Speeches by Kumar.

“I agree. Engagement in all aspects of the community is important, whether we are talking about the church, the gurdwara, the mosque or the synagogue. It does not matter what the community forum is—it could just be the youth centre—but if youth are engaged in that, we should pursue those routes to get them to take a mor…”

“Dudley FC, which is one of the oldest teams in the west midlands, is so important and integral to the community. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need funding through the entire football pyramid, and not just for the elite?”

“UK homes bin 1.7 billion pieces of plastic every week. Thanks to companies such as the British Dudley-based business Iron and Velvet, there are viable alternatives to using plastic in cleaning products. Would my right hon. Friend help encourage others and this place to ditch plastic, and could we have a debate about th…”

“You touched a number of times on the industrial strategy. The industrial strategy will have a clean sector plan. What are you hoping to see and what are your five priorities you are wanting to see from that section?”

“We saw written evidence to the Committee last time we called for it, as well as in the previous Parliament on the ESNZ Committee, that securing domestic supply chains is essential. There are a few areas on which we have had a number of responses in, such as the lack of projects in the pipeline, infrastructure and costs…”

“My constituent Darren recently shared the harrowing experience of his father Les, who went to A&E following a fall. An ambulance was called and they were told that it would take an hour to arrive. Unfortunately, it took six and a half hours. This is not an isolated incident, as such delays are becoming all too comm…”

“The reduction in funding for our waterways by 5% year on year from 2027 will have a detrimental impact on the operations of the Dudley Canal and Caverns Trust. Will my right hon. Friend commit to a review of the funding of our waterways and reinstate that support?”

“The UK now produces less steel than our European neighbours Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria and Poland, and over the past 30 years, China’s share of global steel production has risen from 13% to 54%. To safeguard the future of the steel industry, we must think about diversification. Does my hon. Friend agree tha…”

“I have done roundtables with my steel manufacturers in Dudley. Time and time again, they say that the UK is being flooded by cheap steel from other countries, which is making UK steel uncompetitive. How do we tackle that?”

“You have already highlighted that only 4% of contracts are going to SMEs at the moment. Can you tell what support the strategy is going to offer to SMEs, particularly in regions such as the Black Country, where there is a strong manufacturing heritage but historically limited access to major defence contracts? Could yo…”

“How can we keep scrap metal here in the UK?”

“I will hang around. As someone who worked in a care home during the pandemic and saw the stress caused by families being kept away from their loved ones, I think this is an important debate to have. Thank you for bringing it forward.”

“I would be happy to add my name.”

“I would be happy to change it. Internationally, it is called “continence”, not “incontinence”. I will be happy whether the motion refers to “Awareness of continence” or to “Awareness of incontinence”; I just think the issue should be given its onus, considering how many people it affects in the UK.”

“That is correct. There has never been a debate in the Commons Chamber about incontinence. Incontinence affects 14 million people and 33% of women; faecal incontinence affects one in 10 people. I am an NHS physiotherapist by background, with a decade of experience; that is why I am requesting this debate. The first line…”

“The first line is getting awareness, because we have never discussed it here, but it is also to break the stigma. The issue starts to come into policy when we are discussing it in women’s health hubs, or when we are talking about the long-term strategy for women. It will cover a number of Departments, but the Departmen…”

“My preference is for the Chamber, because this is a big topic and the debate should reflect the onus of what it means to people. In the Chamber, the debate would get a lot more coverage. People would see it as us putting a stamp on it.”

“This debate would be about both urinary and faecal incontinence, which is what people do not want to talk about. People talk about urinary incontinence, because it has less stigma around it. That is why I do not think the debate should be in Westminster Hall.”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) on securing this important debate. If Members are thinking about where to visit in the Easter or summer holidays, I have a location in mind. It is somewhere visitors can pick up a fossil,…”

“My condolences to the shadow Leader of the House and his family. As a physiotherapist prior to being elected to this place, I was delighted to welcome members of all 14 allied health professions to a roundtable in Parliament this week. They account for about a third of the NHS’s entire workforce and work tirelessly to …”