Speeches by Hinds.

“It is a cadets programme. You are calling a cadets programme a summer camp?”

“We have moved on to cadets. At the same time as your Department announced the national youth strategy, another Department was cutting money from a very successful programme that was spreading cadet units through more state schools. You talk about being joined up and having this mission-led approach, everyone working in…”

“So why cut the cadets programme?”

“I think many people would agree with that. The challenges and issues for young people are certainly different from what they were when we were young, and in many ways more difficult. At the same time as announcing the co-creation of a national youth strategy the Government also cut funding for the cadets programme. The…”

“What was it about, then?”

“Secretary of State, we have already talked about some of the cuts. I will move on to the national youth strategy. You announced this about a month ago, but it was going to be co-created with young people. You announced at the same time that the National Citizen Service would be cut altogether. Did you entertain the pos…”

“Was it just about saving money?”

“I do think that the local visitor partnerships and the higher level destination partnerships—I think they are called that—are a good thing to try to rationalise the mishmash that we have always had. Ultimately, it is the marketing spend that will make the difference in how much of that can be harnessed. Very quickly on…”

“Yes, from 38 million, so that is about a 25% increase. There is another way of looking at it, though, as well. I did this maths very roughly; I hope it is about right. If we were to increase to proportionately the number of inbound visitors that the Republic of Ireland gets per head of population, I think that number w…”

“Thousands of schools are already participating in the national school breakfast club programme, including many special schools and secondary schools, but the clubs actually have a bigger effect on attendance. The Secretary of State has talked a great deal about breakfast clubs in primary schools, but what is the future…”

“We all know that the country needs more homes, but the Government’s proposed algorithm throws up anomalies such as an 86% increase in the housing target for East Hampshire, while targets for London actually go down. May we have a debate in Government time on how we make housing balanced and sustainable?”

“The hon. Gentleman is quite right. This is not some trivial increase that is easy for an organisation to absorb. While 1.2 percentage points may not sound like much, with the serious decrease in the threshold at which it starts being paid, it is a lot of money. The cost of employing the average worker on medium earning…”

“We have a mission-led Government. I am not sure whether anybody knows exactly what that means, but we do know what the mission is meant to be: delivering for working people. But I am afraid that the Government have forgotten how working people become working people. It is the people—the other people—who employ them. Al…”

“We are the Opposition. You are the Government.”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“The single most important factor in raising living standards, driving income equality and improving children’s life chances is having a job. Why is the Chancellor disregarding that fundamental truth, with tax policies that will actively harm employment, particularly youth employment?”

“On the £22.6 billion for the NHS, or the figure just mentioned for local government, have the Minister or his officials calculated what the numbers would be, net of the national insurance cost? Those bodies— the national health service and local government—carry on with exactly the same services as before, but now face…”

“rose—”

“Does the hon. Member know how many additional teachers were recruited in the last Parliament without putting VAT on private education? Does he know how many breakfast clubs are already in state schools in this country? There are thousands of them, thanks to the national school breakfast programme.”

“Well, we shall see. As a teacher, he will know that teachers move between the state and independent sectors all the time. They move in both directions, but that is not what the Association of School and College Leaders was talking about. It was talking about the fact that the change is being made mid-year, and said tha…”