Speeches by Stone.

“I thank the Minister for giving way; he is very courteous. As Members will understand, I represent a very remote constituency in the north of Scotland where crofting—very marginal farming and hill farming—is fundamental not just to the economy of the highlands, but to the social structure. The great curse in the past w…”

“As you would expect, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall talk about my faraway and far-flung constituency, but I will first say that what the hon. Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon), who is no longer in her place, said about carers rang a bell with me, because I am a carer for my wife. The hon. Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainban…”

“As the Chair of the Petitions Committee, I thank the hon. Member for his excellent speech. Three million signatures! I want to apologise to hon. Members for the fact that there is not enough space in this Chamber for everyone who has turned up. I thank them for turning up, and I think it poses a question for the House …”

“As Chair of the Petitions Committee, I must of course be fair minded and impartial at all times, but the hon. and learned Member might be acquainted with the fact that I represent the most remote mainland constituency in the whole of the UK. Let me just put this point: we do know what digital exclusion is.”

“We have heard about the benefits that small modular reactors can bring to Wales and, indeed, to England. Does the Secretary of State agree that it would be a very good idea if she and I invited Mr John Swinney to come to Dounreay to hear from the workforce how badly they want one up there?”

“Further to the remarks of the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry (Stephen Gethins) about Scotland, where pregnant mothers in my constituency have to make a 200-mile round trip to give birth, would it not be great if some of this money was spent to make the maternity service fair for mums?”

“Last week I had the pleasure of visiting a very remote part of Wester Ross—a new part of my constituency—with the intrepid Olivia and Susie from my office. We went first to Badluarach on the south side of Little Loch Broom. There, I spoke with a crofter, Lisa Stewart, across the wall of her croft. She was initially rat…”

“As the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) said, it has been a good debate, although perhaps a little sparkier than I had first anticipated. As Chairman of the Petitions Committee, I must remain resolutely impartial in these matters. If we say that the overall impression of the Bill at this stage has so…”

“I am sure that is a wise intervention. I should imagine that we can all take heed of it, including the Minister. The parents I mentioned previously argue that legislation for the regular registration of what learning has taken place in the home limits a diverse community where learning might be child-led one day and st…”

“In proceeding with a Bill of this nature, that precise point has to be taken into account and weighed in the balance, because it is a matter of getting it right. That is precisely the reason behind the petition. I stress that many people think that we are not getting it right at this stage, but improvements can be made…”

“It will be interesting to see what the Minister says on that. Perhaps there is a little bit of misunderstanding on that issue. Let us leave it at that. Teachers, parents and local authorities often know best what their children need—far more than we in Westminster ever could. They understand their communities and deser…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. That point was made in the consultation I had before this debate. To continue, the Bill proposes wellbeing co-ordinators, structured mental health assessments and greater collaboration with community health services to embed wellbeing alongside literacy and numeracy as part…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 722377 relating to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. It is always a pleasure to serve under your authority, Ms Barker. As Chair of the Petitions Committee, it is a privilege to open these petitions debates. I do find it extraordinarily encouraging that s…”

“My hon. Friend mentioned Berwick-upon-Tweed. Might I tempt him further north to the most remote part of the British mainland—my constituency? We have exactly the same problem. When my hon. Friend looks for solutions, does he agree that some form of statistical analysis and a map showing where the problem and good areas…”

“This issue has a huge reach. Here we are in London discussing it, but I know that since I was re-elected in the summer of last year, every week a vigil has been held for the people of Gaza by concerned, decent people in Ullapool in Wester Ross, very far from here. The milk of human kindness still flows, and we should t…”

“Q12. Mr Speaker, you and the Chamber will be well aware that I represent the biggest and most remote constituency in the UK, and I am bound to say that bank branches there are becoming rarer than sightings of the Loch Ness monster. We have no banks at all in the huge county of Sutherland. We have legislation that provi…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 728715 relating to penalties for offences arising from social media posts. It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. As Chair of the Petitions Committee, let me say that it is always encouraging to witness public participation in politi…”

“As colleagues are aware, the Chair of any Select Committee is elected by the House. Therefore, this evening I am rather more the servant of the House than of my party. I therefore speak, I hope, impartially— as I should as Chair of the Petitions Committee. We have heard some verbal jousting in this debate, but it is no…”

“The hon. Gentleman may know that I have family living in the north, in Armagh and Antrim, and a daughter living in Donegal. What he says is absolutely correct—I can vouch for that, and it is an example for us all. When somebody is sick and we are worried about what will happen next, we do not care about lines on maps. …”

“I can bring a Scottish context to the subject. A doctor in my constituency had a cataract problem and was told that the waiting list was ages. In the end, because she knew how to do it, she found out about an operation that was available in the north of England. She paid for the travel and paid to go private. The point…”