Contributions
2,107 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsAlways the voice of reason and moderation, my hon. Friend is quite right and, as usual, consistent. He is a technologist and so am I. Science has solved all humanity’s problems…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI thought the hon. Gentleman was going to refer to Costa Rica, which is, of course far ahead of Scotland in terms of its expertise and the use of technology to solve climate…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI hear what my hon. Friend says, and he is quite right that the great silent majority, for whom climate change is very important, want to see it addressed, but in a measured,…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI am obviously grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s remarks. He is right that the solutions to knife crime are complex. As I learned between 2008 and 2012, there is no silver bullet…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI agree completely with my hon. Friend. She is right that all right-thinking people of this country have been outraged by tactics that are perceived as striking at one of the…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsObviously, I acknowledge the profound shock that this crime will have caused the hon. Lady’s community. I recognise her remarks and join her in expressing sympathy to all those…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsMy hon. Friend raises a very important point. He is right that these protests are not costless. Aside from the costs to the businesses affected, there is a large overtime bill to…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI know my place, and I will be deployed at the behest and instruction of my superiors to perform on screen, in the press or on the radio—whichever is required. I hope that, over…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsMy hon. Friend can be reassured that when a crime is committed, whether by a protester or otherwise, it should and will be investigated and charges brought.07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsMy hon. Friend puts his finger on the button, and I completely agree with him.07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI welcome the hon. Gentleman’s remarks. He is right: all killings are senseless, but there is something particularly tragic about people being killed and injured who had gone into…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI find the remarks of the police and crime commissioner inexplicable. We are in a sorry place if we ever accept that the primary responsibility for a crime does not lie with the…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsThe hon. Gentleman seems to be a little confused. Holding a joint statement on two issues does not necessarily conflate them. This was a single departmental statement because I…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to talk about the issues in his constituency. He is quite right, as I said earlier, that there is nothing inevitable about crime. If we…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsThe right to protest, like the right to free speech or to free assembly, is a gem to be treasured. It is a delicate vase, of which we must all take care, and those who abuse it,…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsAs the former London Assembly member for West Central, which includes the constituency of my hon. Friend, and as a resident of Pimlico for 20-odd years, I totally understand the…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI think the hon. Gentleman is being a bit disingenuous. We know that because of some of the placards and posters at the demonstration: they seemed to be more about socialism and…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsAs the right hon. Gentleman may know, a number of fixed penalty fines have been handed out over the past few days for all manner of contraventions of the coronavirus regulations.…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsThat is a useful suggestion from my hon. and gallant Friend. He will know that during coronavirus we have been using fixed penalty notices—not in huge numbers, given the scale of…07 Sept 2020HANSARD Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion ProtestsI am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s support, and he is right to say that, beyond the freedom of speech arguments, the workers in that plant would have been significantly…07 Sept 2020