Speeches by Hoare.

“So it will be the authority that holds the reins on that and kicks things forward?”

“Rachael, this may be one for you. Witnesses have said that, where land is owned by the local authority, it is quite easy, but the issue is where facilities are privately owned. Could you say a word or two on the enforcement teeth that are open? Given that these things are privately owned, what checks and assessments do…”

“You may not have this figure to hand, or it may not exist at all—if you do not have it to hand and it does exist, it would be helpful if you could share it with the Committee in writing—what percentage of private owners are an extant body, are contactable and are aware of their liability, and how does that compare with…”

“Thank you. That would be helpful. Robert, counter-intuitively, and that might be the polite word, the Welsh Government withdrew the contaminated land capital funding programme. How, if at all, has that affected your ability to investigate and remediate?”

“So there are some initiatives, but it could be scaled up?”

“Rachael, is public concern high enough or where it should be with regard to concerns of leakage of toxic chemicals such as PCBs from former quarries and landfill sites, or does there need to be more public information?”

“They do not?”

“Mark, can I ask you one final question? You can probably answer on behalf of all five of you. This is not meant to sound as acerbically critical as it may come across, but if we take the backdrop that you have all been setting out—financial resources, skills resources, scale of the task and so on—is it unfair to say th…”

“I am not entirely sure how quickfire I was, but I am grateful to our witnesses for their answers.”

“I wholeheartedly welcome the Minister’s statement and the sanctions, but I fear that those who have just been sanctioned will either shrug their shoulders and say, “So what?”, or, worse, wear them as a badge of honour among their cohort. Casting forward to next week’s conference, is the Minister alert to and seized of …”

“Given the environmental importance and scarcity of chalk streams, may I urge the Deputy Prime Minister and her team to support amendments to this afternoon’s legislation that would protect those streams? They are vital, and they need as much protection as we can give them.”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wonder if you could fill a gap in my ignorance —I am sure you can. Earlier today, Mr Speaker announced that the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes), whom I will call my hon. Friend because he is my county neighbour, would not move new clause 82, to which I am a sign…”

“I assume that because the Minister cannot find the word “sorry” in his vocabulary this afternoon, he expects pensioners in North Dorset and elsewhere to be saying thank you to him for this screeching U-turn. However, just a few weeks ago, what he has announced today was predicted to cause financial Armageddon. When sho…”

“That happens a lot when you go to Bristol airport.”

“My apologies for being late. I have two quickish questions that, I hope, may meet the Chair’s strictures of quick answers as well. UK agriculture and food production are in a very competitive marketplace internationally, for both export and import markets. Is there any merit in revisiting the wider devolution settlemen…”

“My right hon. Friend is making a characteristically powerful and informed speech. He mentioned the importance of the role of volunteers, which I think the whole House will recognise. Does he, however, share my concern that, with an ageing population, we seem to be seeing a smaller cohort of people prepared to step up t…”

“I think the word the Leader of the House was looking for was “sorry”. There is much in this place which, as we know, is complicated and arcane, but the ministerial code is crystal clear on this point. The job of the Leader of the House is to represent this place and Back Benchers of all parties around the Cabinet table…”

“Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Given the seriousness of the issues—the defence of the realm is the first duty of Government, as we know—is there any merit in you, sir, considering suspending the House to allow those who are to be called to speak on behalf of their respective parties at least the courtesy t…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I do not wish to be flippant or to test the patience of the House, but we have just heard an important speech from a former Attorney General on some key legal points. This is still a private Member’s proposal. How can the promoter of the Bill, the hon. Member for Spen Valley (…”

“The hon. Lady is absolutely right on the matter of eating disorders, but my understanding of the amendment is that it relates to those who effectively starve themselves into a position of becoming terminally ill without having an eating disorder—that is the thrust of the amendment. Does she see that, and how does she i…”