Speeches by Adam.

“I will just emphasise one point: the word that Iqbal used is co-ordinate. We can co-ordinate a lot better now as an alliance, because we are an informal loose alliance. We can discuss things and co-ordinate certain projects and statements and so on. The other thing is that we do not have a Whip. We can vote as we will.…”

“No.”

“I was not aware of that.”

“It is still very important, because Select Committees are one aspect of a huge fraternity here. Therefore, it was so many other things you see before a Select Committee when you wish to be elected. I am sure somebody does get elected primarily just to be on a Select Committee, but there are a lot of other representatio…”

“I knew that, but I still stood.”

“I was aware.”

“I have tried in one and I was not accepted.”

“I am part of multiple APPGs, which I find very useful, and that creates cross-party alliances as well, but for Select Committees it feels we are not able to contribute the expertise that we bring. We are still as elected as any other individual from any political party. We hold the same mandate, so I feel that is one a…”

“When I submitted initially, I probably did not have as many parliamentary colleagues that I knew across the parties and the Chamber. I think that has changed now. I have not cognisantly felt that reticence on these issues at all up to this stage.”

“No.”

“That is one area where I feel that I am not asking the right questions because they keep being returned to me from the Table Office: “How is it that you want this question to be articulated?” We have submitted multiple written questions, and we get that response back the majority of the time. As for putting my name dow…”

“Again, we could definitely have done with a little bit more assistance on that.”

“I have applied for a Westminster Hall debate—I think possibly two, but definitely one. I have not been selected, but again I don’t know what the ratio is for other people. I have not applied for an adjournment debate. At the moment I have not been selected for a Westminster Hall debate, but I have not seen a pattern fo…”

“I feel that we do overall. I have never felt that I have been ignored. The feeling that I get—and this is a judgment I am making on my experience, because I spend quite a lot of time in the Chamber—is that I am called relatively late on in a debate. Maybe everybody feels that, but it is sometimes two, three, four hours…”

“One day or was it two days?”

“I concur with my colleague. I think the most common question I get asked is, “Is it difficult being an independent?” My answer is, “It is, but I don’t know any different.” Is it any more difficult than being a new parliamentarian from a particular political party? What I found very useful is that in the beginning in ou…”

“Thank you. I am Shockat Adam, the independent MP for Leicester South.”

“Back on 17 October 2023, when the first hospital in Palestine was bombed, the al-Ahli Arab hospital, much conversation was had about who could have committed such a heinous crime. Since then, the Israeli army has destroyed all medical facilities in Gaza, and now we have a President of the United States using gangster-s…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I congratulate the hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal (Jenny Riddell-Carpenter) on securing this vital debate. I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am an NHS optometrist. I rise to highlight two critical issues: the severe …”

“I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. He is making a passionate speech about the situation in Gaza. One of the biggest arguments made against the abolition of slavery was the financial cost to our country, so does he agree that the Foreign Secretary’s statement that we will not have economic sanct…”