Speeches by Voaden.

“Many members of my community were arrested in London on Saturday, including a senior priest, an elderly Jewish man, and a teacher who has spent years with Gazan children and has witnessed the horror of seeing them killed by Israeli troops over the last couple of years. These people are not terrorists. While I am sure a…”

“I welcome the Government’s commitment to and recognition of the importance of early years provision, and the support for school-based nurseries, like the new Little Thinkers at Kings Ash academy and the nursery at Furzeham primary school. However, like others, I am deeply concerned about recruitment in the sector. Dais…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) on securing this important debate. We know that children who experience early trauma face profound challenges that can reverberate throughout their lives. Early years often marked by instability, neglect or harm can leave invisible wounds that can…”

“I congratulate the thousands of hospitality workers across South Devon for coming to the end of another summer season, catering to visitors from far and wide—from Brixham to Bigbury and from Start Point up to Dartmoor. With 2,618 establishments in my constituency, Members will be pleased to hear that I am not going to …”

“I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this important debate. One of the issues with OnlyFans is the way that it does its marketing. Content creators can only market their content by pushing it out on to other platforms. Does the hon. Member agree that we absolutely have to keep the law up to date with modern techn…”

“The national conversation on immigration and asylum is being dominated loudly by colleagues in this place who have a sorry track record of stirring up division and dehumanising people seeking sanctuary from some of the world’s harshest regimes and conflicts. Many of my constituents have raised their fears with me this …”

“We have a UN-declared man-made famine, children and babies being starved to death, and journalists murdered. Now the world’s leading genocide scholars state that Israel’s actions meet the legal definition of genocide. It is clear that painstaking, careful international diplomacy is not working fast enough, and the Gaza…”

“There is evidence that if schools completely ban mobile phones—not a “Put it in your bag and pretend it’s not there” policy, but a “Do not bring it into school” policy—absence is massively reduced. I cannot remember what the percentage is and I could not find it quickly, and I am not quite sure what the correlation is …”

“Do you think that maybe we are focusing on the wrong thing by fining parents whose child maybe attends every day all year and then takes one week out of school in June to go on holiday?”

“I would like to talk about the anxiety that some children have about going to school. A survey by the ASCL showed that 92% of secondary school teachers and leaders had been given as a reason for absence that a child was too anxious to attend school, and 57% of primary school teachers and leaders have said the same. Sta…”

“There is evidence that if schools completely ban mobile phones—not a “Put it in your bag and pretend it’s not there” policy, but a “Do not bring it into school” policy—absence is massively reduced. I cannot remember what the percentage is and I could not find it quickly, and I am not quite sure what the correlation is …”

“If they are banned completely from secondary schools, a lot more parents will delay getting a phone because there will not be the pressure to get one for year 7. That could mean that children do not start using them until they are a bit older, which in itself could help.”

“I would like to talk about the anxiety that some children have about going to school. A survey by the ASCL showed that 92% of secondary school teachers and leaders had been given as a reason for absence that a child was too anxious to attend school, and 57% of primary school teachers and leaders have said the same. Sta…”

“We had a discussion about fines with the previous panel, so I would just like to ask you how effective you think legal interventions such as fines are in improving attendance for different groups of pupils. Does it work with particular groups, does it not work at all, or is it brilliant?”

“If they are banned completely from secondary schools, a lot more parents will delay getting a phone because there will not be the pressure to get one for year 7. That could mean that children do not start using them until they are a bit older, which in itself could help.”

“We had a discussion about fines with the previous panel, so I would just like to ask you how effective you think legal interventions such as fines are in improving attendance for different groups of pupils. Does it work with particular groups, does it not work at all, or is it brilliant?”

“Do you think that maybe we are focusing on the wrong thing by fining parents whose child maybe attends every day all year and then takes one week out of school in June to go on holiday?”

“I rise on behalf of residents of Totnes to present a petition concerning the closure of Leatside pharmacy, formerly based at Leatside GP surgery, and I declare that I am a patient. Since the closure, many residents have faced longer waiting times and struggled to obtain prescriptions and advice, and the surgery has bee…”

“20. What steps she is taking to support schools that plan to ban smartphones.”

“Last Thursday, I felt the fear in a hall full of parents of primary school children in Totnes as they listened to campaigners going through the evidence of the impact of smartphones on kids at secondary school. There is a clear safeguarding issue around kids seeing videos of hardcore pornography and violence. I am ther…”