Speeches by Hobhouse.

“I call the Minister. You have until about 5.30 pm; please leave a little time for the Member in charge to wind up.”

“The Tibetan Parliament in exile, which the all-party parliamentary group on Tibet visited a couple of weeks ago—we have engaged extensively with it—is terribly worried that the central Tibet Autonomous Region is completely closed off by the Chinese Communist party to any outside access. Little comes out and almost noth…”

“T9. Bath has a thriving hospitality sector and many young people who need, rely on and, dare I say, enjoy part-time jobs to support their studies. Of course we Liberal Democrats support measures to tackle exploitative contracts—who wouldn’t?—but will the Government ensure that the reforms retain the genuine flexibility…”

“The hon. Member mentioned small businesses and delays at the border. Is it not true that the problem of double tariffs for small businesses when importing from third countries and then into the European Union will only be solved by us rejoining the customs union?”

“Two of my constituents have received letters addressed to multiple individuals unknown to them who appear to have used their address to obtain Disclosure and Barring Service checks. If false addresses are being used to obtain DBS certificates, that raises serious concerns about the robustness of the system. The DBS has…”

“Along with the hon. Member and other colleagues, I have been campaigning on bringing in a trans-inclusive conversion therapy Bill to ban that awful practice. Will she support me in asking for a proper timeline for when the legislation will be introduced?”

“It is an honour and a pleasure to take part in this King’s Speech debate. I am a member of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, and I look to grow our economy and get Britain working, with a special focus on the green economy and its many opportunities and challenges. The regulating for growth Bill promises a fr…”

“Thank you for coming to the Committee. Given the rising demand for generic design assessment and the pressure this is placing on regulators, do regulators require additional support or a clearer national roadmap to prioritise resources?”

“I think we all appreciate that quite a lot of this is just progress as it happens and some of it is very new. Given that only one completed GDA has led to construction, how should success be measured, particularly in terms of value for money? How would you measure it?”

“In terms of duplication, should the UK not rely more on internationally approved reactor designs? We have already heard that we should not go through the same thing again and again nationally. What about looking at international approvals?”

“Do not go to Germany.”

“I am asking that question because I grew up in Hanover near a proposed nuclear waste site. In 1976, we all said “Atomkraft? Nein danke”, and the German Government have still not sorted out GDF. We have had this for decades, not just in other countries but here as well. Why is it so difficult to identify this? Also for …”

“What is the difficulty of finding a GDF?”

“We, as a Committee, before you came in, have asked this philosophical question of what a proportionate environmental and safety risk assessment management should look like. In the end, you have sort of said that, if you want to go ahead with a nuclear programme, there will always be a one-in-a-million risk that somethi…”

“We also discuss in this Committee that we have to deal with constituents who might be worried. You know what you are talking about. We might just about get what you are talking about, but how do we translate this as a risk assessment and what to say for our constituents in simple terms? All regulators and anybody who d…”

“The hon. Gentleman mentions his Labour colleagues in Australia and the great success they have had with their vision. Why are his Government dithering and delaying?”

“Does the public co-operation model provide a sustainable way for UKNNL to deliver Government priorities, given its reliance on commercial revenues while acting as a custodian of national critical nuclear capability? The question is whether the public co-operation model is a sustainable model. It is delivered through no…”

“The answer is no.”

“Is there a case for a UK civil nuclear test reactor, so testing those, or is the cost of a test reactor outweighing the benefits?”

“GBE-N says that 34 gigawatts by 2050—we have already been through that—is achievable. You have explained earlier what that means. Its mandate ends at two FIDs by 2029. Are you content that GBE–N has run the SMR competition competently? If so, should its mandate be expanded?”