Contributions
1,353 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]It is a great privilege to speak on this Bill on behalf of my party, and a still greater privilege, I dare say, to speak as the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale, which includes…16 Dec 2024HANSARD Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]I thank the hon. Gentleman for his service in a previous life, as well as in this one. He makes a very important point, to which I will turn in a moment. There is no point having…16 Dec 2024HANSARD Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]Yes, to a degree. I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention; it is very welcome, as is the investment that is promised and the way in which it will be provided, but—and I am…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThe Minister will know that in Cumbria we are still going through the process of a reorganisation that happened just 18 months ago. For better or worse, all reorganisations are…16 Dec 2024HANSARDRefugees: EmploymentThe Government are seeking to clear the very unacceptable backlog—the huge backlog—of asylum applications they inherited from the previous Government. As a result, we are already…16 Dec 2024HANSARDStorm DarraghI thank the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake), who asked an excellent question and raised this important issue today. My thoughts also are with those who tragically…10 Dec 2024HANSARDSkills TrainingThere has never been greater urgency for us to equip our young people with the skills they need to enter a career in farming, yet only half of those who took level 3 agricultural…09 Dec 2024HANSARDPlanning Committees: ReformThe reform represents a loss of control when local communities such as mine in the lakes and the dales are desperate for more control. With over 90% of the homes in some of our…09 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxThe hon. Lady makes a good reference to the outcome of the Rock review, which took place under the last Government, although they took too long to put those things into practice.…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxTo clarify my response to my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall (Ben Maguire), the Government could have looked at a working farm exemption so that these people will never…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxI am going to crack on now and not take any more interventions because, with help from Members on either side, I have already taken up nine minutes of this place’s time. I want to…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxYes, and the Government should have been thinking about these things. We heard from the Minister that lots of planning and diligence went into this before it came out of the…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxThere is something in that, and I will come to that in a moment when I talk about poverty in our countryside, when it just does not look the way people in urban communities think…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxThat is nonsense. Wherever Liberal Democrats are in control, we back and support our farmers and are proud to do so. Talk is cheap, and most people in this House will at some time…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxI am going to get to that, but the right hon. Gentleman will have to tolerate me accurately pinning blame on his side before I do so. We were told by the last Government that they…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxIt is my utter privilege to speak on behalf of my party and 1,500 farmers in Westmorland and Lonsdale. I represent people all the way from the Yorkshire dales and the North…04 Dec 2024HANSARDFarming and Inheritance TaxI have heard that from land agents in my own constituency, and my hon. Friend makes a really interesting point. We obviously do not know what will happen unless and until it…04 Dec 2024HANSARD Home-to-School Transport: Children with SENDDoes the hon. Member acknowledge that lots of local authorities, and indeed lots of schools, seek to do the right thing? Councils in Cumbria have more than doubled their spending…03 Dec 2024HANSARDMoney and Pensions ServiceThe Money and Pensions Service does tremendous work to support people in my constituency who come to surgeries in desperate need—particularly those facing crippling debt—as do…03 Dec 2024HANSARDMigration and Border SecurityMigration plays a significant part in our economy. In the Lake district, 66% of hospitality and tourism businesses report that they are failing to meet demand because of a lack of…02 Dec 2024