Speeches by Jones.

“I thank the Minister very much for her interesting response. I thank all Members who contributed to the debate, many of whom spoke very personally about their own experiences. From time to time, that can be quite a hard thing to do, so I thank everybody for doing so. In particular, I thank the hon. Member for Southport…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) for securing this important debate. Thames Water’s assets are in urgent need of repair, and the company is swamped in over £17 billion of debt, which it cannot repay. Thames Water cus…”

“The hon. Member makes a good point; we definitely need more clinical trials in this country. We have been lagging behind in the last few years, and we need them nationally, rather than just in Scotland, Wales, England or Northern Ireland. That would be advantageous for both drug companies and the people who benefit fro…”

“I apologise.”

“May I wish a very merry Christmas and a happy new year to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to everyone else who works in Parliament? In my constituency, Wokingham in Need is an amazing local charity that provides support for homeless people and the most vulnerable. It does it all through volunteer-led projects. Most rece…”

“This scheme will help countless young people from Wokingham to gain invaluable life experiences and it is to be welcomed. The Minister says that the Conservative Brexit deal was a bad deal. Will he therefore look to correct it and begin negotiations on a bespoke UK-EU customs union, which would cut the endless red tape…”

“Wokingham is the lowest funded unitary authority in the UK and is struggling to find enough money for adult social care and children’s services. I have three quick questions for the Minister. First, has she protected tier 1 local authorities from real-terms cuts? Secondly, have the Government honoured their commitment …”

“Loneliness and social isolation are sadly common problems among older people. In Wokingham, the Link Visiting Scheme has spent 27 years tackling this problem, matching volunteers with the elderly and running projects to build friendships. This year alone they have helped over 1,000 people. Will the Leader of the House …”

“In Wokingham we are lucky to have 119 great hospitality businesses. Those businesses are struggling under the burden of rising energy costs, increases in national insurance and business rates and many other cost increases. The Liberal Democrats called for a 5% cut in VAT to help the hospitality sector, but the Chancell…”

“What with the Chancellor’s flip-flopping on the Budget, the various leaks and the misleading comments about the state of the public finances, Labour is beginning to look as incompetent as the Conservatives in its running of the economy and the Government. Does my hon. Friend agree that Labour has let the public down, a…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) for bringing this very important debate to us today. It is an opportunity for the House to condemn the evil actions of Putin in his illegal invasion of Ukraine and to assert our strong support for President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. Our s…”

“In Wokingham, we are lucky to have CLASP—caring, listening and supporting partnership—which is a charity that gives wonderful support to adults with learning disabilities. It says that there is a serious lack of awareness about the issues faced by adults with learning difficulties and autism, notably that they typicall…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. There needs to be some sort of plan, and sooner rather than later. The Government appear to recognise the injustice and are proposing to use surplus funds in the PPF to provide inflation increases on some pre-1997 pensions. Why are we not seeking to resolve the same issue for com…”

“My constituent David worked for 3M for 31 years, 23 of them pre-1997. His pension payment for service prior to 1997 has not increased since 2008, since when it has lost 40% of its purchasing power. Other constituents have lost more. Another constituent worked for ExxonMobil, which he says gave him written documentation…”

“Even having the debate on Thursday 5 February would be good.”

“I guess that is what we have asked for, but if you can find a way to give us more time, that would be great.”

“Yes.”

“Yes. That is a Wednesday, so it might be good if we could have the debate on Tuesday 3 February, because it would give a lot of visibility to these important issues. The national cancer plan has every chance of being published on 4 February, so it would be very good to have the debate around then.”

“Thank you, Chair, and Committee members for letting me speak to my application this afternoon. I am afraid that Mary is unable to join us, so it is just me. Secondary breast cancer occurs when the disease spreads to other parts of the body. For those affected, every extra month matters, yet far too often their voices a…”

“Sorry, we did not get that right.”