Speeches by Cocking.

“Both those statements cannot be true. If you get money from section 106, that is—”

“This is my ninth question about the asylum hotel in my constituency, and I am still waiting for a clear answer. The Prime Minister said yesterday that we would see “evidence” of hotels being closed soon, but plans to move asylum seekers into new council housing would solve nothing and be an insult to millions on the wa…”

“4. What progress her Department has made on closing asylum hotels.”

“Q12. The best form of welfare in this country should be a well-paid job, but with unemployment up and this Labour Government choosing to raise taxes to spend even more on a bloated welfare and benefits system, is the Prime Minister happy with the message that sends to my hard-working constituents in Broxbourne and cons…”

“Q8. When it comes to economic growth, this Labour Government are all talk and no action—so maybe I can help the Prime Minister. Roadworks and traffic jams cost the UK economy £8 billion last year. This affects my constituents every single day. They want to know what the Government are doing about it, and when the Gover…”

“Fiona and Jonathan, I have heard incredible amounts of waffle this morning. I do not think you are answering people’s questions particularly well, and I am really struggling with what you do. You give no deadlines when people are in this C4 grade, and essentially, as you have alluded to, just review action plans. There…”

“I am Lewis Cocking, the MP for Broxbourne. The freeholder of the block of flats I live in is a social landlord.”

“I have cases in my own constituency where you have come—it is not the local authority of Broxbourne. A local authority is a C1, and I have horrific cases that fill my postbag of tenants living in incredibly bad conditions, with leaks that take weeks to be fixed and ceilings falling through, but you have ranked it a C1.”

“I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The Government must come forward on that, as we are yet to hear solutions for councils with large amounts of debt. Councils are being forced into reorganisation and to have conversations about who they want to be joined with, but some of them have no choice, because it is a matte…”

“I was talking about the physical aspects of the transport currently in place, and the transport in Hertfordshire makes it very difficult for such interlinking services. The hon. Lady makes an interesting point around shared services of councils. The Government have said on a number of occasions that they have brought f…”

“The hon. Lady makes an interesting point with which I have great sympathy. We have to try to take different communities together, but we should not compare the rural county of Hertfordshire with a significant number of large towns that are not interlinked naturally by roads and railways or by people’s jobs. Lots of my …”

“I support several new clauses and amendments to the Bill, but, frankly, I am fundamentally opposed to the changes it would impose on our constituents. That is why amendments 104 to 106 are so important, as well as new clause 1, which is due to be discussed tomorrow. Before strategic authorities or any other new bodies …”

“One more time, and then I will make progress.”

“My hon. Friend is a passionate advocate for his constituents. We had a long discussion about that issue in Committee. I completely agree that “Isle of Wight” should be in the name of that combined mayoral authority. The Isle of Wight has a good local identity. It is important, when we create these new strategic authori…”

“I do not think that the Bill does that. It enables Ministers to force councils to reorganise. It keeps power in Whitehall. It does not devolve powers to councils. I have mentioned a number of times in questions to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that my council is crying out for more powers ov…”

“I can take the hon. Member to my constituency if he wants to see a pro-growth local council that has delivered a local plan and delivered housing. What has held us back is the fact that we do not have the infrastructure in place because of that. We have been punished; we have been a good local council and met our housi…”

“The council leader has fed that back to Government and the answer has been, “Tough—get on with it. This is what we are doing, and this is what we propose to happen. You have to come up with a proposal that you think works in your area, regardless of whether you want to do it.” I have spoken to many councils and council…”

“Does the hon. Member support my proposal that councils, particularly local district councils that currently have planning powers, need more powers over the licensing of houses in multiple occupation? They cause terrible antisocial behaviour issues and parking issues right across the country, and we need more powers to …”

“The hon. Gentleman says that the Conservatives did not have referendums on structural political changes, but we did have a referendum to change the voting system; I voted against a change. That is a prime example of the Conservatives seeking the consent of the British people for a political change.”

“The last Labour Government, which was elected in 1997, established devolution and moved powers away from Westminster under the premise of a referendum result. However, this Labour Government are choosing not to undertake such a referendum. Which does the hon. Gentleman support: having a referendum or not having a refer…”