Contributions
1,353 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)I add my support to Labour’s approach. I am not fixated on symmetry in terms of what devolution looks like across England, but like the hon. Member for York Central I am obsessed…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)Last week we covered the report from the Rural Services Network, which showed that if rural England was a separate region, it would be the most needy of all the geographical…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Ninth sitting)This is a very worthwhile amendment, which helps us to explore how we can play into local communities’ hunger for power and control over their own destinies. There is a real sense…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)In looking forward to changes in the way in which local government will be organised in the future, we are bound to reflect on how things have been done in the past. In Cumbria,…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Ninth sitting)This is an important issue. As the Government move to make local government less local and larger, with fewer representatives, they seem to be motivated by two things. The first…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Ninth sitting)I think this is a sensible amendment. If we are to have Mayors, I am not against their appointing deputies. That sounds a perfectly sensible thing to do. In the previous debate,…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)The Minister is very kind. In a Committee such as this, I should not be chuntering from a sedentary position when it is easy to get up and contribute, particularly when he is…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)I simply want to say that a large sum of money would act as a disincentive, and given the crisis that it would tackle, it is worth considering; it is worth looking at pilots to do…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)This is a very helpful amendment, and one that I hope the Minister will take seriously. As has been said, huge strides have been made over the past few years in reducing the…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)Brilliant.05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)I appreciate that the Minister is referring to planning, which I mentioned as another means of controlling, limiting and even reducing the number of second home owners and holiday…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Ninth sitting)This important subject gets to the heart of the motivation behind the Bill. What is it all for? Are we trying to level up different parts of the United Kingdom so that we can make…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Ninth sitting)In the spirit of unity and collegiality, which has marked the tone of the debate in Committee over the past few weeks, as a Lancastrian I wish the Yorkshiremen at the crease in…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I will be brief. As the hon. Gentleman has said, these issues have been discussed previously. It is worth bearing in mind that some of the infrastructure—highways infrastructure…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)It is great pleasure, Mrs Murray, to serve under your guidance. I will say a brief few words, broadly in support of what the hon. Gentleman said about consultation. Devolution is…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I, too, support this wise and important amendment. I am thinking again about my community in Cumbria. Many bus routes that serve the county cross boundaries including, indeed,…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I think this is where we get to find out who devolution is for. Is it for the benefit of Whitehall or communities? I have no desire to see—in fact, I have a revulsion to the…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)Indeed, as we established earlier, my county is an amalgamation of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumberland and Westmorland. What’s in a name? It may not be the most important thing in…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)This seems to be a really sensible and proportionate proposal. The Conservative leader of the District Councils Network talked to us in the evidence session on Tuesday 21 June. He…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I will not speak for long, Mr Paisley, but I want to reemphasise some things we have talked about today and build on the wise comments made by the hon. Member for Nottingham…30 Jun 2022