Speeches by Atkinson.

“Q Sir Chris, you mentioned having time to ensure that people are appropriately trained, and the Bill includes provisions for the Secretary of State to make orders around required training. Could you say a little bit more about that? If Parliament decide to pass an Act of this nature, what training would be helpful and …”

“Q So you would be happy if there was an explicit prohibition on recommendation. Dr Green: I am reluctant to make a statement on that in this forum. We will go away and discuss it, and come back to you.”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I, like you, Sir Roger, hope that we can spend the next five or six weeks in the spirit of collaboration and that we do not get bogged down in procedural wrangling. We need to work across the Committee to get the best procedure we can. The hon. Member for East Wiltshire made several points, including the precedent for …”

“I agree with the comments of the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough. The hon. Member for East Wiltshire said at the start that the purpose of this Committee was not to relitigate the principle of the vote that we had on Second Reading. Yet in his comment just now, he talked about weighing up the numbers in fav…”

“I agree that social media companies rightly face regulation; I will talk a little more about that later. There is, rightly, debate and campaigning in the media and elsewhere—we saw some of that over the weekend—about the level of regulation of online content that children may access online, whether that is illegal cont…”

“I thank Members from across the House for their contributions to this well attended and powerful debate. We have demonstrated significant consensus across the House about the need to continue to strengthen and evolve online regulation, which, as the petition shows, is a matter of significant public concern. I think it …”

“I agree that legislative action has been necessary, as the Online Safety Act shows, and indeed, there are provisions on this in the current data Bill. The issue is that there is a lack of clarity; under the existing law, some social media companies seem to be finding a way of doing the right thing while others are not.…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 661407 relating to children’s social media accounts. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to open this important debate as a member of the Petitions Committee. I start by paying tribute to the petiti…”

“Sunderland was recently named the UK’s smartest city by The Times. It was a pleasure to welcome the Secretary of State when he visited recently. More than 5,000 homes in our city now have assistive technology installed, supporting the independence of older and disabled people and improving their access to care. How do …”

“7. What steps his Department is taking to utilise technology to improve access to public services.”

“21. What steps he is taking to improve housing for military personnel and their families.”

“The hon. Gentleman worked in the NHS before covid, as did I. He mentions the impact of covid, but does he not recall that in December 2019, before covid hit, standards had already fallen, and only 84% of patients were being treated within the 18 week target? Why was that allowed to happen under the previous Government?”

“As a member of a forces family, I welcome the Government’s landmark decision to renationalise service housing. For too long, military families have been living in substandard accommodation. How will the Minister ensure that this investment leads to tangible improvements? In what timescales can our servicemen and servic…”

“I thank the Minister for her statement, and also thank my recent former NHS colleagues, especially those in Sunderland, for what they will be doing over the winter. The Minister has rightly highlighted unacceptable levels of bed occupancy as we go into winter; we know that as bed occupancy increases to unacceptable lev…”

“It is no small thing for a Secretary of State to stand up with the sincerity that my right hon. Friend has and to offer an apology on behalf of the Government and accept maladministration, and I know she takes that responsibility seriously. I understand her position regarding the 90% of women who knew the pension age w…”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Does the hon. Gentleman accept that every day in the NHS patients refuse treatment, and indeed food, and that there is currently legal oversight in respect of coercion and other such matters? Would the Bill not strengthen protections in those areas?”