Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 70 of her Department's High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age white paper published on April 2023, what progress her Department has made on undertaking a consultation into potential regulation for large prize draw competitions.
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has considered making changes to the existing requirements for (a) full and (b) remote ancillary licences for society lotteries in the context of increases in the use of handheld electronic devices in recruiting subscribers.
Craig Whittaker: Everybody agrees that people deserve to live in rented homes that are safe, warm, free from damp and mould, and in which they can feel secure. Nobody doubts that intention, or the fact that rogue landlords should be clamped down on and be made responsible. However, rogue landlords are the minority—the Secretary of State has said that on the Floor of the House—yet despite that, the...
Craig Whittaker: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is a problem right throughout the country, not just the south-east. It is happening in the north in Calder Valley—wherever people are, there is an absolute shortage of homes, whether socially or privately rented. The Bill will do nothing to improve the rental market. It will drive more landlords from the system, and because of those shortages of...
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the planned timetable is for the Valuation Office Agency reviewing the business rate valuation representations made by Boundary Outlet headquartered in Colne, Lancashire; and if he will hold discussions with the Valuation Office Agency on expediting the assessment process.
Craig Whittaker: Before the Minister concludes, does he have any thoughts on the World Health Organisation forum in Panama this November and whether the UK will be subscribing to the WHO requests or pursuing our own policies as a sovereign nation?
Craig Whittaker: It is always a pleasure to speak in a debate that you chair, Mrs Latham, and today is no exception. While I do not disagree with the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), I do come at the issue from a very different angle. Every smoker is different. The reason they smoke and the reason they struggle to quit is different, and their ultimate method of...
Craig Whittaker: It is interesting to hear what the hon. Lady says about levels of investment in plant and machinery. From the point of view of my patch, Calder Valley, where we have 19.2% of people working in manufacturing, the super deduction has been a huge boost to manufacturing. Will the hon. Lady acknowledge the huge investment of £17.7 billion that has been achieved only this week by the Prime...
Craig Whittaker: May I declare a loose interest? I have an elderly mother who lives in Australia. As she is elderly, I am spending more and more time going down there. That aside, has the Minister done any evaluation of air passenger duty and the economic competitiveness of the UK versus our European partners? I ask that because I know from previous years travelling down to Australia that it has been much...
Craig Whittaker: On the Government’s ambition to reduce smoking, I briefly want to mention heating tobacco, in preference, I might say, to vaping. The only problem with vaping, of course, is that there is absolutely no evidence of any health benefits or health risks. However, with heating tobacco, there is a huge amount of evidence, particularly from Japan, about its health benefits, in helping people to...
Craig Whittaker: rose—
Craig Whittaker: The Minister is not going to hear about a constituent, but I would like to point out that charities’ lotteries, which are great fundraisers for great causes that put so much back into all our communities, are already heavily regulated by the Gambling Commission. Will my hon. Friend look at schedule 19 to see whether subscription-based charity lotteries can be excluded?
Craig Whittaker: Before my time in this place, I worked for the Dixons stores group in retail. I remember how valuable the share options were to us—they were available to all employees. In fact, Dixons stores group was such a great company to work for that it often gave us free shares. On one occasion, it helped to pay for a very luxurious family holiday. Does the Minister agree that all the Government can...
Craig Whittaker: The points that the hon. Lady makes are valid. Another valid point is this: while it is true that more people are paying tax, is it not also true that more people are earning a lot more money than they used to?
Craig Whittaker: I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. My right hon. and learned Friend said that she wants to protect the vulnerable with this review, which is an aim that everybody in this House shares, but Members will understand my surprise that there was no mention in her statement of the fact that in just under half an hour people can google non-gambling-aware...
Craig Whittaker: The only saving grace for colleagues in any honest, fair and unbiased investigation is the senior civil service. In the light of the appointment by the Labour leader of a senior civil servant who has been involved in many investigations of colleagues, does my right hon. Friend agree that if the process looks like a rotting, stinking fish, smells like a rotting, stinking fish and tastes like a...
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make a comparative assessment of the wider economic benefits on alternative uses of moorland where grouse shooting (a) does and (b) does not take place.
Craig Whittaker: It is welcome news that forced prepayment meters have finally been stopped, but that is only half the story. The premium paid by those who are on prepayment meters is also a scandal. The least able to pay are paying the highest tariff because they cannot afford the cheapest tariff—you couldn’t make it up. Will the Minister update the House on what Ofgem is doing to radically and quickly...
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make a comparative assessment of the survival of heather on moorland where grouse shooting (a) does and (b) does not take place.
Craig Whittaker: First, I would like to put on record my support for this Bill. I fully understand the huge opportunities it presents for UK plc. I do not agree with those who believe this is a Bill to strip away rights and hard-fought-for gains in various legislation. Those who detract seem to forget that, when the UK was part of the EU, often, legislative change was led by this country to improve rights for...
