Speeches by Hardy.

“I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. I recognise that, at this time of the year, there is anxiety about flooding, and I thank him and the Flood Action 4 Buckingham group for their work. He will be pleased to know that our flood funding policy reforms, announced in October, will make it quicker and easier …”

“As part of our record £10.5 billion flood defences programme, the largest in history, the Environment Agency is progressing multiple schemes to improve resilience to flooding locally. These include natural flood management projects for Blue Lagoon, Buckingham and Leckhampstead, a property flood resilience study for Buc…”

“My hon. Friend raises a really important issue, and I know how deeply felt the loss is in his constituency. I hope he recognises how seriously I am taking this. Of course, I will do everything I can to support him with this.”

“The hon. Gentleman raises a really important issue. He will know that there is live enforcement action ongoing, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on specific details, but if he wants to have a private conversation, I would be happy to arrange one.”

“My hon. Friend is an incredible champion for her constituency. I have heard that people visiting the area can pick up fossils and see what an ecological wonder it is. It looks incredibly beautiful. We know that access to water is important to boosting wellbeing and mental health. I look forward to hearing more about th…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important issue. I share his concern about the ability of local businesses to recover from flood events. The Government are investing £10.5 billion to better protect 900,000 properties around the country. The flood resilience taskforce will look into what more can be done to supp…”

“This Government are taking action to ensure that coastal towns have access to clean bathing water. The Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, empowering them to take tougher action against those responsible for water pollution.”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising such an important issue. I share his anger at this appalling pollution incident. The studies into exactly where the plastic pellets might end up are ongoing, but I would be more than happy to keep him up to date so that he knows what is expected to happen and when. The immed…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I welcome the chance to set out the actions this Government are taking to tackle the problems caused by wet wipes that contain plastic. I start by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) for the work she has done to raise this…”

“I am delighted to join my hon. Friend in thanking all the local groups and children. As has been mentioned, children are hugely interested in this topic, and in the disgusting stories about what ends up down the toilet—I find young children are particularly fascinated with that. I heard an amusing story about a mattres…”

“I thank all hon. Members for their contributions. I particularly pay tribute to our colleagues from Northern Ireland for coming and sharing their perspective on this and how it relates to the communities they represent. I will do my best to respond to the questions. Affordable and accessible dental care is important to…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Control of Mercury (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. This affirmative statutory instrument introduces mechanisms to enforce the EU mercury regulation in Northern Ireland under the Wi…”

“I cannot disagree with my hon. Friend on that, can I? I thank him for his comments. As I said, it means a lot to me to be able to stand here today and say that I have fulfilled in government the commitment that I made in opposition. We need to pass the Bill and the associated secondary legislation before we can take th…”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill is a landmark piece of legislation that will implement obligations in the United Nations BBNJ agreement in UK law and enable us to move towards ratification of this historic agreement. I am sure the Bill will be w…”

“I pay tribute to all the fishermen throughout the United Kingdom who play such a vital role in helping to feed our nation. The Bill also ensures that the UK has the necessary powers to implement decisions adopted at future meetings of the BBNJ conference of the parties, beginning with the marine genetic resource provis…”

“Of course, domestic marine protected areas are not within the remit of the Bill because we are talking about areas beyond national jurisdiction. What I can say is that the UK Government have introduced a consultation looking at banning bottom trawling in 41 of our marine protected areas. That consultation is out now. W…”

“I can offer the hon. Gentleman that reassurance. That is an important point well made. The BBNJ marks an historic breakthrough. It is a multilateral treaty adopted under the United Nations convention on the law of the sea that is designed to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in …”

“I wonder if I could offer some helpful clarity. This debate is on BBNJ—biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, with the word “beyond” giving a clue to the fact that it does not relate to British waters. The points the hon. Gentleman is raising, about what impact the high seas will have on offshore wind development h…”

“Let me take that and give it to Minister Creagh because she is responsible for the Circular Economy Taskforce and I would not want to misrepresent her. I will ask her a little about the plastic waste exports and if that is something she is considering with the circular economy, then I can make sure the Committee has a …”

“Of course.”