Speeches by Snell.

“I appreciate that this is outside your sphere of regulatory competence, but do you think that politicians being able to opine, and have pages in newspapers giving their opinions and views, on current affairs undermines the impartiality of news as a whole? What impact might that have on broadcast news? Cristina Nicolott…”

“You said that some broadcasters are now finding ways of giving clarity by having a politician present their current affairs bit, throwing back to someone who is going to do the news bit, and then going back. I think you said that that can give an element of clarity about the roles of the individuals in the studio. Do y…”

“Whenever you are a regulator of anything, there is normally a concerted effort, even if it is internal, to come up with a standard that people have to meet. There are things you do that meet that, and there are things that you do that do not.”

“How do you think about it?”

“I appreciate that you do not want to get into hypotheticals, but this is what I am trying to understand: when you are making a judgment on a complaint that due impartiality has been contravened by a Member of Parliament or a politician hosting a programme contravening some of your rules, what actions in the round would…”

“No, but presumably when you come to look at complaints, you consider actions taken before a broadcast to judge against— Cristina Nicolotti Squires: Yes, we will ask the broadcaster to explain to us what they did.”

“No, I am not suggesting that you would, but you said that when you worked in television, you would have worked to a set of standards. Now that you have come into the regulator, presumably you think, “Right, if I was doing this, I would do these things,” and when you get a complaint, you ask, “Did you do these things?” …”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Sadly, high energy prices are a result of the policy of the hon. Gentleman’s Government, who had four industrial strategies, all of which promised significant help for the ceramics sector and it never materialised. One of the biggest problems for the ceramics sector is ensuring that the European Union’s food contact re…”

“12. What discussions he has had with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent integrated care board on patient waiting times.”

“I thank the Minister for her answer, and recognise the Herculean effort the Department is making to reduce waiting times, particularly in Stoke-on-Trent, but one cancer patient who is having treatment at the Royal Stoke hospital in my constituency has shared her story with me. From the initial operation, it took six we…”

“T3. Wherever possible, I think we should buy British, and that obviously starts with buying British-made ceramics. May I encourage the Department of Business and Trade to support my Ceramics (Country of Origin Marking) Bill, which would crack down on cheap imports and fakers who pass off their products as British wares…”

“To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero if he will make a statement on the Government’s approach to reducing energy prices for energy-intensive industries.”

“I thank the Minister for her engagement on this issue, because she has genuinely and authentically tried to look for a way forward. When my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) and for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) and I had a meeting with the Minister six weeks ago, we warned her that…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss, and a pleasure to see so many of my county neighbours, not least those who border my constituency: my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee), the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) and my hon. Friend the…”

“The Kashmiri community in Stoke-on-Trent will have condemned the appalling atrocities taking place last Tuesday, but that condemnation will have quickly turned to fear and anxiety about what it means for their friends and loved ones in both the India and Pakistan-administered sides of Kashmir. I have listened carefully…”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and he makes a pertinent point that there are parts of the United Kingdom outside Scotland that also suffer with demographic challenges. One of those is Stoke-on-Trent. To suggest that Stoke-on-Trent should be able to issue its own visa or have its own immigration policy to…”

“I sat on the Opposition Benches, behind SNP Members, during those long, tumultuous days of the Brexit debate, and I remember watching SNP Member after SNP Member game the system to push us towards a no-deal Brexit, in the hope that the Government of the time would abandon the plan. There were Labour Members who argued …”

“What the hon. Gentleman is talking about as a potential solution to the demographic problems he faces seems to be much narrower than the total of what the Bill would achieve, should it pass through the House. The Bill is about immigration, including asylum and status. I am sure he has had conversations with the hon. Me…”

“The very best!”