Speeches by Gibson.

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”

“I am not sure that highlighting quite how quickly the Conservatives go through leaders is helpful, but we do have to recognise that they have had the highest number of female leaders of any of our parties here, which is to be commended. On a serious note, I welcome the intentions of clause 27. It is incredibly importan…”

“I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman; I must make a declaration that my parents were a state headmaster and headmistress before their retirement. One issue that I strongly feel needs to be taken into consideration—though perhaps it is not relevant to this Committee—is that funding for education in general has dri…”

“The Royal Mail has been plagued by issues for years, and my constituents do deserve better. A reliable postal service is essential for all of us, but particularly for rural businesses and those waiting for important NHS appointments. Naturally, in communities like those I represent in Wiltshire, there are some serious …”

“I am happy not to press amendment 5.”

“Small businesses are at the heart of our local communities. Firms such as Carbon ThreeSixty in my constituency are cutting-edge manufacturers of carbon fibre products. However, its growth as a small business is seriously affected by its ability to attract and retain quality staff, predominantly because of the poor publ…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Dundee Central for tabling the amendment, which has drawn out a potential loophole that I hope the Government will look at carefully. We so often see legislation introduced with good intentions, and then 90% of businesses—especially smaller businesses—comply with it to the letter, because th…”

“I share some of the shadow Minister’s concerns. Consultation to find out what most concerns businesses is obviously commendable, but if a large amount of the Bill is left to secondary legislation, a lot of it will not come back before the whole House for scrutiny. Can we be assured that decisions that are not taken bef…”

“Tomorrow—on Friday the 13th—the EU’s general product safety regulation comes into effect. Businesses are telling me that the additional costs will mean that they can no longer sell to the EU and to Northern Ireland. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that small businesses are supported as the regulation come…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I will speak principally to our amendment 5, but Opposition amendment 155 is also relevant. We broadly welcome the Government’s intention to clarify some issues around probation. However, we feel that these measures will make it too difficult for small business…”

“Can I ask a quick follow-up question on that?”

“James Gray also mentioned the distance. Is the distance between us going to the Arctic as opposed to us going to the Antarctic a serious additional cost? Also, when is that ship likely to go north again?”

“Can I ask a quick follow-up question on that?”

“James Gray mentioned earlier that he felt, perhaps in his slightly more conflicted views, that perhaps there was too much money for Antarctica compared with the Arctic. How do you feel the about balance between Antarctic and Arctic research?”

“James Gray also mentioned the distance. Is the distance between us going to the Arctic as opposed to us going to the Antarctic a serious additional cost? Also, when is that ship likely to go north again?”

“Can I ask a quick follow-up question on that?”

“James Gray mentioned earlier that he felt, perhaps in his slightly more conflicted views, that perhaps there was too much money for Antarctica compared with the Arctic. How do you feel the about balance between Antarctic and Arctic research?”

“James Gray mentioned earlier that he felt, perhaps in his slightly more conflicted views, that perhaps there was too much money for Antarctica compared with the Arctic. How do you feel the about balance between Antarctic and Arctic research?”

“James Gray also mentioned the distance. Is the distance between us going to the Arctic as opposed to us going to the Antarctic a serious additional cost? Also, when is that ship likely to go north again?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. Before I make my case, I must make a small correction: the reference to section 14K in the text of amendment 163 should be to section 43K. My apologies for the error. The Liberal Democrats tabled amendment 163 because although we strongly welcome the Bill’…”