Speeches by Robertson.

“It sounds like merging is the intention behind what you are doing or at least it is inevitably going to happen in some cases. You talk about a population target of 1.5 million. Is there any merging that is too much for you? Is there any population area that a merged ICB might seek to cover that is simply too high? Do y…”

“Would you allow a merger to go bigger than that in pursuit of efficiency savings?”

“Clearly, some ICBs are struggling and in some cases potentially declining to continue with the cost-saving programme due to their belief in the impact that it will have. As the deadline for implementation approaches, how are you working with ICBs to address those concerns? What is the ultimate position that you hold, i…”

“How are you doing that in areas of England where we do not yet know what the mayoral combined authority area will be?”

“Even with your best intentions, it sounds like English devolution could hold up the final process.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I want to begin by thanking my right hon. Friend the Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) for bringing us this debate and for speaking so eloquently. It is always good to see colleagues from across the House, particularly my neig…”

“As the Solicitor General knows, I have been campaigning to support victims of spiking. I thank her for meeting me before the recess, but unfortunately the correspondence from her office subsequent to that meeting seems to entirely miss the point and does not follow at all the conversation we had. Given that it quotes h…”

“My hon. Friend referred to the Minister’s representations to the Chancellor, but I think the Minister said he was not going to make any representations to the Chancellor.”

“How does my right hon. Friend think my constituents on the Isle of Wight feel about being fused under a combined mayoral authority with Hampshire without having a single say?”

“As I am sure all Members in this place do, I support the principle of devolution and empowerment—two of the words on the face of the Bill—but this Bill is about centralisation and disempowerment. For the Isle of Wight, it is about fusing our island with Hampshire under a combined mayoral authority, where 93% of the pop…”

“The Minister talks about her 10-year health plan, with “Fit for the Future” splashed across the front cover, but really, it is a plan from “Back to the Future”, with no new ideas that have not been discussed since Alan Milburn tried to do this in the year 2000. It will only be successful if the Government deliver, but …”

“May I invite the Minister to congratulate Isle of Wight band Wet Leg on reaching the top of the albums chart, a particular achievement given that it has beaten Oasis, which I know has personally disappointed my hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French)?”

“I have realised that Professor Maslin was an undergraduate tutor of mine quite a few years ago. Professor Maslin: Oh, this is becoming a real embarrassment; it just makes me feel really old. But it is great to see you in a position of power.”

“Q By the look of it, you have had an easier life than I have had. I have a fairly brief question. This morning, we heard representations that the SAF mandate is enough in that it creates the demand and requirements that the market will adjust to and fulfil, and that the Bill is therefore not needed. I invite your thoug…”

“When Tony Blair and Alan Milburn were doing this in the 2000s, as you said, and delivering the sort of healthcare you would like to see, they were increasing health spending by 6.8% year on year on health. You and Rachel Reeves have a plan to spend 2.7%, according to the last Budget. So how are you going to deliver whi…”

“Is this a “Back to the Future”? Are you Doc Brown taking us back to the year 2000 to sort out the NHS all over again?”

“So my concern is that absolutely none of this is new—well-meaning, well intentioned, but not new—because the two quotes I have just given you are lifted directly from Alan Milburn’s NHS plan in the year 2000.”

“Can I try another one, which I hope you will agree is on a theme—a different one, but nevertheless still a theme? To quote: “The NHS has been too slow to change its ways of working to meet modern patient expectations for fast, convenient, 24 hour, personalised care” and, “Changes in primary care will help ease the pres…”

“Good afternoon, Secretary of State. I am going to stick with some of the bigger themes that we dealt with at the beginning—in fact, you have already touched on some of them. I quote: “investment has to be accompanied by reform. The NHS has to be redesigned around the needs of the patient. Local hospitals cannot be run …”

“Good to hear it.”