Speeches by Fox.

“Minister, what evidence do you have that the changes that you are making with regard to the early release of offenders at one third or one half of their sentence is supported by victims and their representatives? What engagement have you had with victims and their views on this policy?”

“I asked for evidence that victims support your policy and you have not replied to that question.”

“The Minister will be aware that the reason hereditaries still sit in the House of Lords was the deal done in 1999. The promise made by the then Labour Government was that hereditaries would remain until the House of Lords was properly reformed. The Minister is aware that he is removing the hereditaries but giving no as…”

“In December, I asked the Leader of the House for a debate on the Environment Agency’s failure to adequately dredge Somerset’s rivers and maintain our drainage network. The EA has now announced that it will withdraw entirely from main river maintenance in Somerset. My constituents are concerned that without proper maint…”

“I agree. It is the threat of higher taxes that is causing the economy to stall. Rather than reducing the size of the state so that it is affordable, the Government give every indication of wanting it to grow further. The fundamental reason that this Government need to raise taxes is that they are incapable of controlli…”

“I do not accept that at all. This surge is entirely due to the Chancellor losing control of public expenditure, and the increased cost of servicing our national debt adds further pressure on the British taxpayer. Having presented her Budget, the Chancellor said: “We’re not going to be coming back with more tax increase…”

“This Government were elected on a manifesto to increase spending by £9.5 billion. That was to be paid for through £7.3 billion of extra taxes and £3.5 billion of extra borrowing, all of which was set out in the Labour manifesto. It was a modest plan with a prudent margin—exactly the sort of plan one might expect a part…”

“Does my hon. Friend accept that speculation about all those new additional taxes causes more uncertainty, which itself causes the economy to slow further?”

“I am Ashley Fox, the Member for Bridgwater. My interests are as declared on the register.”

“How did you go about challenging that within the organisation?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry, not the legal test.”

“I have been looking at your CV, Ms Butts, and have noticed that you were a commissioner for the Criminal Cases Review Commission. That is a five-year appointment, and I think you served for two years. That was a position in which you could stand up for victims of injustice. Could you explain to me why you served only t…”

“The Foreign Secretary wants to pay a huge amount of taxpayers’ money to Mauritius to lease back a military base that we already own. Why is he afraid of holding a vote on this policy?”

“T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.”

“Does the Secretary of State accept that the reason that unemployment is higher today than the day she took office is the jobs tax, which increases employers’ costs by £25 billion? What hope does her trailblazer programme have when the Chancellor is working against her?”

“I will not take any more interventions. Many thousands of couples think every year about whether to have children. They make that choice based on several factors, but one of the most important is whether they can afford to bring up that child as they would like to. Under the previous system, pre-2017, there was a funda…”

“The UK’s benefits system is designed to act as a financial safety net. It exists so that people in hardship through no fault of their own can be supported. Supporting families and helping parents into work requires a balanced and fair system. It must provide meaningful support for those who need it most, while maintain…”

“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for making that point. It is essential that we put Britain’s finances on a sustainable path. All benefits are funded by taxpayers or borrowing, so every time the cost of benefits rises, so does the burden on taxpayers, or the debt we place on future generations.”

“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for making that point. I know that he, like all Conservatives, believes in personal responsibility, living within our means and fairness to the taxpayer.”