Contributions
235 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSustainable Drainage SystemsI would entirely. That is another reason why it is vital that local authorities, as the flood responsible authorities, are actually involved in certifying SuDS as they are built…05 Feb 2026HANSARDSustainable Drainage SystemsI beg to move, That this House has considered sustainable drainage systems. It is a pleasure to serve under you today, Mrs Barker. Flooding is a topical issue. In Devon, it feels…05 Feb 2026HANSARD Business of the HouseIn yesterday’s debate about Lord Mandelson, we heard a lot about the despicable crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. We also heard about Mandelson’s lobbying through his Global Counsel…05 Feb 2026HANSARDSustainable Drainage SystemsI thank everybody for their contributions. My hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) accurately pointed out that SuDS, although solving local problems,…05 Feb 2026HANSARDSustainable Drainage SystemsI absolutely agree and will go on to quote the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, New Civil Engineer and a body that I discovered only recently: the…05 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)From reading schedule 20, about the tribunal, it is unclear to me—it may be my ignorance, in which case I apologise—whether this is an existing tribunal or a new tribunal and…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I take the Minister’s point that HMRC is not a regulator that looks at the quality of tax advice; however, it has every other aspect of a regulator that one might find. I used to…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)Will the Minister give way?03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I am particularly concerned about the tribunal. I served for nigh-on 10 years on a tribunal for the Phone-paid Services Authority, which has now been absorbed as part of Ofcom. We…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I fully appreciate taking action against those who promote such schemes, but there is an inherent approach here that may be new. By prosecuting the person who promotes the scheme,…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I am slightly perplexed, because what the Minister has just said does not relate in many ways at all to the words in my copy of the Bill. Maybe I have the wrong copy. It does not…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Fifth sitting)I am afraid that my training was as an engineer, rather than as a lawyer, so I apologise if I get points of standard law wrong. However, it is fascinating to read the Bill in such…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Fifth sitting)Vaping is a difficult issue, particularly when it comes to recycling. I understand that vape shops are expected to take them back, but local authorities have real problems with…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Fourth sitting)Will the Minister address the SEND concerns, please?29 Jan 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Fourth sitting)On reading the clause, I too was concerned about the costs for SEND. Devon, which is a very rural county, spends something like—from memory—£50 million a year on taxis to move…29 Jan 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Fourth sitting)I endorse my hon. Friend’s comments. We have a number of quarries in Newton Abbot, and the same principles apply. I am, however, doubly pleased that the extensive increase was not…29 Jan 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Third sitting)The Minister mentions that our suggestion would add complexity to the system, but the system, in and of itself, is becoming overly complex. It started very simply: “Here is a…29 Jan 2026HANSARDUkraine: Non-recognition of Russian-occupied TerritoriesI thank the hon. Gentleman for initiating this important debate and laying before us the scope and scale of the atrocities going on specifically in the occupied areas, as well as…29 Jan 2026HANSARDGovernment InsourcingI have been trying to get records from the Cabinet Office of a meeting held between Peter Thiel of Palantir, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings on 28 August…22 Jan 2026HANSARD Business of the HouseWe hear an awful lot from the Government about building sovereign digital capabilities in the UK, and this morning we heard about Britain becoming Britain’s biggest customer, yet…22 Jan 2026