Speeches by Carling.

“I have a few questions on public inquiries and the landscape in that respect. There have been some changes to the public inquiry system, including the change to the ministerial code, requiring Cabinet Office and Prime Minister input before new inquiries are launched. You have previously said that the Government were co…”

“I do recognise that.”

“I was taking it more from the kind of procedural angle of whether it creates questions about the House of Lords’ powers.”

“Okay, fair enough.”

“So it is more of a backstop power, just in case something unforeseen happens.”

“Is it not?”

“That is helpful. I do not know whether there will be tension between a particular Department being scrutinised by this Committee and its usual Committee, or how that would work, but I think that is a useful reflection. Under section 14 of the Inquiries Act, Ministers have the power to close an inquiry following consult…”

“Following on from Charlotte’s questions around the hereditary peers Bill and the delays to it, I want to ask briefly about the terminally ill adults Bill, which is obviously a private Member’s Bill currently in the House of Lords. Regardless of people’s positions on that particular piece of legislation, there are ongoi…”

“I have had dialogue with them, but it is just about the broader point on when those changes happen and how we track that.”

“On transparency—I appreciate that this is a particular example, and I am not asking you to comment on it—I am working on an issue on which the Home Office, and indeed the Prime Minister, have committed repeatedly to implementing a particular recommendation: recommendation 13 from the independent inquiry into child sexu…”

“I was having a look at those earlier, and I think that they are a great step in the right direction, but they are a little hard to access in some circumstances. There is also limited central information on the overall picture of the public inquiry landscape for people who are interested. With the four major inquiries t…”

“More widely, what role do you see the Cabinet Office fulfilling when it comes to ensuring that the Government do better in how they implement inquiry recommendations?”

“Well, perhaps. I certainly was. In response to the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee in February last year, the Government fully accepted six of the seven recommendations aimed at them, which was great. There was a commitment to publish guidance on inquiries, including advice on engaging victim and survivor …”

“That is really useful. The point about timeliness resonates with me. I did some work with the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, which took seven years, and then I think the recommendations were released on the day Liz Truss resigned, so that did not quite go to plan in terms of the news cycle.”

“I commend the Minister for bringing forward these brilliant measures to protect leaseholders. Constituents across Hampton own the freehold to their homes but pay several levels of service charge—first, to managing agents such as FirstPort, which is supposed to be responsible for unadopted roads, and secondly, to Hampto…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the impact of import standards on the agricultural sector. I am delighted to have secured today’s debate. I am very grateful to all colleagues who signed my application, and to the Backbench Business Committee for granting time. I am happy to take interventions during my sp…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for highlighting the biosecurity aspect of this issue. My farmers, too, have been significantly impacted by foot and mouth disease in the past, and I know how important an issue that is. She puts her point on the record. I was talking about potential arguments around food prices. Researc…”

“I am glad to have a couple of minutes to wind up after what has been an incredibly valuable debate that has covered a whole range of topics. I start, of course, with the hon. Member for Bridlington and The Wolds (Charlie Dewhirst), who, I think, agrees with me—there were various bits of discussion there. I referred exc…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that if we can unify our import standards with our domestic standards, that problem disappears in many ways? The standards will be the same and therefore we will not have labelling that might undermine our farmers.”

“I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. I remember doing that scheme myself last year. It was incredibly valuable, and I encourage other colleagues to do it. The NFU is doing a brilliant job. Polls show that consumers do not want low-welfare imports either; nine in 10 people support banning them. That may be unsurp…”