Speeches by Williamson.

“I thank the Secretary of State for her answer; I know that she takes the issue of Chinese influence incredibly seriously. The free speech legislation brought forward by the previous Government required the monitoring of bodies that are supported by the Chinese or funded and supported by the Government of China. That wa…”

“5. What steps her Department is taking to help prevent Chinese influence in universities.”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and may I say what a delight it is to see you in the Chair this evening? I was not going to start by saying this, but I agree with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when—and I may misquote him slightly—he spoke about “decent jobs at decent wages.” I absolutely agr…”

“Was it just because you were not convincing enough to change anyone’s mind?”

“The last Labour Government forced through the merger of Staffordshire ambulance service with West Midlands ambulance service, and Staffordshire ended up with a poorer service. There will be and is real concern in Staffordshire that these reforms could lead to a merger and the takeover of the Staffordshire police force …”

“Members tend to be quite broad in their comments.”

“I apologise, Mr Chairman, but I am going to go a bit off script, because the witnesses have already answered the question. Really, we have been asked to look at this off the back of Southport, when the country was talking about something but Parliament was silent. You are all KCs and very learned in your field, but you…”

“Sorry to interrupt. Do you think it would be useful for clarity to be given to such bodies that they should not try to restrict reporting of Parliament?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“In time, I am sure. We have all seen how so many decisions are made outside of a ministerial body—the Department itself—through bodies such as regulators and external agencies. Do you think the sub judice resolution needs to contain an exemption for these bodies as well? Obviously, we can question a Minister, as in the…”

“We all have ministerial experience—”

“Can the Secretary of State confirm whether the Prime Minister, or anyone acting on his authority, declared his conflict of interest before Mr Kogan was asked to reinstate his withdrawn application? If a conflict of interest was declared, who declared it, and when?”

“So are the public.”

“I just have a couple of minor points. If I recall correctly, the Government Chief Whip is responsible for all the minor parties. I just wonder, if you did go down that informal route, whether you could have a mechanism whereby the Government Whips took on that responsibility for liaising with the SNP. There is the assu…”

“This is a behavioural question. As Chief Whip, you are probably very used to behavioural issues. There could be a published list, or a list that sits with the Whips Office. At the moment, Speakers and Deputy Speakers are always very keen to squeeze in as many people as possible. If we had published lists, do you think …”

“This is a behavioural question. As Chief Whip, you are probably very used to behavioural issues. There could be a published list, or a list that sits with the Whips Office. At the moment, Speakers and Deputy Speakers are always very keen to squeeze in as many people as possible. If we had published lists, do you think …”

“I just have a couple of minor points. If I recall correctly, the Government Chief Whip is responsible for all the minor parties. I just wonder, if you did go down that informal route, whether you could have a mechanism whereby the Government Whips took on that responsibility for liaising with the SNP. There is the assu…”

“The Minister has heard what an amazing set of mid-sized and large businesses we have in the west midlands supporting defence, but we also have some amazing research universities. What more is the MOD looking at doing to work more closely with our universities, getting them geared towards supporting our move to rearming…”

“You are raising an interesting point, but do you not think that Opposition parties are at a potential disadvantage in the system? I certainly know that it would be the inclination of a Government Chief Whip to do everything they can to get the weakest horse in as a Select Committee Chair and encourage their voters and …”

“There has been disruption.”