Speeches by Dyke.

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and for securing this important debate. South Western Ambulance Service covers 10,000 square miles. However, due to the large rural areas in the region—different from, but similar to those in his constituency—the response times are three times slower than the NHS target. Dorset and…”

“I also want to celebrate and thank all ambulance crews, as well as everybody working in the NHS, for the brilliant work they do providing this service. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Since its first mission in 2000, the team has responded to 29,000 missions—an average o…”

“On tree canopy cover, I was lead member for environment and climate change at Somerset council when it was developing the tree strategy. The county is 8% tree canopy—way below the national average, which is about 13%. Obviously, increased canopy cover helps to reduce storm water run-off, prevent flooding, and improve b…”

“Jhoots Pharmacy has revealed the severe financial strain facing community pharmacies. The towns of Glastonbury and Bruton are home to fantastic independent pharmacies, continuing to serve their communities despite more than half of pharmacy owners losing money last year. How will the Government ensure that the regulato…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for giving way and for securing this important debate. In addition to proper maintenance, which is essential—it is heartbreaking to hear the stories that she has outlined today—the current protection under tree preservation orders is inadequate and covers only a small section of ancient an…”

“COP30 begins next month in Brazil. The UK must play a leading role on the world stage to tackle climate change. At home, however, Somerset council is hampered in its attempts to achieve net zero by an escalating financial crisis following the maladministration of its previous Conservative administration. What steps wil…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for securing this really important debate. She is absolutely right that we must support our farmers on food security and farm sustainability, but poor returns are threatening their viability right now. The dairy industry has contracted by 6% in the past year, and prices have dropped significantly…”

“It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Stuart, and to speak in this important debate. I thank all the petitioners, including the 321 from Glastonbury and Somerton. Having grown up on a dairy and beef farm, I am all too aware of the devastating impact that TB is capable of unleashing. I also recently attende…”

“I absolutely agree: education is critical. It is also critical in allowing research to continue. Of course, that requires funding, but we also need the right capital investment in farms, so that they can carry out the herd management required to stop the transmission of bovine TB.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. The financial burden, and also the emotional burden, on farmers is devastating. We know the pressures our farmers are under already. With inheritance tax, the recent withdrawal of the sustainable farming incentive and the countryside stewardship scheme coming to an end this year, many farmers ar…”

“If I understand the hon. Lady correctly, she is saying that detection is important at any stage, and I agree with that. It is absolutely ludicrous that we cannot continue to test all animals in a herd. The Liberal Democrats call on the Government to develop safe, effective, humane and evidence-based ways of controlling…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this really important debate. Lynne Franks is a good friend of mine and a constituent, and she is also the creator of London Fashion Week. However, her impact does not end there. It is global, but also local. She is the founder of the SEED Hub in Wincanton, which provides a sp…”

“The hon. Member mentioned young people. Last Friday, I met some A-level politics students at Huish Episcopi academy in my constituency of Glastonbury and Somerton and I was struck by the political enthusiasm of the young women in the classroom. However, we face an alarming rise of extreme misogyny through people like A…”

“It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Huq, and a privilege to follow the powerful speech of the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft). I thank all the petitioners, including the 221 from Glastonbury and Somerton. As vice-chair of the f40 group, which represents the worst-funded 43 local education authoritie…”

“And that is where I was coming from. Obviously if we are reducing our funding to be able to support the maintenance of those rivers, then that has a knock-on impact down the line.”

“But it is also maintenance of the rivers, is it not?”

“I very much appreciate that, and the offer of a meeting is very welcome. On the other side, if you like, of drought and heat, wildfires have been a massive issue this summer as we have seen right across the country. Somerset has a considerable amount of peatland in it. Although we did not suffer with any wildfires this…”

“Flood resilience in Somerset is obviously a really important factor. Certainly for the last few years, I have had farms that have spent six months underwater during the winter months, and then they are left in a terrible situation having to pick up from that. But by allowing their farmland to flood—by sacrificing their…”

“Farmers are facing a lot of issues at the moment on a day-to-day basis, particularly with the halting of the SFI, which is really concerning for the industry. That is having an impact on how they farm, and they are now looking at the challenges coming forward. Many are saying that they want to be able to balance their …”

“We have already spoken a few times about farmers being able to develop their own infrastructure on-farm in terms of their resilience to drought. Legislative reforms could require farmers to adopt basic adaptation measures or give them more freedom to be able to do that, create these reservoirs and indeed other sources …”