Speeches by Aquarone.

“Local Liberal Democrat councillors and I have spoken to hundreds of people in Roughton and the surrounding villages who are furious about the prospect of losing post office services in their area. For the older population in North Norfolk, they are a vital lifeline not just for post but for banking, cash access and mor…”

“The Government’s housing targets mean that my area needs 9,500 new homes over the next 20 years, which thousands of my constituents are very worried about. Many of them would be far happier if they knew that the properties being built would meet the needs of local people, by being affordable to buy and cheap to run. Do…”

“We have a housing shortage in North Norfolk. In in particular, we need to build houses that are affordable to buy and cheap to run. Most of my constituents would be far happier with the current growth in house building if they knew that the properties were being built to meet the needs of local families, and that can b…”

“May I ask about the specifics of the Government’s response to module 1? I was interested to hear about the national vulnerability map, which could help with a range of matters including digital exclusion as well as public health, but let me ask the Minister two questions. First, has he taken into consideration the find…”

“On that point, my constituent Lauraine took early retirement from the NHS in 2014 to care for her husband. She believed that her state pension would kick in in 2015 and support her in her caring responsibilities, since she never received any notification from the DWP to tell her that it would not. She feels angry and l…”

“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. There is a strong case for devolution in Norfolk. However, can the Minister confirm that holding elections in May does not prevent devolution for Norfolk, and would he agree that Norfolk’s voters should be allowed to have their say on who is…”

“Happy Christmas, everyone. Patricia is a young, intelligent woman with a severe eating disorder. Despite the tireless work of professionals involved in her care, her mental health treatment needs are not being met, and her progress has stalled. The east of England provider collaborative, which is responsible for referr…”

“I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing a debate on this topic, which has caused great concern to residents of our neighbouring constituencies. In this case there appears to have been a total information vacuum for local people and representatives, which has fuelled fear and speculation. A number of my constituen…”

“Maladministration is a serious charge. I know the Secretary of State has taken a 360° pummelling on this, but she has declined to say that she would have compensated women if the economy were stronger, and she said it would not have made any difference if the letters had been sent. Surely, however, the overall charge o…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. She is right to say that banking hubs are about more than just access to cash. In the market towns of North Norfolk, our small businesses need access to banking services, which full banking hubs can provide. Does my hon. Friend understand why residents of…”

“Thank you. Rail nationalisation is a thing. I think we are all interested in the detail of the timing of the steps that are being taken and, in particular, what preparations are under way for bringing operators like South Western Railway into public ownership. More broadly, what difference can passengers of publicly ow…”

“In my constituency, Greater Anglia is pretty well regarded, so you are bringing in a good one. Of course, there is already some good capacity inside the operating company because of the improvements we have seen in the railways that are already publicly taken over. My two supplementaries would be to ask whether there a…”

“You mentioned LNER. Do you have any comments on its fare simplification? Was it LNER?”

“There could be some benefits in terms of frequency and timetabling that are quite cost-effective to achieve.”

“I guess that the incremental cost of, say, putting on an extra train at the end of the day is not quite as simple as dividing the cost of each journey and just adding a cost to it.”

“I congratulate the hon. Gentleman, my constituency neighbour, on securing this debate. I cannot speak for the Minister, although I certainly welcome the comments about the importance of a dental school. However, is the issue in East Anglia not a result of the region’s disproportionate failure under the previous Governm…”

“You have a chunk of money coming out of tax because it is costing more to run the railways than fare revenue. That has gone up because, rightly, you wanted to prop up the railways after covid. Lots of these improvements could potentially bring in extra revenue. From what you are saying, it is a political choice about w…”

“If all this stuff works, will it one day bring about cheaper tickets and more trains, or is it just about making the railway less rubbish?”

“I appreciate your candour so far. It all makes sense to me, and the opportunity to debalkanise, from a management structure point of view, plainly makes sense in itself. I guess I am thinking about people who watch this hearing and who use the railways, given all the wild assumptions that come to mind when you think ab…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) on securing this debate on such an important issue. He is a great champion of this cause. I know that he and his Liberal Democrat colleagues across Oxfordshire will continue to push…”