Contributions
1,009 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Towns FundSixty!18 Nov 2020HANSARDTopical QuestionsThere is growing public concern that the Secretary of State may have misused taxpayers’ money from the £3.6 billion towns fund to boost the Conservative party’s general election…16 Nov 2020HANSARDNon-Domestic Rating (Lists) (No. 2) BillThis is not a controversial measure, as the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds) has made clear, but I want to put a few points on the record while…20 Oct 2020HANSARDNon-Domestic Rating (Lists) (No. 2) BillThe hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the need for flexibility. The situation ahead is very unpredictable and uncertain, and we need the flexibility to support…20 Oct 2020HANSARDNon-Domestic Rating (Lists) (No. 2) BillI will not rehearse my points on the wider issues of local government finance where there is disagreement across the Benches; that is all on the record. I will just welcome this…20 Oct 2020HANSARDLocal Contact TracingOur country faces an unprecedented health crisis as we battle covid-19. No Government could be expected to get everything right first time, but a competent Government would learn…14 Oct 2020HANSARDLocal Authorities: FundingCouncils are facing in-year cuts of around £3 billion because the Secretary of State broke his promise to fully fund councils for the cost of getting communities through the…05 Oct 2020HANSARDRegeneration: Town CentresI am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for letting me stand in for my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah), who has not been able to get here, and I hope that the…05 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Local Authority Revenue LossesI am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to ask the supplementary despite my hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) being held up. Does the Minister…20 Jul 2020HANSARDBusiness and Planning BillI would like to start by saying that I welcome this Bill on behalf of the Labour party. It is a pleasure, after my disagreements with the Secretary of State over recent weeks, to…29 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentThey can’t do favours for him.24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentI very much agree with my hon. Friend. If the Secretary of State will agree today to publish the documents, we can all see, with full transparency, what really went on. That is…24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentI am afraid I do not know Tower Hamlets Council’s budget in sufficient detail, but I do know that councils across the country face a funding gap of around one fifth of their…24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentThe hon. Gentleman gives me the opportunity to repeat the same point: let us see the documentation from the Department and the advice that was given to the Secretary of…24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentI very much hope that the Secretary of State will agree to publish the documentation, because if he is right, it will lay to rest the concerns that my hon. Friend has shared.24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentI respect the right hon. Gentleman’s experience in those matters, and of course there may well have been a need to move at speed. It is not so much the speed I am concerned about…24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentI want to share a direct quote from Richard Desmond given to The Sunday Times about the video. These are his words: “What I did was I showed him the video because we’ve got a…24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentThe issue in question is not that the Secretary of State called the planning decision in; it is what he did after he had called it in— [ Interruption. ] The Secretary of State…24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentI beg to move, That an Humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, that she will be graciously pleased to give a direction to Her Ministers to provide all correspondence,…24 Jun 2020HANSARDWestferry Printworks DevelopmentI am going to come on to the issue of the proportion of affordable housing that was included in the scheme. The timing of the decision is a further issue on which I am seeking…24 Jun 2020