Speeches by Woodcock.

“4. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the autumn Budget 2025 on Northern Ireland.”

“My challenge is that the word “affordable” comes up whenever you or I are door knocking and speaking to people; the challenge is often that we are not building the homes that are actually affordable. When councils are responding and coming up with local plans based on the NPPF, there does seem to be a distinction here.…”

“Going back to affordability, there is a slight difference between what the ONS says about what is affordable—less than five times average local income—and what the national planning policy framework says, which is that it should be 20% below market rate. Could you talk to why the NPPF is different to the ONS’s version …”

“I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Minister will be aware of my trip to Jordan last year, as part of a parliamentary delegation of colleagues from across this House. It was clear from speaking to members of the Jordanian legislature that Iran’s malign impact on the region’s securit…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last month the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Chancellor paid a visit to my constituency without giving notice to me as the local Member. I would be grateful if you could provide me with advice on preventing such discourtesy and disrespect from taking place in future.”

“It is a real pleasure to speak in this important debate on a vital topic. There have been numerous fascinating contributions from Members across the House, which is why I was so astonished by the contribution from the Opposition Front Bencher, the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately)—she was patronisi…”

“The shadow Minister talks about a stop-start approach from this Government. I find that a bit brass neck, to be frank, considering the record of the previous Government, who shifted the dates and forced all sorts of investment with regard to EVs. I welcome the measure. As part of the just transition, it is important to…”

“We have heard from Opposition Members that there are families watching this Finance Bill Committee with their bags packed in case their amendment does not pass. Does the Minister share my scepticism that people who hung around through a botched Brexit, Liz Truss and 11% inflation will leave the country on the basis of …”

“I have to say that I find the bleating from the Conservative party—which delayed elections in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Somerset, as well as in several other areas named by the Secretary of State—pretty astounding. As welcome as the reforms are, they are taking up considerable time and capacity for local au…”

“Can the Minister confirm that the deal provides certainty and full operational use of the base for 99 years?”

“As an alumnus of the University of Birmingham and former resident of Selly Oak, I have found this whole saga pretty astonishing from the start. We have had mistake after mistake and evidence that turned out to have been made up, and meanwhile the bond of trust with our Jewish community, which had already been under inc…”

“I pay tribute to the people who have taken to the streets of Iran, particularly in the face of industrial-scale violence and repression from this regime, as the Foreign Secretary stated. However, given the malign influence of Iran in the region, which she has acknowledged, and the risk it poses to British citizens, par…”

“That is very helpful, thank you. Minister, in terms of the three that ended up being the preferred—or the “most promising” I think is the term that has been used—from those 12, how did you get to those three and what methodology and criteria were at the forefront?”

“Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury, and part of the Heyford site is in my constituency as well.”

“Sir Michael, you have touched on it already but I am after a bit more detail about how those 12 were chosen. Like I said, you have touched on it a little bit but could you go into what data you used and some of the other calculations?”

“All the local authorities where the sites are said, “We are happy for this to be put forward”?”

“This is one point of clarification for Sir Michael. You stated that, rightly, you focused on those that put forward the sites but that you did contact on the list of 12 the local authorities to say, “Do you have any problem with this going forward?” Can I take from that that no local authorities of that 12 objected to …”

“As far as Government are concerned, these 12 are, to any relatively neutral impartial observer, the best in terms of the criteria set out by Sir Michael?”

“Clearly, there are a lot of stakeholders involved in this, as Sir Michael has talked about, the various groups involved in pitching sites. Are you confident—there is clearly going to be an agenda behind all those—that political interference is minimal in terms of pushing a lot of that forward?”

“No, they have not.”