Speeches by Dickson.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend—and fellow Kent MP—the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) on securing the debate and on his extremely insightful speech. He showed his background as a clinician, but also his concern for his constituents. As other…”

“I thank the Minister for giving way during an excellent speech introducing what I think is an extremely positive change. Like many Members, I have campaigned for some years to ensure that the most harmful and addictive forms of gambling attract tax that is commensurate with those harms, so I welcome this measure, as I …”

“One thing that you are seeking to do as a result of the McCann review is often to ensure that there are payment terms stretching into the future over a longer period, which, clearly, makes it easier for those attempting to settle. Those who have already settled but still have outstanding payments might be able to have …”

“Should those who have already settled at less advantageous terms than are now on offer approach HMRC to discuss that, or is that just history, finished? “Sorry, you settled at the wrong time on the wrong terms”.”

“I have a couple of questions on changes to the loan charge. I have a small number of constituents among the 37,000 or so households nationally affected by the loan charge, and the view taken by HMRC since about 2017 on how that should be repaid. I know that a number of those constituents will be relieved to see that th…”

“The residents in Dartford who voted for me wanted to see us deliver the things that I am talking about: infrastructure to improve their roads, a better NHS, additions to their local hospital and police on the streets. They are appreciating that. We are rebuilding the relationship between the police in Dartford and loca…”

“Not very many. Actually, Dartford is in receipt of significant additional infrastructure spending, which is putting people into work. An example of how young people are going to be in work in Dartford in the future—”

“I am still responding to the last intervention. Dartford is lucky that North Kent college is the recipient of one of 10 national centre of excellence awards for construction. Dartford will be the south-east centre, and that will allow young people to get into jobs as infrastructure spending takes place in the constitue…”

“I say: look at the additional spending going into Dartford to create jobs, and look at the Connect to Work project, set up by the Department for Work and Pensions, which is helping young people who are a long way from the labour market into good, well-paid jobs. We clearly have much more to do to ensure that we have th…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I welcome this debate. My comments tonight will be directed at everyone in Dartford who signed the petition and all others in my wonderful constituency that I have the privilege of serving in this place. Ahead of the election in July 2024, this country was crying …”

“I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate and the excellent speech he is making. He mentioned that the Government have said they will shortly publish the national cancer plan, which will include details of how they will improve outcomes for patients, speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensure that patients h…”

“Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. I was pleased to meet NFU representatives for Dartford and for Kent in late 2024 and January 2025. Following those meetings, I passed on the view to Treasury Ministers that it was right for the Government to close the inheritance tax loophole and s…”

“The Chancellor’s Budget, delivered at the end of November, enables the Government to deliver on the priorities that we set out clearly in our manifesto last year. I pay tribute to the work that the Chancellor and the Ministers on the Front Bench tonight and across the Treasury team have done on that. As the Minister sa…”

“Thank you for your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will conclude simply by saying that when the Chancellor appeared before our Committee last week, she was clear that this was a Budget of necessary and fair choices on tax—of which the Bill is one—so that we can deliver on the public’s priorities of rebuilt public ser…”

“May I, like others, thank the Secretary of State for his robust defence of elections and our democracy through his statement? On the Gill case, he may be aware that the Reform UK board member Gawain Towler is on record saying that he realised very quickly that Nathan Gill was raising pro-Russia questions about Ukraine …”

“I thank the Minister for his statement. In my constituency, many new homes have been built in places such as Ebbsfleet and Stone, and I am glad to announce that there are plans for many more, but it is fair to say that local infrastructure—including GP surgeries, Darent Valley hospital and local schools—has struggled t…”

“Are you able to attach economic value to the outcomes that you are able to track through those metrics?”

“How much do you factor in financial inclusion as one of your key drivers of growth? WPI Economics and Fair4All Finance have found that increasing access to credit, savings and insurance could add £6.5 billion to UK GDP. I know you said you are part of the Financial Inclusion Committee. Do you think about that financial…”

“Last week, I met leaders from Darent Valley hospital in my constituency. Apart from discussing progress made on the new intensive care unit that the Government are investing in at the hospital, which is a sure sign that the Government are starting to turn the NHS around, it was clear from the conversation that the rise…”

“What is your commitment on what will happen on the fuel duty freeze in the future, given the plan to end the freeze in a year’s time?”