Contributions
1,788 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I am grateful particularly to my hon. Friend the Member for Putney for enlivening our discussions late in the afternoon—well past teatime, in some people’s view, which I…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)“Pantomime villain”—will that do?17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I withdraw the comment. [ Interruption. ] But I would like to press the amendment to a Division. I was distracted by the pantomime. Question put, That the amendment be made.17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)That may be the way out of the dilemma.17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I regret to say that we have some extensive questions about clause 93 as amended, which may not come as a welcome moment for the Government. I get the sense, however, from looking…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I come from a very dry region, which adjoins the constituency of the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire. Some water companies, such as Anglian Water, are already working with…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Sixteenth sitting)The water companies operate in a tightly constrained regulatory framework, always having to balance bills, investment and shareholder returns. What impact does the Minister think…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I have been elevated, Mr Gray, to doctor. Thank you very much.17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I am grateful to the Minister. I suspect that a theme is already emerging from this discussion, whereby the Minister tries very hard to explain away the differences that have…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I beg to move amendment 168, in schedule 14, page 209, line 37, leave out “maintained for at least 30 years” and insert “secured in its target condition and maintained in…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)The theme continues with this set of amendments because, in exactly the same way as I have just explained, there is a risk of not achieving the desired outcome and ambition of the…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I am not sure what a doctor looks like, but thank you. This has been a useful discussion, because it begins to show how complicated some of this is. It shows—we will come to this…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I beg to move amendment 22, in schedule 14, page 212, line 15 leave out “may” and insert “must”. Amendment 22 would make it a duty for the Secretary of State to provide a clear…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I listened with interest to the Minister’s explanation. I am not entirely sure that I am convinced by it, because it is not clear to me why making regulations at a later date,…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)Yes, and we will discuss those local nature recovery networks. The point that I am making is that the amendment was an opportunity for the Government to give direction to local…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I beg to move amendment 169, in schedule 14, page 207, line 26, leave out paragraphs (3) and (4) and insert— “(3) The relevant percentage is a minimum of 10%. (4) The Secretary of…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I beg to move amendment 136, in clause 92, page 94, line 5, at end insert— “(11) In accordance with the biodiversity metric, the Secretary of State or another person, is obliged…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I beg to move amendment 170, in schedule 14, page 212, leave out line 26.17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)Amendments 170 and 171 relate to a major concern about the proposals, which is that a number of exceptions have been made to the condition to provide a biodiversity net gain. As I…17 Nov 2020HANSARDEnvironment Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I thank the Minister, and I do think that some of what she said was helpful. However, I have to say that not only was my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test excited this…17 Nov 2020