Speeches by Brash.

“Q4. Football is a game based on fairness, yet brilliant clubs that unite communities every week, like Hartlepool, are being held back by a fundamental unfairness. The 3UP campaign—backed by 72 national league clubs, including Hartlepool United, and championed by Hartlepool legend Jeff Stelling—seeks to grant a third pr…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate on holidays in school term time. This issue resonates deeply with families across the country, including in my own constituency of Hartlepool, where 530 residents signed the petition we are deb…”

“There are a number of mechanisms. The Chair of the Education Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), offered one solution. I am a believer in price controls in this area and that the state can intervene in the market here; it is basic fairness. Of course attendance matters. As a…”

“Throughout this debate the issue of community has been raised repeatedly. A challenge we face in my constituency is the fact that local authorities in other parts of the country often discharge their homelessness duty by packing families into taxis at short notice and moving them hundreds of miles to places where they …”

“Residents in Wynyard, in my Hartlepool constituency, have waited for far too long, thanks primarily to the mess left by the Conservative party, for their new primary school, St Joseph’s, which has been caught up in this review. Understandably, parents are frustrated by the continued delays, so will the Minister commit …”

“8. What plans she has for the free school application decisions that were paused in October 2024.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I commend the 1,600 Hartlepool constituents who signed the two petitions that we are debating. Asylum accommodation is an issue that stirs emotions, and for very good reason. Too often, legitimate concerns are dismissed as being racist or right-wing, and n…”

“The hon. Gentleman does know my constituency quite well—I would not say very well, if we are honest about the short time he spent there—and he makes an interesting point. This is the second time that we have interacted on this issue and that he has eulogised the previous Labour Government, and I obviously welcome that …”

“I warmly welcome the £21.5 million pride in place investment for Hartlepool, which will go directly into our neighbourhoods. It comes off the back of the biggest deal in Hartlepool’s history of £6 billion for new nuclear and 2,500 jobs, and a brilliant Labour council delivering £150 million of capital investment in our…”

“I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement and, of course, the peace deal. I also welcome his crystal clear statement that there can be no lasting peace or viable Palestinian state in which Hamas is involved in any way. Similarly, there can be no lasting peace without the reconstruction that is now desperately needed. Th…”

“The appalling attack on Ukraine and the violation of Polish airspace yesterday simply highlight the increasing and devastating use of drones in modern warfare. I have been contacted by Hartlepool constituents today, expressing their anxiety and fear about what this might mean for our shores. Will the Minister share the…”

“Yesterday the Tory Mayor of Tees Valley took to social media to claim falsely that Venator, a brilliant company operating in my constituency, had gone into administration, and that UK tax policy was to blame. I spoke to the company yesterday afternoon, and it made it clear that that is not true. The UK operation is sol…”

“The right hon. Gentleman has talked at great length about taxing the wealthy, but he has omitted one of the suggestions that came forth over the summer, which was to get rid of the punitive council tax system, which taxes poverty and deprivation in this country. The former Conservative leader of Hartlepool borough coun…”

“English devolution is a mess. It is a postcode patchwork of opaque systems, varying powers and unclear lines of accountability. That is not just an historical failure, but profoundly dangerous, because when the public cannot navigate their democracy or do not know who holds the pen on planning, transport, housing or sk…”

“I agree that far greater powers are required to hold mayoral development corporations to account, and that may be one way of doing it. The changes are not just about planning powers: publicly owned assets are being transferred from the council and other public bodies. When Labour councillors demanded that those assets,…”

“The hon. Gentleman is making a persuasive speech about reducing beer duty. One of the other great pressures facing microbreweries—such as the Crafty Monkey Brewing Co. in Hartlepool—is the inability to get their product into tied pubs. That is bad for pubs and microbrewers. Would he support a change to the pub code to …”

“The hon. Gentleman has argued eloquently in favour of the record of the last Government, but ahead of the last general election the British Beer and Pub Association reported that more than 10 pubs a week were closing under the last Government. That does not seem a record to be particularly proud of.”

“In Hartlepool, the Tees Valley Mayor’s development corporation has removed planning powers for large swathes of the town from all democratic control. In turn, much of the planning function has been outsourced to a private company with no connection to Hartlepool, which is ruling out any community involvement. Will the …”

“It is a privilege to speak in today’s debate and to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank those who signed the petition that has brought us here today. The petitioners are absolutely clear: the Government must do nothing that would allow Northern Ireland veterans to be prosecuted for doing their duty—those…”

“When the Bill started its life, the Government were advocating for cuts for PIP and UC health claimants now and in future. They conceded that now was not right and that it was only for future claimants. Then they conceded that it should not be PIP claimants in future, leaving only UC health claimants. Does my right hon…”