Emma Hardy: One way to regenerate high streets is to repurpose old retail units as co-working spaces, and increasing the number of remote jobs available means people do not have to leave the place they love for the job they want. Would the Minister, and indeed any Member across the House, like to come to my Work Hull: Work Happy event on 23 June at 11 am to find out more about the benefits of remote...
Emma Hardy: One way to regenerate high streets is to repurpose old retail units as co-working spaces, and increasing the number of remote jobs available means people do not have to leave the place they love for the job they want. Would the Minister, and indeed any Member across the House, like to come to my Work Hull: Work Happy event on 23 June at 11 am to find out more about the benefits of remote...
Alex Norris: We meet today with our constituents struggling more than they have in my entire lifetime, and that comes off the back of a very difficult decade or more for people in my community, with anaemic growth in the economy, virtually no wage growth, stagnant pay and of course ever-increasing bills. Millions of people across the country have been just about managing for a decade, whether by not going...
Viscount Waverley: My Lords, I welcomed the Minister’s opening remarks when she referred to meeting the transport challenges head on. From my perspective, however, the emphasis on people, although undeniably important, misses the crucial category of freight and logistics—the engine room of economic development. This serves as a starter for my remarks this evening. While the signing of free trade agreements...
Colleen Fletcher: ...keep its citizens safe. We heard that earlier—it was the Home Secretary’s opening remark when she started the debate—but the Government have failed in that duty over the last 12 years. On the Conservatives’ watch, we have seen police officers disappearing from our streets, a criminal justice system in chaos and people feeling much less safe in their own communities. The...
Gareth Thomas: I very much welcome the remarks of the hon. Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) about Bob Blizzard. I had the great privilege of being elected at the same time as him, and as we learned together and with others how this place works—and, indeed, how it perhaps does not work quite so well—I had many conversations with him. I heard of his passing last week from a friend of his in my...
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, and the noble Lord, Lord Newby, and I join them in congratulating my noble friends Lord Sherbourne and Lady Fraser on their excellent speeches. Like all of them, I thank His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for delivering the gracious Speech and send our warmest wishes to Her Majesty the Queen. The whole House knows the...
Angus Robertson: I will come to that point later. Incidentally, I am also summing up, so I will be able to reflect on members’ contributions. To return to the international offices, which I was addressing when Willie Rennie intervened on another issue, we will be happy to keep the committee updated on the work that I described as it develops in the months ahead. In preparing its report, the committee heard...
Margaret Beckett: It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. My colleague from Derbyshire, the hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Mrs Latham), has done a brilliantly comprehensive job of making the case for Derby to be the home of the headquarters. She has left very little for anyone else to say, but I will pick up on one or two points. The hon. Lady covered this ably in her remarks, as...
Richard Lochhead: ...devolution. For members who have doubts about that, let me quote UK Government ministers themselves. In 2020, Simon Clarke said: “The key point is that we want to make sure that this gives the Scottish Government meaningful control over key aspects of resources.”—[Official Report, House of Commons, 22 January 2020; Vol 670, c 101WH.] In 2020, Simon Hart said: “nothing contained in...
Caroline Lucas: I thank the hon. Lady for her contribution and I completely agree with it; that is exactly what this fossil fuel treaty is all about. It is about countries setting those end dates and then working towards that reduction swiftly but in a coherent and co-ordinated fashion. The International Energy Agency has been similarly clear that countries, including the UK, must halt all new fossil fuel...
Robert Largan: The invasion of Ukraine is a despicable act by a desperate criminal regime, and how we respond now will determine the strength of our democracy and collective security for decades to come. We have a strategic imperative and moral duty to act. The people of Ukraine are putting up a fearsome resistance that is nothing short of inspiring. Sixty-two days on, Russian forces have been repelled from...
Vicky Ford: I thought we treated women with respect in this place. The Prime Minister visited New Delhi and Gujarat on 21 and 22 April to deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership with India. The relationship between the UK and India is one of friends, partners and equals. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown the importance of greater and deeper partnerships between democracies. This visit...
Stuart McMillan: Judging by some of Daniel Johnson’s comments, he would probably rather not have the yard there, not have the jobs and not secure the yard’s future. There was a thorough parliamentary inquiry in the previous parliamentary session and there has now been scrutiny by Audit Scotland, both of which have generated significant reports and recommendations. Will the minister set out what the...
Fiona Bruce: On 5 and 6 July in London, the largest international gathering hosted by the UK Government this year will take place—the 2022 international ministerial conference on freedom of religion or belief. Government representatives from over 50 countries have been invited, together with faith and civil society representatives, to discuss the concerning global trend of increasing restrictions on...
Mark Spencer: I thank my hon. Friend for raising this matter. It is an important principle that local government is independent of central Government. I understand that the council is co-operating with the police on this matter. The Government will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that a good record of transparency, probity, scrutiny and accountability is maintained across councils in this...
Baroness Barran: Mr Honourable Friend The Minister of State for School Standards (Mr Robin Walker) has made the following statement. As the House will be aware, at COP26 the Department for Education launched its Draft Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for the Education and Children’s services systems. Since then, we have engaged widely with young people, educators, academics, sector leaders, and...
Robin Walker: As the House will be aware, at COP26 the Department for Education launched its Draft Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for the Education and Children’s services systems. Since then, we have engaged widely with young people, educators, academics, sector leaders, and governing bodies in developing the finalised version of this strategy. I am delighted to inform the House of this...
Màiri McAllan: I am glad to deliver this statement setting out how this Government is progressing Scotland’s leadership on blue carbon, which is a critical climate policy. The global ocean life-support system produces 50 per cent of the world’s oxygen and absorbs 23 per cent of man-made CO2 emissions and 90 per cent of the excess heat created by man-made greenhouse gases. It is also the world’s...
Nadine Dorries: No, I have to continue. Not only will the Bill protect journalistic content, democratic content and democratic free speech, but if one of the tech companies wanted to take down journalistic content, the Bill includes a right of appeal for journalists, which currently does not exist. We are doing further work on that to ensure that content remains online while the appeal takes place. The...