Speeches by Edwards.

“To pick up on that point, we have about £70 billion given in the UK in tax relief for pensions. Building on my colleague’s point and your earlier point about prospectuses, if we have 70% of DC funds investing overseas and only 2% of DB schemes investing in the UK, how can we better direct that investment and not impact…”

“It is really important and interesting to hear from all of you as mayors, but, before I move on to my question, at the moment we have quite a lot of constituencies that are not covered by the devolution plans at all. That is coming but, given the time that it might take to get there, I am concerned that the growth that…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) on securing this important debate. This week, we are celebrating Staffordshire Day, which gives us the perfect opportunity to reflect on the cultural contributions of our towns and cities. In …”

“I just wanted to make reference to my register of interests as a former employee of Unite the Union. Just to pick up on energy costs, this is one of the things that I am most concerned about for all businesses, not just automotive. We have a real problem in this country, and it is something that is talked about all the…”

“I just wanted to ask a bit about how it is that we are going to move there. I know you are saying that there are these plans, but I just wonder why it has taken so long to get there, to connect to the grid. We have heard from companies up and down the country about how impossible it is for them to look at their own gro…”

“I just want to come in on some of the points that you have made. In particular, I have heard about this issue around the deficit in the amount of funding available for apprenticeships. The Road Haulage Association has mechanics who are helping to train people to work on electric rigs, but there is a deficit. Again, we …”

“My question links quite neatly into some of what we have just discussed. Do you have some thoughts on the current funding that the Government have provided? Over the course of the Parliament, £2 billion is allocated for automotive, £975 million for the aerospace sector and £520 million for life sciences manufacturing. …”

“Is there enough of a risk appetite in this country?”

“The Business and Trade Committee, of which I am a member, has heard evidence about the importance of the steel industry, and about the need for primary steelmaking to be retained as a key pillar of UK industrial sovereignty. We have heard that blast furnaces still play a critical role in strategic and high-grade steel …”

“How will the UK’s involvement in the Global Combat Air Programme, also known as GCAP, AUKUS or the Five Power Defence Alliance boost UK trade in the Asia-Pacific region? I will start with Douglas Barrie and work backwards.”

“I absolutely agree. It is almost as though my hon. Friend predicted what I will speak about next, because I will soon tell a story about a visit that I made. The fact that the company has been in his constituency for 130 years shows that Britain has this prowess, and we do not want to lose it. Through this strategy, we…”

“I absolutely agree. We have to back British, we have to buy British, and we have to keep the west midlands in pole position, innovating and ensuring that companies working across civil and defence can get the maximum benefit from the new procurement contracts coming from the MOD. A comprehensive review of the UK supply…”

“Ray, would you like to follow up on that?”

“You have identified some of the ways that you would try to mitigate that risk now, and Mr Neidle also set out examples. Perhaps I could come to other members of the panel now, starting with you, Ms Hodges. Is there anything you think could be done to mitigate these risks?”

“Mr Cowdock, your organisation, Transparency International, warned that limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships can act as a loophole to facilitate money laundering and sanctions evasion. Can you describe how that can happen and how those partnerships can be used?”

“On International Women’s Day, our community in Tamworth came together to not only celebrate the achievements of women, but reflect on the important issue of the safety of women and girls. Local women Tamanna and Mckenzie took the initiative to organise a walk-and-talk event, bringing together key organisations, includi…”

“13. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.”

“The Minister has mentioned the examples of the automotive sector and cyber-security, and how many people do not realise that they are working in comparable industries. As parliamentarians, how can we work to showcase the different ways that people are contributing to the defence industry, or could be working in it? How…”

“That contribution is paramount to the debate; the west midlands is very proud not only of being the third largest region in terms of our contribution to the defence sector, but that our constituents work very hard to contribute to that. It is incredibly important that people see that they are a part of this endeavour, …”

“I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. In fact I will go on to talk about just how important it is that all our regions and nations are embedded in this process, and that they all contribute different skills that are of value. There are so many different aspects to defence, and our defence industries that contribute …”