Contributions
1,082 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Power to Cancel Local ElectionsI have two responses to the hon. Gentleman, whom I have a great deal of time for, as he knows. First, the Chairman of the Petitions Committee laid out clearly the responsibilities…02 Mar 2026HANSARD Power to Cancel Local ElectionsAnd Wickford for good measure.02 Mar 2026HANSARD Power to Cancel Local ElectionsMy constituency is pronounced “Rayleigh”, by the way. My advice to the Minister is to cut your losses and drop the whole thing in Essex, because it is a shambles. However, under…02 Mar 2026HANSARD Power to Cancel Local ElectionsThe Chairman of the Petitions Committee is introducing the debate very well. I was a local councillor too, in Basildon in the early 1990s. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is…02 Mar 2026HANSARD Power to Cancel Local ElectionsJust as a matter of record, we had a general election in Britain in July 1945, when we were still involved in fighting the second world war in the far east. If we can have a…02 Mar 2026HANSARD Power to Cancel Local ElectionsIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I commend the Chair of the Petitions Committee, the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie…02 Mar 2026HANSARD Power to Cancel Local ElectionsI give way to the right hon. Gentleman from Northern Ireland, because no debate in Parliament would be complete without him.02 Mar 2026HANSARD UkraineMy right hon. Friend is quite right. The Ukrainians were—and I use this word deliberately—warning us. They have been at war for 12 years, and they were warning us not to be…25 Feb 2026HANSARD UkraineAs ever, my hon. Friend is entirely right. The sale of hydrocarbons, including to China and India, is effectively Putin’s windpipe. Some people now refer to Russia as “China’s gas…25 Feb 2026HANSARD UkraineI am not an insurance expert and would not claim to be, but surely there is more that we can do. It is not a state secret that Lloyd’s of London is a world leader in maritime…25 Feb 2026HANSARD UkraineMy hon. Friend is absolutely right, and it was great to have him as a colleague on that visit. He brought his great knowledge of defence and foreign affairs to our trip. I can…25 Feb 2026HANSARD UkraineIt is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for North Devon (Ian Roome), who always speaks knowledgably on defence matters—and not just because of his own service—as he has done…25 Feb 2026HANSARD UkraineI am sorry to hammer the nail on the point about insurance; I do not expect the Minister to make policy on the hoof, but so many of the Ukrainians we spoke to were so hard over on…25 Feb 2026HANSARD Ukrainerose—25 Feb 2026HANSARD UkraineWe would all be intrigued to know who Reform’s defence spokesperson is, so if the Minister picks up any hints about that, perhaps he could give me a ring.25 Feb 2026HANSARDSupport for Road UsersEssex man and woman love their cars, but the A13 and the A217 in south Essex are at 99% capacity during the morning and evening peaks—they are maxed out. The proposed lower Thames…12 Feb 2026HANSARDTopical QuestionsOn a point of order, Mr Speaker. I fear that the Veterans Minister, who is still here, may have inadvertently misled the House earlier. According to House of Lords legal records,…02 Feb 2026HANSARDSupport for VeteransRight hon.02 Feb 2026HANSARDSupport for VeteransWe had hoped to see the Minister for the Armed Forces today, but we accept that he is on manoeuvres. More seriously, we learned last week that the Prime Minister’s interest in…02 Feb 2026HANSARDSupport for VeteransLet us try this for detail. Why should any British soldier, past or present, or those who commanded them, owe loyalty to a Labour Government who contain an Attorney General who…02 Feb 2026