invoking the Law Officers’ convention on questions ab…”

“Does the Minister consider incredibly high rates of first-cousin marriage in certain communities, which are up to a hundred times that found in the general population, an equalities issue? What discussions has she had with the Ministry of Justice about that?”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Mundell. It is also a delight to be with the Minister who is losing her DL plates today—[Hon. Members: “Oh!”] I thought that was pretty good with two minutes’ notice. We will not be opposing the draft instrument. The core Procurement Act was introduced under the Conse…”

“The Minister makes a broader important point about the mandate that individual MPs feel when they are elected to this place. Does she agree that that individual mandate—our names are on the ballot paper—is strengthened under the first-past-the-post system? Does she also agree that that means that our electorate can sin…”

“I welcome the Minister coming to the House to answer the urgent question, because the argument she is putting forward seems slightly confused. First, women’s health hubs seem to be working on the whole, and there are lots of them, so why remove the target for everybody to have them if we are already 90% there? Secondly…”

“Yesterday, I re-established the all-party parliamentary group on freedom of speech. I am sure Members on the Government Front Bench will welcome that, given their recent slight changes of opinion on free speech in higher education. Will the Leader of the House find space in Government time for a broader debate on freed…”

“I appreciate that the hon. Lady is talking about a preferential voting system, rather than a proportional voting system. Does she understand that there is quite a big difference between those two options, and obviously today’s debate is about proportional representation?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Does not the hon. Gentleman’s presence in this House demonstrate that the system does work, and can deliver change in individual seats?”

“The hon. Member makes an excellent point, and I think the nub of his speech is that post offices are not just a banking facility or just a post office; they are a real community hub. I think about the ones in my constituency that I have visited recently—in Ramsden Bellhouse, on Whitmore Way in Basildon or the brand new…”

“My right hon. Friend is being very generous in giving way. My question touches on that point about the balance between urban and rural. Semi-rural and rural areas are now being densified, and given the changes in the requirements on new buildings, places such as London are seeing less extra densification. Does he agree…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Yesterday, during Justice questions, the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, the hon. Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist), raised the subject of the Government’s response to the horrific attacks in Southport. The Government’s response was led by the Prime …”

“There is nothing in the statement about the lower Thames crossing, which has already been delayed twice by this Government. The crossing is one of the biggest infrastructure projects and will have a huge impact on the entire country. For my constituents, the biggest issues around growth have been about the taxes on bus…”

“This is exactly the issue facing my constituency, where two proposed large developments are going through planning, one on Wash Road on the outskirts of Noak Bridge, and the other—it went through a couple of weeks ago—on Laindon Road in Billericay. There are huge pressures on local services; local primary schools are o…”

“7. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle hyper-prolific offenders.”

“I believe in second chances, and perhaps even more chances in some cases, but the excellent Policy Exchange report, “The ‘Wicked and the Redeemable’: A Long-Term Plan to Fix a Criminal Justice System in Crisis” found that hyper-prolific offenders—those with more than 45 previous convictions—are sent to prison on fewer …”

“16. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on the early years sector.”

“Early years providers are being hammered. In many cases, their national insurance costs per staff member are almost doubling. A large number are small businesses in the private sector, while others are schools that are taking children before they go into reception classes. All of them—both primary schools in the state …”