Speeches by Wild.

“My right hon. Friend has his finger right on the pulse. The Government claim that there are plenty of places, but they are not in the areas where they will be needed. Members representing constituencies in Hertfordshire, Worcestershire and Buckinghamshire, for example, have already drawn attention to their concern abou…”

“I entirely agree with that point. Families come together to help out, perhaps to fund a place for grandchildren to give them the best chance in life. We are not going to criticise people who make that choice, but unfortunately the Government are singling them out with their vindictive measure. This change also represen…”

“I very much hope so. I know from my years as an adviser in the Ministry of Defence just how important the allowance is for retention. That is why it is so disappointing that the Government have broken their promise. I am grateful to the many organisations that have shared concerns about the implementation of these clau…”

“Absolutely; I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The Government hide behind the cloak of saying, “If you have an EHCP, everything is okay,” but 100,000 children in schools across our country will be impacted. The next area we are concerned about is faith schools, which tend to be smaller and charge lower fees. The I…”

“Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes the point very well. The knock-on impact and the damage to those children’s education will be considerable. More than 40% of independent schools are small schools. They are at the heart of their local communities. They do not have big endowments. They operate on wafer-thin margins and s…”

“No, I won’t at this stage. There are more than 100,000 pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in independent schools who do not have education, health and care plans, so they will be subject to this tax. That could make it unaffordable for the parents of those children to send them to the school that th…”

“My right hon. Friend makes a typically salient point. I agree, in particular about the lack of congratulations. The Education Secretary was not prepared to congratulate the head of Michaela school, which is the best performing school in the country. Putting VAT on independent schools will particularly hurt those parent…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. He will have been here throughout many of the debates on the Finance Bill, the national insurance and jobs tax Bill, where very few Labour Members have made contributions to defend their first Budget for 14 years. I think we all know why. Clause 47 removes the exemption for priv…”

“I will make a little progress, if the hon. Gentleman does not mind. Sadly, this cruel tax, which is being imposed midway through the academic year, will damage the education of thousands of pupils. It is sadly typical of the ideological approach that we have seen the new Government take on education, where they are tra…”

“We are about the 100% of pupils. We are not trying to divide and rule like the Labour party.”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. Over our 14 years in government, one of the things that consecutive Education Secretaries did was to work with the independent sector precisely to open up those facilities, in recognition of the public good and benefit to their communities that they were delivering.”

“I rise to speak on behalf of the Opposition, and particularly to new clause 8. Let me start by briefly considering the context in which we are debating the Bill. It comes after a Budget in which the Chancellor said that we must have “an economy that is growing, creating wealth and opportunity for all”—[Official Report,…”

“The Syrian Democratic Forces are managing detention facilities holding 9,000 Daesh fighters in Syria. What is the Foreign Secretary’s assessment of the likelihood of ensuring the continued management of those facilities, keeping people who threaten our security imprisoned? What action is he taking with allies to achiev…”

“In the document, the Government have downgraded their pledge to have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 and junked their pledge to cut energy bills by £300, breaking two promises to the British people. Of the milestones they are keeping, who is accountable for each one, what are the detailed metrics, where are the i…”

“Gross spending on public procurement was £400 billion last year. What is the Government’s precise target for delivering greater savings from that budget?”

“It is a pleasure to close this debate on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition. I recognise that many Members have not been able to speak because of the level of concern in the earlier debate about Labour’s family farm tax. In this debate, we have heard talk of difficult decisions, but Labour Members seem to be in d…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) on securing this important debate. As he set out, critical minerals are essential for our transition away from fossil fuels while offering economic opportunities in areas where extrac…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman— I hope he will forgive me; I did not realise that Weardale Lithium is in his constituency, otherwise I would have acknowledged that. He is absolutely right about the regulatory issues that we face. Every MP will know of the difficulties that the Environment Agency causes companies d…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger, and I am grateful to the Minister for her opening remarks and her brevity in setting out what the draft order does. The new rates introduced by the Scottish Parliament mean that the higher income tax band is 42% and the Scottish advanced income tax rate is 4…”

“Tourism and hospitality contributes more than £500 million and a fifth of all jobs in North West Norfolk. Why are the Government hitting those businesses with higher business rates and a jobs tax?”