Speeches by Jones.

“It is a good challenge. My sense is that you need a space where you can have private conversations to try to resolve often knotty or complicated issues. Devolved Governments are often asking for things that we cannot agree to, and that is okay. We can work through these things and sometimes there are points of compromi…”

“The formal meetings are quite formally structured. It is quite difficult to get everyone’s diaries aligned at the same time across all the devolved Governments and the UK Government. There is then a conversation about what is on the agenda for those particular meetings. As I say, there is quite a lot of informal engage…”

“Yes, each country has done it in a slightly different way. That is why the consultation is important. For example, it is highly unlikely that we end up following the Estonian model, which came out of the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is probably unlikely that we follow the Indian model, which is a very centralised b…”

“The existing structures seem to work quite well in terms of a fairly frequent drumbeat of formal engagements, not just at First Minister and Deputy First Minister or Finance Minister level, but in other Departments too. The Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Offices are engaged on a probably daily or weekly basis wi…”

“When we came into Government, the Prime Minister was very clear that we needed to reset those relationships. They had become very fractious under the last Government. There was not any sense, really, of two Governments working together to deliver for different parts of the United Kingdom. In the first week as Prime Min…”

“As I say, we have to consult on how you build and deploy your ability to log in and prove who you are to the gov.uk app. The gov.uk app already exists. From a technology perspective, I do not anticipate that the process for doing the logging in and proving who you are will be expensive. What will be expensive in the fu…”

“The minimum policy priority is digitising the right-to-work check. That is the only use case that has been committed to by the Government. As I say, we will consult on the technical route to doing that, but I do not anticipate that having to cost a huge amount of money. We may want to do other things. This is not Gover…”

“Depending on what we end up having to do, the legislation may have to go longer into the second Session, as opposed to the calendar year, but we will not know that until we know the depth and complexity of the Bill.”

“For sure, because, if it becomes a huge and complicated thing, it might take longer. If it is simple and streamlined, and just about improving customer experience, which everybody would broadly welcome, you might be able to do it more quickly. If I can deliver a benefit to the public more quickly, I will be very happy …”

“The commitment from the Government is that the technology will be available from 2029. If I can make it happen more quickly, I will be very happy to do that, by the way, but our long stop date is 2029.”

“Mr Speaker, there is obviously a great deal of interest on the Liberal Democrat Benches in their ten-minute rule Bill, which I look forward to reading in due course.”

“My hon. Friend will know that it was Nicola Sturgeon, campaigning less than a month before the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, who promised a new elective treatment and diagnostic centre for the people of Cumbernauld. Four and a half years later, my hon. Friend’s constituents are still waiting, and the SNP Governmen…”

“I agree that this is but one fantastic example of two Labour Governments working together to deliver for the people of Wales, in stark contrast with 14 years of Conservative Governments ignoring Welsh leaders in the Senedd. Just the other week, we announced two AI growth zones and the UK’s first small modular reactor i…”

“In England and Wales, Labour Governments are investing billions of pounds to deliver a new generation of clean, safe nuclear power. Hunterston, in my hon. Friend’s constituency, is just one of the communities in Scotland that could benefit from this investment, if it was not for the SNP Government’s outdated and ideolo…”

“Since coming to office, the Government have secured a new strategic partnership with the EU to deliver on jobs, bills and borders. We are repairing the damage inflicted by the Conservatives’ botched Brexit deal, which left food businesses paying £200 on paperwork for every single consignment shipped in from the EU. We …”

“I can confirm that Ministers across Government, including myself, the Prime Minister and others in relevant Departments, engage with our counterparts in the Scottish Government frequently, and we wish to unblock problems to improve delivery for the people of Scotland. If the hon. Lady writes to me on the particular iss…”

“After the damage wrought by successive Conservative Governments, we have successfully reset relations with the devolved Governments. Thanks to the hard work of Eluned Morgan, Anas Sarwar and our brilliant Welsh and Scottish Labour MPs, we have provided the largest uplifts to their budgets since devolution began.”

“I have to confess that I have not listened to “The News Agents” podcast that the hon. Member refers to, but I know you will be pleased to hear, Mr Speaker, that what is self-evident is what is said in this House, not on podcasts. The Prime Minister was very clear yesterday on the position the Government hold in relatio…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. The United Kingdom remains committed to our role in European security in the face of rising threats. As the House will know, the Prime Minister has led the coalition of the willing to combat Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and has worked tirelessly to strengthen…”

“The Prime Minister was very clear in the House yesterday that we will be honouring our manifesto commitments on a single market and a customs union—we will not be rejoining those institutions. However, there is a great deal of work that can be done between the botched deal we inherited from the Conservatives—from their…”