Speeches by Smith.

“I join the Minister in condemning this evil attack and expressing my sympathy with the British Jewish community. To build on the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Sir Oliver Dowden), we have been talking about this issue for years, including when I sat on the Government Back Benches in the la…”

“It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Barker. Energy efficiency in the home sits at the heart of our ability as a country to support those struggling with energy bills, protect consumers from volatile energy bills and maintain the skilled retrofit workforce that this country will need in the …”

“Does the Leader of the House seriously think it is reasonable for the Government to announce a new framework that will have a profound effect on Mid Buckinghamshire—and indeed every constituency represented in this House, not least as regards food security—by written ministerial statement, rather than through an oral s…”

“Now that the Government have some experience of running a business with British Steel, what assessment has the Secretary of State made of the £37 million cost of the Employment Rights Act 2025 and the national insurance jobs tax increases on the viability of our steel industry?”

“I am grateful—”

“The hon. Lady has potentially misunderstood the intervention from my hon. Friend the Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans). She is making the case, perfectly rightly, for better public transport in this country, but bus companies and train operators running diesel trains—of which there are still a number—pay fuel…”

“How absurd it is that, on an issue that affects each and every one of our constituents, whether they drive their own car or take the bus or a diesel-powered train, not one Government Back Bencher—not one—sought to catch your eye, Madam Deputy Speaker, to make a speech either to defend the Government’s plan to increase …”

“The hon. Gentleman is late to the debate—we have been around that a few times over the course of the afternoon. The record of the Conservatives in government was to freeze council tax and freeze fuel duty—indeed, we cut it when we saw Russia invade Ukraine in 2022. Conservatives stand on a proud record of keeping fuel …”

“My hon. Friend, as usual, makes a clinically accurate point, and he is absolutely right to do so. The truth is that the headline figure does not even tell us the full story. This is not just a tax rise; it is a tax on a tax. Fuel duty is applied first and then VAT is charged on top of it. So when the Government increas…”

“I could reel off countless examples of villages in my constituency where hard-to-reach areas simply have no broadband at all, let alone fibre broadband. Constituents and businesses are tearing their hair out. At what point will the Government possibly accept that if the millions—if not billions—of pounds are to reach t…”

“Q11. Traffic chaos from a botched road realignment is affecting Calvert Green, Steeple Claydon and Twyford. Landowners are still awaiting payment for land taken. There is woeful underfunding of promised mitigation projects in Wendover after inadequate noise modelling. Many years ago, the Prime Minister and I used to be…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) on securing an incredibly important debate for all of us who represent rural communities. If there is one issue that unites motorists across our country, and certainly across B…”

“In answer to an earlier question, the Foreign Secretary rightly said that Ukraine’s security is our security. But in answer to the last question, she equally set out why the current regime in Iran is a threat to our security, both through proliferation—a level of enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon—and the IRGC, …”

“I welcome the Minister’s statement, and entirely concur with him on the domestic elements of protecting our democracy that he announced, but returning to the issue of foreign influence, those countries that mean our democracy harm of course do not recognise the value of democracy. My right hon. Friend the Member for To…”

“The Liberal Democrat-chaired Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes fire authority has just consulted on closing Stokenchurch and Great Missenden fire stations and removing nearly a quarter of the fire engines from the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes fire authority area. It is no surprise that the consultation responses a…”

“I welcome the Home Secretary’s decision, but as my right hon. Friend the shadow Home Secretary made clear, this speaks to a much wider problem. What steps is the Home Secretary taking to ensure that the United Kingdom cannot be used as a safe haven for the wealth, influence networks or political activity of senior figu…”

“Following on from that last question, the loan charge and taxpayer fairness APPG, which I co-chair, wrote to Ministers on 1 July, 22 September and 25 November last year, with questions about the 2005 preferential deal with the large banks. Does the Minister feel that it is acceptable that we have not had a reply to tho…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. The role of goods vehicles, whether heavy or relatively light, is critical to our economy. We know that the transportation of goods and logistics contribute billions to the UK’s GDP, yet they are often a forgotten element of our economy. In principle, therefo…”

“The Centre for Social Justice found that as of the end of last year, 707,000 young people with a university degree were out of work and on benefits. That statistic comes at the same time that employers in my constituency, from the furniture makers in Princes Risborough to the rocket scientists and space sector in Westc…”

“The concept of paying someone who has come here illegally £40,000 to leave will stick in the throats of all taxpayers in this country. Notwithstanding the arguments that the Minister has put forward, what assessment has he made that making an offer of 40 grand will not act as a huge pull factor and cause more people to…”