Speeches by Chowns.

“A key part of that is about ensuring there is more state-run special school provision. As the hon. Member for South Cotswolds mentioned, the evidence shows that independent school places cost about two and a half times more than state special school places. We need investment to expand state educational provision so th…”

“I absolutely recognise that. That is who I meant when I talked about the people who work most closely with these children and young people—the teachers and educators who support them. In my constituency, numerous children have to travel out of county to get the support they need, and numerous teachers are frustrated an…”

“Given that the Minister feels that social housing is so important, can he explain why he will not set a target for it?”

“Given that 1.3 million households are on council housing waiting lists, and given the previous Labour commitments to tackling the social housing crisis that he presented, does the hon. Member agree that it is extraordinary that the Minister has repeatedly refused to set a target for social housing? The Government think…”

“We keep talking about a ceasefire, but how can one be achieved if one side is intent on killing the negotiators from the other? Attacking peace negotiators is simply reprehensible and undermines any possibility of the only thing—dialogue—that has any chance of bringing a resolution to the horrors in Gaza. It is not the…”

“The Government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action has caused a growing legal, political and policing crisis. A judicial review has been granted. The police are struggling to deal with the sheer volume of people being arrested, and the UK’s reputation has been seriously harmed. Does the Leader of the House recogni…”

“As I have reminded Ministers on a number of occasions, tackling pollution in our rivers and seas requires us to address agricultural pollution as well as sewage pollution. I am disappointed not to hear the Minister mention that, but I like to come with solutions. I recently visited the Wyescapes landscape recovery proj…”

“Q9. While the Conservative party deludes itself with the myth of endless fossil fuels, the rest of us know just how ridiculous and reckless that is. Extracting more oil and gas from the declining North sea basin will do nothing to protect energy security or jobs. The Prime Minister himself has stated:“Climate action is…”

“The Israeli Government are clearly hellbent on their horrific plan of eradicating Palestine with their continuing and ever-worsening genocide in Gaza, and now their approval of the shocking E1 plan that will divide the west bank and East Jerusalem. How can the Government continue to take no further action when there ar…”

“Under the Planning and Infrastructure Bill you have removed the requirement to do a site survey.”

“I am not assuming that, but I am saying that in the Bill you have taken away the requirement to do that.”

“Minister, let me try to be really clear about this. I recognise that you are moving to a wider approach—a strategic approach—of using environmental delivery plans to mitigate the damage done, but we have to look at sites specifically, because damage is done at specific sites. Nutrient neutrality is a good example. It i…”

“And therefore nobody will know what damage is being done by a particular development.”

“But normally the scientific evidence is a site survey for a development.”

“I will come to the OEP’s latest letter in a moment, but on this specific point, without doing a site-specific survey, nobody knows—Natural England does not know, the Secretary of State does not know and the developers do not know—what natural features are there that may be impacted by development. It is therefore reall…”

“Of any development.”

“I heard that, but my point is that under the Planning and Infrastructure Bill there is no longer a requirement to do a site-specific survey.”

“Let us be really clear about this, Minister: Natural England is responsible for provision of environmental delivery plans, which are the mechanism for offsetting. Natural England cannot avoid or mitigate on-site damage; the developers who are doing the development on the site are the only actors who can possibly take s…”

“We are back to Barry’s first question to Minister Creagh. I confess that I struggled slightly with your answer, Minister, because you pointed out these two examples. Of course, we already have district-level licensing for newts under existing legislation, and nutrient neutrality is the only aspect that is considered in…”

“Minister Pennycook, under your amended version of the overall improvement test, the conservation measures have to materially outweigh the negative effect of development, but without a requirement to do a site-specific survey, how do you know what the negative effect is?”