Contributions
1,168 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDChildcare BillIt is a delight to be called in this debate on an important topic. It is something, as I mentioned in my intervention on the hon. Member for Reading East (Matt Rodda), that I…29 Oct 2021HANSARDChildcare BillShe should be right hon. She raised a really important point in her tribute to early years teachers. A lot of my family, including both my grandmothers and my mum, were primary…29 Oct 2021HANSARDChildcare BillI am particularly interested in this Bill, as a former special adviser at the Department for Education. Clause 2 sets out the different things that the review must consider. Would…29 Oct 2021HANSARDApproved Premises (Substance Testing) BillWill my hon. Friend give way?29 Oct 2021HANSARD Animals (Penalty Notices) BillI associate myself with the comments made by many hon. Members across the House about Sir David Amess. I know from speaking to him when he was in the Chamber that he was generous…29 Oct 2021HANSARDApproved Premises (Substance Testing) BillI am grateful to my hon. Friend for speaking on this. I well remember the debate we had in Committee, when I picked up that Bill from Dame Cheryl, on prisons testing and substance…29 Oct 2021HANSARDChildcare BillI pay tribute to the hon. Lady’s office manager for doing that; it is great to see people leading by example. It has been good to see the Prime Minister taking some proper…29 Oct 2021HANSARDApproved Premises (Substance Testing) BillI was a special adviser in the House of Lords during the passage of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. That Act specifically excluded caffeine, which is by far the most broadly…29 Oct 2021HANSARDMenopause (Support and Services) BillThis is a great cause. The hon. Lady and I are working together on various other issues as well, and she is a doughty champion for cross-party working on so many important issues.…29 Oct 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Twelfth sitting)I have been reading the impact assessment and I can quite understand where the hon. Gentleman is coming from. It suggests that the annual enforcement costs would be around…22 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eleventh sitting)We have ended up in a discussion about the US system versus our system, but the US system also has substantial flaws. One thing on which we probably agree on both sides of the…22 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyDoes the Minister agree that the best way to help people, especially those changing jobs, is to do everything we can through jobcentres? I thank the Consett, Stanley and Crook…21 Sept 2021HANSARDWorking People’s Finances: Government PolicyOne thing that the Government could look at is the 2017 plan to extend pensions auto-enrolment to people who are 18-plus, rather than 22-plus, and to low-paid workers. Does my…21 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I am vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for friends of Durham University Clause 3 Civil claims Amendment made: 4, in clause 3, page 5, line 21, at end insert— “(aa) a…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)It was a foot.20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I think that is a bit unfair. I do not quite understand where the hon. Gentleman thinks all of these vexatious claims will come from, and why they are about to happen. Why, in…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)The evidence that the hon. Member is pointing to is on students and their universities, and I can quite understand that. This point, however, is all about student unions, so I…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)Quite clearly, some parts of an institution come through a university—its student union, properly affiliated to it; student bodies; its faculty—but this provision also includes…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Health and Social Care Levy BillI thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and I would also like to welcome the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Nadia Whittome) back. It is great to see her back on the…14 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q I get where you are coming from. Where do you come down? Do you think this legislation is unnecessary and that we should just trust the academic institutions as they are now or…13 Sept 2021