Speeches by Ballinger.

“13. What assessment he has made of the level of threat from Russia.”

“Q4. I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s comments on the legacy of Jo Cox. I know that all of us in this place have been following the contest for No. 10 quite closely in recent weeks, but amid the north versus south debate, I think it is about time we had someone from the midlands who was ready to step into th…”

“Last week we heard the very welcome news that the final asylum hotel in Dudley borough has closed. The system set up by the Conservatives was a complete failure. It was very inappropriate to house people in town centres, and it was extremely costly for the taxpayer. I am very pleased that this Labour Government are fin…”

“Sadly, Dudley borough was named in Alan Milburn’s “Young people and work” report as the worst performing borough in the country for tracking 16 and 17-year-olds—for over a thousand 16 and 17-year-olds, it was unknown whether they were working, in school or in college, or what they were doing at all. Can the Secretary o…”

“I recognise similar circumstances at that time when I served, which was for a shorter period than my hon. Friend, but does she recognise the massive impact on morale of the successive real-terms pay cuts that the Conservatives gave our brave armed forces during that period?”

“I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has raised air defence. Does he regret the cuts made to air defence under the last Government, when funding for defence reduced so dramatically, and does he welcome the investment this Government are making in air defence, learning the lessons we are now seeing in Ukraine?”

“I agree that it sounds like a very helpful proposal. On the subject of permits and businesses, there is much more the Government can do to restrict the permitting of high street bookmakers, which many Members have spoken about. In the Netherlands, public authorities are allowed to conduct integrity checks on individual…”

“Sitting suspended.”

“My hon. Friend makes a really important point. Local authority trading standards were underfunded and under-resourced by between 30% and 40%, according to some estimates, during the 14 years of Conservative government. Local authorities and the police need resources to tackle this crime. I will give some good statistic…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. Why are they wrapping the windows? The first question must be: what are they trying to hide? We want our town centres to be welcoming, warm and open. That practice is completely against that type of approach. Could the Minister tell me whether the Government are considering simi…”

“My hon. Friend makes a really good point about the challenges that seaside towns face. I agree that this blight is affecting the whole country, so we need to look at all the hotspots. The impacts of this problem are really big. Organised crime costs the UK £47 billion each year. Money from the economy that could be inv…”

“Yes. It is a really positive development, because it allows His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, trading standards and the police to investigate properly in those 12 months and build a case so that they can go after not just the shop but the people behind it. On Cradley Heath High Street, there is something that sits rig…”

“I am glad my hon. Friend raised that issue. He shared with me some photographs of paraphernalia that looks just like a packet of Skittles or a packet of sweets. It is completely unacceptable that we allow businesses to market these things, which only encourage illegality, to children. In my constituency, an undercover …”

“Absolutely. My hon. Friend is completely right that we need to tackle those dodgy shops. I am pleased that the Government have made a range of announcements on that, but I will make further suggestions for where we might go even further. We see dodgy shops in Derby, and we do not just have to take the word of the CTSI.…”

“I agree, and I hope the Government are looking to close some of the loopholes at Companies House and strengthen oversight of fake directors who are abusing the system. Finally, I am concerned about whether landlords can be complicit in the organised crime that we see. We propose increasing the transparency and accounta…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of tackling illicit activity in high street shops. It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. Before I start, I want to put on the record my thanks to my hon. Friends the Members for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) and for Leigh and…”

“We can see the scale of the problem across the country from how many people have come to the debate today from different nations, cities, towns, seaside resorts and rural areas. It is great to see such interest. I am pleased about the steps the Government have taken so far. I thank the Minister in particular for taking…”

“I have been contacted by a number of residents including Stuart from Quarry Bank and Stephanie from Homer Hill about the dangerous use of modified e-bikes and e-scooters in parks across the constituency. Older people are particularly worried about youths riding dangerously without thought for road conditions. Will the …”

“T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.”

“I suppose that several of you have had criticisms of how the ISF is set up, but in a context where we have less money than we used to and other international players are playing a big role—maybe you could answer this, Olivia, because you seem to be all over it—how should we set up the ISF now so that it is most effecti…”