Speeches by Hoare.

“The Secretary of State for Business and Trade confirmed recently that Tata’s products do not meet US import regulations regarding where steel is melted and poured—you know that that is the phrase—and as such were not in line for the negotiated tariff exemptions. How confident are you, No. 10 and the Secretary of State …”

“You referenced earlier the Government’s contribution of £80 million to the transition board and that that had been allocated and taken up. Is that the work of the transition board done, or is there a transition board 2?”

“Secretary of State, you spoke to us in January and will recall, I have no doubt, that you referred to talks with Tata about steelmaking methods other than the electric arc furnace. Are you able to update the Committee on the progress of those talks? When do you expect the electric arc furnace to be operational?”

“I did not say that it was neither good nor strong. I said that it was not groundbreaking in terms of putting flesh on the bones of the skeleton of a new way of delivering government, which was thematic, cross-cutting missions.”

“About 12 months ago, the Prime Minister and virtually every Secretary of State across Government were trumpeting “missions‑led government”. You are, as you know, the missions lead for the Wales Office. Latterly, there has been less focus on that drive to cut away and break down the silos of operation between Gov…”

“Can you point us to anything where the sum of the parts has been greater than if you had been acting individually that may provide a useful operational template?”

“I want to touch on intergovernmental relations. You referenced in your opening remarks a renewed relationship of trust—I think that is how you described—between Westminster and Cardiff. That is to be welcomed. I wondered whether you wanted to highlight any potential areas of tension that this Committee needs to keep a …”

“Would you agree that—it will not be the sole driver—one major contributory factor will be energy costs? Are you working with Secretary of State Miliband on any initiatives there? This is an argument that is being deployed, as you know, in the ceramics industry around Stoke and in the cement and the wider chemical indus…”

“Secretary of State, that is all encouraging. You will know that yesterday Dow Corning made an announcement with regard to its operation in Barry. The figures I have are that it is currently employing 850 and it is reducing job numbers by 220, with Jim Fitterling, the CEO, citing “a challenging cost and demand landscape…”

“If we learned anything collectively as a political class from the Brexit negotiations, it was about the enormous disconnect between the operation of business and the political processes. Are HMG making clear to Washington what I think other countries are making clear as well, which is that the tariff version of cat and…”

“I missed Mr Speaker’s email, so I am afraid I missed it.”

“It was so late in starting that I think the President almost missed it, but I have read it, yes.”

“What is your assessment of what, if any, impact the Government’s taking control of British Steel’s operations will have on negotiations with the US over steel? Is a similar move being considered for Tata?”

“This is not intended to be a softball question. I just think that we all know what we are talking about, but sometimes the great British public out there actually need to hear it. This Government continue to see, as the previous Government did, the strategic importance of domestic steel production for a whole variety o…”

“In short, it may recalibrate, but the UK Government are not going to walk away in terms of personnel, resource and good will, but also cash.”

“With the greatest respect, the hon. Lady is putting the cart before the horse, as are the Government. You do your review first, you find out what it says, and you tailor your policies and your response to it. Is that not the best way of making policy? This half-baked idea satisfies no one.”

“The hon. Member makes an incredibly powerful and telling point about the disincentive of trying to get into work for people who have a varying and fluctuating condition, such as MS. That is an unanswerable point and I will listen with interest to what the Minister has to say in response. Does he agree with me that in c…”

“Given the rather botched way in which the Government have dealt with this issue and the U-turn that is proving to be unsatisfactory, and given the scale of the changes that need to be made, does my hon. Friend agree that the Government will just move away from any meaningful reform, deeming it to be too difficult or to…”

“The House knows that not only is the Minister an honourable man, but he has spent the largest proportion of his parliamentary career looking at these issues. He must surely understand, however, that the confusion that has been expressed in this place is now being felt and expressed in the country at large. I have never…”

“The hon. Gentleman is making a most correct and powerful point, which is that this is not the best way of making law and it is hugely disrespectful to Members on all sides of the House, irrespective of position. Does he agree that that is compounded by the woefully inadequate time that is being set aside for Committee …”