Speeches by Murrison.

“I am listening carefully to what the hon. Gentleman has to say. May I tempt him to agree with me that the Armed Forces Commissioner should have his or her powers extended to veterans, on the grounds that a lot of the themes that he or she would look at would be hybrid matters that affected both the veterans community a…”

“Investing in small pension funds is boring, because it is risk-averse, safe for beneficiaries and principally concentrated in this country. While investment in UK start-ups and tech through venture capital and other vehicles is to be warmly welcomed, if it happens, there is nevertheless a very real risk that funds will…”

“Alexander Downer, a former Australian Foreign Minister, a former high commissioner to this country, a former United Nations special adviser on Cyprus and a good friend of this country, says that the surrender of the Chagos Islands is “symptomatic of a country that no longer has geopolitical perspective.” What is the Mi…”

“Offshore wind has been a real positive for our energy security and grid independence, but unfortunately not when the wind does not blow. Given the election of a President who tells us he is going to “drill, baby, drill,” what revision does the Minister anticipate to his timetable towards net zero?”

“I am very much warming to what my right hon. Friend has to say. He rightly speaks of the Reformation, but will he recall that, broadly speaking, there were two reformations in this country? There was the English Reformation and the Scottish Reformation. We never have any discussion about the place of the other establis…”

“I think I will agree with what my right hon. Friend will come on to suggest, but are we being a little unfair on their lordships, since clearly a lot of them did not get the memo that says, “You have been appointed to this high honour, and you will turn up and do some meaningful work”? Some of them think they are simpl…”

“Does the hon. Lady recall that, in fact, we have had that debate? We had it last in a proper sense in 2007, on Jack Straw’s proposals when, on the basis of the consensus that we are trying to establish here, consensus there was none, and the thing descended into complete chaos. Would she remember that, when making her …”

“I am very much attracted to the argument laid out by the Father of the House. He is right to say that consensus in these sorts of matters is nigh on impossible, as poor Jack Straw found out in 2007. The Father of the House is also right to aim for a reductionist strategy in trying to decide what we can do to improve th…”

“I am listening with the greatest of respect and interest to the hon. Member. Does he think that there would be virtue and merit in having a unicameral system, a bit like the plan B suggested by my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis), rather than having a competing elected upper House—bec…”

“8. Whether he has had recent discussions with National Grid on diversifying the energy mix of its network.”

“The last Government extended to state school pupils the undoubted advantage of the combined cadet forces, which had been the almost exclusive prerogative of private school students. Why, then—”

“What lessons has the Secretary of State drawn from rail networks in other countries about rail performance and safety, given that many of them are now automated? Will she make herself a heroine in the south-west by dealing at long last with the notorious Tisbury loop, west of Salisbury, which has added inestimable time…”

“Why, then, Mr Speaker, did this Government decide, last week of all weeks, to defund combined cadet forces and thus remove the advantages that state school pupils are now enjoying as a result of decisions taken by the last Government?”

“Does the Secretary of State understand that a farmer coming towards the end of his career is hardly likely to invest either in improving his land or in the hundreds of thousands of pounds that a piece of agricultural plant costs these days, knowing that there will be a surcharge when, sadly, he deceases?”

“If Rwanda was a gimmick, why are Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania looking at similar schemes? Given the number of crossings and deaths in the channel, would it not, with hindsight, have been wise at least to have allowed the Rwanda scheme a trial run?”

“The problem with our economy is that, too often, people build small businesses and then sell them off. They do not sit and develop them before potentially handing them on. Can the Minister explain how the proposed inheritance tax changes will encourage people to take risks in nurturing and growing their businesses in o…”

“Given the raid on family firms, it is worth pointing out that the art of a good Budget and smart taxation is plucking the goose to get the maximum number of feathers with the minimum amount of hissing. On that basis, I am afraid this Budget fails lamentably, and it certainly does in my constituency. The Secretary of St…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A Government who are going for growth do not can big infrastructure projects. As the mercury drops, the removal of the winter fuel allowance is becoming a real worry to many of our rural constituents who live in old, cold homes, many of which have no access to gas. As we approach Rem…”

“I most certainly can. It is pretty plain to all who take an interest in these matters that the Argentine Government have their tail up as a result of the capitulation on the Chagos islands. If the hon. Gentleman doubts that the Argentine Government have had a shot in the arm, he should look up the Argentine Foreign Min…”

“The right hon. Gentleman knows full well that that would require some sort of referendum or vote. The difficulty has always been defining what the electorate would be. That is why we would be kicking the can down the road for decades and decades. It is an almost insurmountable issue. It seems to France, the United Stat…”