Speeches by Dewhirst.

“I absolutely agree. The women’s rugby game has been a huge success story over the last decade, and the free-to-air coverage that we have of the women’s Six Nations has been a key part of that. I pay tribute to all the clubs up and down the country that have done such a huge amount of work to get more girls and women in…”

“1. Whether she has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the potential impact of the proposed visitor levy on the economy in Wales.”

“Hospitality businesses in my constituency of Bridlington and The Wolds are rightly concerned about Labour’s plans for a tourist tax in Wales, so will the Secretary of State confirm to the House today whether it is her Government’s policy to roll out such a tax across the United Kingdom?”

“It is starting to feel a bit like groundhog day, because the Government are clearly not listening to the entire agricultural economy, community or experts. Let us go back to the beginning and have a brief history lesson. The hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe) just mentioned that the Government said prior to t…”

“The Minister has just confirmed that the Treasury’s modelling is based on agricultural property relief and joint agricultural and business property relief claims, yet tax experts have said in evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that many family farms will wrap their agricultural land into a si…”

“You said that bills have fallen in real terms and that the investment that you would like to have seen has not taken place. What has changed? Why are water companies suddenly coming forward with proposals asking for this huge investment?”

“Mike, has consumer and political pressure changed the dynamic there in terms of the investment required to make those changes?”

“You said that bills have fallen in real terms and that the investment that you would like to have seen has not taken place. What has changed? Why are water companies suddenly coming forward with proposals asking for this huge investment?”

“Are we now in a better position in terms of achieving what we want to from that investment, although it is coming at a significant cost to the taxpayer?”

“Mike, has consumer and political pressure changed the dynamic there in terms of the investment required to make those changes?”

“Are we now in a better position in terms of achieving what we want to from that investment, although it is coming at a significant cost to the taxpayer?”

“I thank the Minister for his reassurance to leaseholders, but what message does he have for freeholders, such as the residents of the Wolds View development in Driffield, who are trapped at the mercy of an unaccountable management company? Will he legislate to protect not just future homeowners but those currently stuc…”

“The outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Germany is a timely reminder of the livestock diseases that threaten the UK every day. The Minister has said that he will take every precaution available to him, so will he use this opportunity to permanently ban all personal imports of meat, and to ensure that both the public …”

“Do you have a good idea as to how much money you will need from the Treasury to deliver on these aims? Do you have the data to back that up to make a persuasive case?”

“Looking more widely at data, away from the schemes for a second, my previous professional experience was that while DEFRA collects a lot of data after the fact and produces a lot of detail about what is going on across food production more generally, forecasting is often lacking. The ability to recognise perhaps shocks…”

“It is just a concern with these legal targets that if you do not have the resource to give to farmers to achieve them—if you take, for example, water quality, which will be quite a significant challenge in meeting the nitrogenous and phosphorus contribution and so on—farmers might end up getting blamed because they hav…”

“I think the iterative approach to the programme design has had its advantages of being able to redesign the schemes with lower demand and accelerate those with higher demand. But it does mean it is ad hoc and planning is, therefore, difficult for farmers, given the Department regularly states that ELMs are crucial in d…”

“Yes. On data specifically, the report highlights that DEFRA maybe does not have access to all the data it needs to make timely decisions on some of these schemes. How confident are you when you are looking at the progress of each scheme that you are able to react in a timely manner and ensure the financial viability of…”

“The increase in employer national insurance contributions comes at a time when we simply cannot afford to lose any more provision from care providers. Age UK estimates that 2 million people aged 65 and over already have unmet care and support needs. What assessment has the Minister made of the potential increase in unm…”

“2. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase to employer national insurance contributions on social care.”