Speeches by Roca.

“It is a privilege to speak in this debate. I rise with personal pride as Macclesfield’s first openly gay Member of Parliament, and with real pride at how far Macclesfield and the country have come over the years. I grew up in the Macclesfield constituency, and if anyone had told me back then that we would have our own …”

“My hon. Friend has worked very hard on the issue of compensation for LGBT veterans because of the disgraceful way they were treated by the British state, which has been raised at various points this evening. I wonder whether he would comment more on that and on Lord Etherton’s landmark report.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I commend the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for securing this important debate. Rural businesses are a core part of the economy in places such as Macclesfield, which—as you will know, Mr Western—is a beautiful part of the world, on the western…”

“I agree that we should be open-minded about such measures, just as I was open-minded about taking interventions—although that may change. On that point, I want to celebrate the value of the visitor economy, which has been mentioned. It has risen to more than £1 billion in Cheshire East, which means that 10,000 jobs dep…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake) on securing this important debate. I put on the record my interest as the vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs. I…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It sometimes seems that the full glare of publicity is needed to make any progress with a case; I am thinking particularly of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. As hon. Members have said, perhaps there is an argument for our being much more assertive in dealing with such cases—not to look so…”

“On the last Government’s watch, the backlog of Crown court cases rose to record levels, leaving too many victims, including those in Macclesfield, to wait years for their day in court. That backlog included victims of sexual abuse, unable to begin properly processing their trauma until their trial is over and stuck in …”

“9. What steps her Department is taking to help support victims of sexual abuse.”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. It is affecting my constituents and his. He has also been working tirelessly to get that road reopened; I thank him for working with me on that. The road closure is impacting real people’s lives. The chair of governors at Kettleshulme…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the point. Constituents mention the issue of night time works to me, but perhaps I will let the Minister comment on that in a little more detail. In Cheshire, we are really lucky to be on the fast track for devolution, which is opposed by local Conservatives. Hopefully, when we ge…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the impact of roadworks on communities in Cheshire. It is a privilege to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I am grateful to you and to the House for granting me this opportunity at short notice. I particularly thank the Minister for being here as well; I know that sh…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend. She is more than welcome to move to Cheshire, but I suspect her residents will not let her, because I know she is a really good champion for these issues in her constituency. The impact of the closure is widespread. The consequences of the disruption are wear and tear on roads that are not …”

“Where I agree completely with my hon. Friend is that this debate—as has been pointed out already—has become incredibly toxic. We are seeing, with Reform and others, an attempt to import American-style politics to our country. We need a rational, reasonable debate that safeguards the dignity of all people, so I am glad …”

“I completely agree with my hon. Friend. She makes a good point about how urgent action is needed. Almost all Members have touched on the recent UK Supreme Court ruling, which has created so much uncertainty about the legal rights of trans people, particularly trans women, under the Equality Act. Let me be clear: I am n…”

“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. As other colleagues have pointed out, the sky did not fall in when these reforms, also passed in so many other countries across the world, took effect. We heard from hon. Members today about the EHRC’s first proposed guidance following the ruling, which allowed just two weeks fo…”

“My hon. Friend makes a good point, and why we should be extremely worried about what is happening to our record on LGBT rights. In him, his constituents have an excellent champion for their local LGBTQ+ community.”

“My hon. Friend makes that point extremely well. It is so depressing to hear of the fear that many of our constituents up and down the country have expressed to us, and the chilling effect that the judgment has had. I believe my hon. Friend’s constituents have in him a wonderful champion and supporter of the LGBTQ+ comm…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I rise in support of the petition, and more broadly in support of the rights and dignity of transgender people in the UK. Let us be clear: we are debating not just a petition, but people’s lives. In Macclesfield, we have a fantastic LGBTQ+ community, where peo…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) for securing the debate. I want to speak in strong support of continued investment in these organisations, but particularly the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. …”

“Can you give us an idea of what those incentives might be?”