Contributions
43 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Household Support FundI will take up the theme of the hon. Member for Colchester (Will Quince), but I first thank my friend the right hon. Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms) for the able way in…31 Jan 2024HANSARD Further and Higher Education Students: Cost of LivingIt is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous); I profoundly agree with the last point that he made. It is an even greater pleasure, Sir George, to serve…19 Sept 2023HANSARD Business of the HouseThe report into the North East Ambulance Service is now in the public domain, and the Department for Health and Social Care has responded with what I understand to be an open…20 Jul 2023HANSARDAutumn Statement ResolutionsIt is an experience to follow the hon. Member for South Dorset (Richard Drax). I cannot say that I agree with very much of what he said, except the challenge of unemployment, on…21 Nov 2022HANSARD Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of WestminsterIt is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh). When he and I first arrived in this place, Richmond House was being built. We had the…12 Jul 2022HANSARDRestoration and RenewalIt is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. We have long been colleagues in this place and you might say to me, “Who would have thought we’d both end up…07 Jul 2022HANSARDRestoration and RenewalI agree with my hon. Friend. It is also the stated view of the current Leader of the House, who, I think, makes an entirely reasonable point. He is taking, more generally, from my…07 Jul 2022HANSARDRestoration and RenewalMy hon. Friend makes a very good point. Also, the Chamber of the House of Commons, of course, was rebuilt in the 1950s when asbestos was extensively used as a fire prevention and…07 Jul 2022HANSARDRestoration and RenewalThat problem goes back to the beginning of the debate about whether we could decant Chamber by Chamber, or whether it would all have to be done as one big decant because of the…07 Jul 2022HANSARDRestoration and RenewalI accept that point, and I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman does, too. We should keep a sharp eye and a controlling grip on the money—not on what we spent last year, which tends…07 Jul 2022HANSARDRestoration and RenewalWho knows what the future holds, but I am full of fear and trepidation. My hon. Friend kindly refers to the historic meeting of the other place’s Finance Committee and our Finance…07 Jul 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsT3. The National Grid’s main east coast electricity cables cross the River Tyne overhead and act as a constraint on trade on the river, the more so since commercial demand now…19 May 2022HANSARD DWP Estate: Office ClosuresI, too, think it would have been better if the Government had offered this as a statement to the House. May I ask specifically about the Longbenton site in East Newcastle, which…17 Mar 2022HANSARDGovernment’s Education Catch-up and Mental Health Recovery ProgrammesIt is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon). We have debated this and related issues before, but today’s debate is particularly important to the…03 Feb 2022HANSARD School-based Counselling ServicesMy right hon. Friend is absolutely right. It also relieves pressure on the national health service in the longer term, because the NHS tends to end up as the service of last…09 Nov 2021HANSARD School-based Counselling ServicesI beg to move, That this House has considered the provision of school-based counselling services. Let me start by saying how grateful I am to the Backbench Business Committee for…09 Nov 2021HANSARD School-based Counselling ServicesWhatever the cause, the problem is clear enough, and it needs to be addressed. My hon. Friend is right to make the point, and she is also right to suggest that the roots of this,…09 Nov 2021HANSARD School-based Counselling ServicesI have a relatively open mind on the particular route that should be taken to meet these issues head-on, and I have no ideological objection to a role for the voluntary sector or…09 Nov 2021HANSARD School-based Counselling ServicesI was really proud of the parliamentary Labour party this afternoon. I thought the speeches from Labour Members were very clear in their purpose and full of compassion for people…09 Nov 2021HANSARD Budget ResolutionsIt is a pleasure and indeed an honour to follow the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) in this debate. I am not sure that either of us would have thought that we would…27 Oct 2021