Speeches by Darling.

“I beg to move, That this House has considered NHS funding in the South West. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. For me, the NHS is a family affair, as my wife has served it for more decades than she would want me to admit and my son is a registrar at Torbay hospital. This time last year, many of…”

“I thank all colleagues for coming and joining this debate, however short people’s interventions may have been. I also thank the Minister for casting at least some light on this subject, but what we have heard from other colleagues from all over the south-west has been very enlightening. I am sure that there is much mor…”

“That is also very insightful. There are lots of good staff throughout the NHS, including in ICBs. It is about unlocking their potential, which I hope the Minister can do. I was suggesting a bigger footprint, which could include Somerset and maybe even Dorset, as well as Devon and Cornwall, to give greater corporate cap…”

“That is very insightful. After being around medics for many years, I know the concern about the increase in managers. Equally, I know that integrated care boards, which I will come on to now, have real challenges with the savings that they are making. There is talk of merging ICBs, including, in the far south-west, a m…”

“I agree that staff are the NHS’s most important asset and what makes it tick, which my hon. Friend is right to highlight.”

“What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the hon. Member for Beckenham and Penge (Liam Conlon) not just on obtaining this debate here today, but on the extremely important campaign that he has led the charge on. When we get elected as an MP we think, “What am I here for?”. It i…”

“Just before the Division, I was looking to talk about trauma and the significant impact that it has had on those young women’s lives. We know it may have impacted them for their whole lives, and as Liberal Democrats we feel that justice must be served, and without delay. I look forward to the Minister giving some hope …”

“My constituency contains less than the national average proportion of social rented housing, at 7%. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is shocking that the new Government have been asleep at the wheel, and have lacked the ambition to deal with the desperate need for more social rented housing during their first 11 month…”

“Our country needs stability. I fear that this policy is from the book on how to botch running the country. Although last year’s decision was wrong and this change is right—the Liberal Democrats had long campaigned against those proposals, and it is important to acknowledge Independent Age, Silver Voices and Age UK, whi…”

“I would not want you to be disappointed, Minister, by having a morning out with us without covering WASPI women. I reflect that the Minister agreed with the Ombudsman around maladministration, admittedly, and then did not agree on the way forward as far as compensation is concerned. The concern that I have is that the …”

“As politicians, we all know the best way to make an ask is face to face with people. How are you learning that lesson for trying to drive up claiming of pensioner credit? Surely, from trusted people within the community, that face-to-face positive challenge to pensioners should be made as often as possible. What innova…”

“Building on that, in my area the voluntary sector acts as the front door for social care, so they are trusted and one would hope that they would be pushing and testing people. I have also spoken to a GP who says to me, “We have flu vaccinations.” Have you reflected on working collegially with other Ministers, for examp…”

“My supplementary question is just to understand this: clearly, the Government have changed positions on winter fuel, and we await the announcement, whether it is next week or next month. What lessons have been learnt around this, particularly around take-up and perhaps the more vulnerable groups, that you could apply t…”

“Thank you for joining us today, Minister. In a previous life I lived through massive cuts to supporting people’s budgets in a local authority and that led to cost shunting from one area to the more acute services. I heard in the evidence that you shared with the Chair that there is little evidence of increased morbidit…”

“My hon. Friend makes some very powerful points. In my experience, the Conservatives in county councils are more interested in painting the grass greener than in actually getting on and sorting out people’s services. Back to the main point, we need to be reimagining our town centres. In my constituency of Torbay, a Merl…”

“My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I congratulate him on coming from the glorious county of Somerset, where our Liberal Democrat colleagues have had to pick up the pieces after the disastrous Conservative-run council effectively ran it into the ground for many years.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson)—that’s the hardest bit of the speech out of the way now—on securing this important debate. When we reflect on our communities, it is often our town centres tha…”

“In Devon we have a budget of £377,000 to recruit new dentists. Sadly, only two of the 22 dentists have actually been recruited. Does my hon. Friend agree that this demonstrates that the Conservatives’ golden hello scheme has completely failed, and that we desperately need a new contract now?”

“In light of those comments, do you disagree with universality?”

“We have talked a lot about data sharing. Is there any partnership working with GP practices with things like rollout of vaccinations, like the fuel or covid, and using that as an opportunity to identify vulnerable people who particularly need support?”