Speeches by McEvoy.

“Good morning, Professor Moloney. Your appointment hearing comes at a time when regulators are firmly in the spotlight. The Prudential Regulation Committee has a secondary objective, as we have heard, for the UK economy’s international competitiveness and growth over the medium to long term. The Prime Minister said rece…”

“In the international context, we have been seeing more use of executive orders over in the US. Why is operational policy independence important for financial regulators?”

“It is interesting that there is a tension between being governed by legislation without any powers yourselves and having to keep this independence. Are you excited or concerned? Where is the balance for you about the tension between going into this new role and the US and the UK’s spotlight on regulators? I want to kno…”

“How concerned are you about the potential fragmentation of international financial regulations? What would the impact be of such fragmentation on the UK, specifically with the US position?”

“The right hon. Member knows where I stand and my views on this issue. Will he outline what has changed since February 2024, when he said no to a ban on phones in schools, but reserved the right to issue statutory guidance—”

“On that point, you came in in June 2024. In your previous role, people were lobbying for this decision to be taken, but you did not recommend it when the Government asked, “What is your view on your organisation?””

“Ms Walsh, you have been in since February 2023, so forgive me, because this is a bit before your time, but when it was set up, what was the purpose of the organisation? Why was it not just put into the Financial Conduct Authority in the first place?”

“Are you confident that this move will be better for consumers?”

“Can I come in on that point? Forgive me, because this is not my area. With other regulators and this overhaul, is it not the done thing to put a proposal forward to say, “We would merge with another regulator or move in a Department”? Is that not something that you would advocate for, or anyone would advocate for in yo…”

“On that, what do you think are the big successes of the organisation over the last 10 years? What are the things that have shaped the national landscape? Will you continue to have successes if this happens?”

“Plain speaking, please.”

“Mr Geale, I wanted to pick up on something. When you were doing your risk analysis of this happening, you said that you thought, as an organisation, that there was a high likelihood that this decision would be taken. Can you elaborate a little bit more on why you thought that?”

“My hon. Friend, who has great expertise in this area, is making an eloquent speech. Does she agree that dismissals of pregnant women or new mothers are dramatically under-reported because of the use of non-disclosure agreements in a lot of companies while they are taking action against them?”

“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a proud trade union member and in my career, I have campaigned for more rights for support staff and teaching assistants in schools, for better bargaining rights for care workers, for people to have contracts that affect the hours they …”

“Will the shadow Minister give way?”

“I pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister). It has been an honour to work alongside him on this crucial issue. Tackling children’s online safety in our country is a diamond issue—it is rare, it is popular, it is tough—and getting it right will deliver on what …”

“The online world has lots of moving parts, and it is really hard for legislators to keep up. We are already lagging way behind where we need to be. What we need—I will address this later in my speech—is a dynamic risk assessment, so that when new innovations come online and we see children using them, they will be risk…”

“It has been very interesting to be part of this campaign, and I think there is a lot more to do. There are other areas that we must urgently take action on, from going forwards with the second iteration of the children’s code to ensure that functionalities are included, to upgrading the requirement for risk assessments…”

“That is exactly the case. Being 14 is hard. Being at school is tough. There has always been bullying, and it is unreasonable and unrealistic to say that we, as legislators, will completely eradicate it. But children used to be able to go home and be protected from what was going on at school, and that is no longer the …”

“Do you have anything else that you want to elaborate on or are desperate to say to this Committee on the supply point?”