Contributions
1,165 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Seasonal Worker Visas: Sponsorship CertificatesThe seasonal worker visa scheme has been a tremendous success—perhaps one of the most successful Home Office policies in recent years—and this year it has provided about two…08 Dec 2022HANSARD Seasonal Worker Visas: Sponsorship Certificates(Urgent Question): To ask the Home Secretary if she will make a statement on the issuing of certificates of sponsorship for seasonal workers’ visas.08 Dec 2022HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Kept Animals) BillI feel quite close to the Bill, since it has my name on the cover and started its passage through Parliament all those days ago when I was Secretary of State. I will not spend all…05 Dec 2022HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Kept Animals) BillMy hon. Friend makes an important point. I would find time for both of them, because I am also very committed to the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill, but I understand…05 Dec 2022HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Kept Animals) BillI wonder whether, in the interests of getting this Bill through, the hon. Lady might consider not pushing some of those amendments, since many of them are unnecessary. There are…05 Dec 2022HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Kept Animals) BillMy hon. Friend raises a really important issue relating to what is called Gizmo’s law. I know that the Department has looked at this issue multiple times over many years. Indeed,…05 Dec 2022HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Kept Animals) BillI do not want this debate to drift too far into the historical question about leaving the European Union. Suffice it to say that I strongly disagree with the hon. Gentleman. I…05 Dec 2022HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Kept Animals) BillI very much agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, I remember visiting Ramsgate and having to deal with that case, which was even worse than he describes, as Thanet District Council…05 Dec 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillThe hon. Lady is right that this is an incredibly important issue, but is it not the case that all these issues were addressed through the Agriculture Act 2020, and the…23 Nov 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillI agree it is good to have that consistency in England, but the amendment is specifically about Cornwall, which has a unique constitutional place within our family of nations.23 Nov 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillI rise to set out the case for new clauses 70 and 71 in my name with the support of my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Derek Thomas) as well as numerous other Members from all…23 Nov 2022HANSARD Australia and New Zealand Trade DealsThe Minister is absolutely right that, at the moment, New Zealand uses only about half the tariff rate quota available to it. That being the case, why would it have been such a…14 Nov 2022HANSARD Australia and New Zealand Trade DealsIn my contribution, I also pointed out that article 32.8 was a very strong clause in the agreement. It gives any British Government the unbridled right to terminate and…14 Nov 2022HANSARD Australia and New Zealand Trade DealsThe CPTPP has provisions for its own dispute resolution and they are modelled on what happens in the WTO, but here is the thing: if we do not get the negotiation right with CPTPP…14 Nov 2022HANSARD Australia and New Zealand Trade DealsThe current Secretary of State for International Trade had no role in the discussions on these deals, although my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade Policy did and will…14 Nov 2022HANSARD Australia and New Zealand Trade DealsDoes my hon. Friend agree that, if we were to try to strengthen the Trade and Agriculture Commission, the right thing to do would be to move it within the Department for…14 Nov 2022HANSARD Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) BillWhat a number of countries have done—the UK was in the vanguard of this—was to move away from maceration of day-old chicks towards the use of carbon dioxide and argon gas as a…31 Oct 2022HANSARD Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) BillAs the former Secretary of State who introduced this Bill on Second Reading, I rise to express a little sympathy for amendment 4—not so much sympathy that I would vote for it if…31 Oct 2022HANSARDSewage PollutionAs I said, responsibility for water quality is devolved, but of course we work closely with all the devolved Administrations. DEFRA will share all the policy thinking, work and…06 Sept 2022HANSARDSewage PollutionMy hon. Friend raises an important point. As I said in my statement, we are now requiring water companies to make available to the Environment Agency all the discharge data from…06 Sept 2022