Contributions
511 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDYouth HubsIt strikes me as odd that rather than extolling the virtues of the Government’s flagship youth guarantee, we have had a number of Labour MPs asking about youth hubs. Is that…26 Jan 2026HANSARDKey Stage 1 CurriculumIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Mrs Barker, and I thank the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for presenting this petition on behalf of the…26 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)The Minister’s point speaks directly to something else I am concerned about: how the business units relate to local government areas. His explanation still uses language that…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Third sitting)I beg to differ: they are all costed, because we are the official Opposition.22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Third sitting)The point I want to come back to is about value for money for the taxpayer. I want some reassurance that GBR will not go right back to the beginning of the journey of creating a…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank the Minister for the further detail that he has provided. A lot of these regions feed into London and the big cities. If local councils are holding their local business…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Third sitting)I thank the Minister for the clarity on the code of practice, which has also been echoed in some written answers I recently received from him. While we are talking about open…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Third sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I completely appreciate what the Minister is saying. However, I suppose that the outstanding question is this: how…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)Does my hon. Friend agree that paragraph (e) and some of the other provisions will support what I am particularly keen to see: the growth of the entire railway, not just the areas…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)I will touch briefly on two points that are not necessarily related, but overlap. First, let me build on what my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland and Fakenham said about the…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Third sitting)I appreciate the heart behind the hon. Gentleman’s proposal, but can he explain a bit more about why we need a national railcard? There are already all sorts of other railcards,…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)Knowing the hon. Member’s enthusiasm for all forms of transport as I do, I would like to build on the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland and Fakenham made about…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)I will briefly make a few comments about each of the new clauses, though obviously I have already intervened on my hon. Friend. I support wholeheartedly what we have proposed in…22 Jan 2026HANSARD Local Government Reorganisation: ReferendumsIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) for securing this debate. I have made no secret…21 Jan 2026HANSARD Local Government Reorganisation: ReferendumsThe hon. Member is making a very powerful speech for an area of the country that is still two tier. However, having been a representative in a unitary council and lived in one for…21 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Second sitting)Q I was going to ask more about devolution. I will just make the point that I was going to make, and then I will ask you a very quick question. The application of the term…20 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Second sitting)It is more the fact that there are not going to be any more in certain parts of the country for this Parliament. Andy Burnham: For us, though, we are moving to a situation where…20 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Second sitting)Q Will you get that with GBR, though? It is great that those relationships exist across the network and the region, but the point in the Bill is specifically that you will be…20 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Second sitting)Or at least make them jointly. Is that what you are after—that joint decision making? Andy Burnham: Yes, I think that would be what we would want. The risk would be that GBR is…20 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (First sitting)Q I want to go back to the accountability piece. You said to the Minister that there are adequate checks and balances in the system. I have spent quite a lot of time looking at…20 Jan 2026