Speeches by Powell.

“I know how busy my hon. Friend has been over the recess, meeting many of her constituents and celebrating the volunteers and the communities that she represents. I join her in doing that this morning.”

“This is about the third complaint about the Environment Agency in today’s session, so perhaps colleagues should get together to try and get a broader debate on those issues. We have announced the largest programme on flooding in history, and we have our flood resilience taskforce, but the hon. Lady is right to say that…”

“I join my hon. Friend in welcoming that extra funding for Buckinghamshire and in her calls for the council to use it wisely to decrease congestion and support commuters in her constituency.”

“I know how important chalk streams are to our biodiversity and to many of our rural communities. We will bring forward further plans about how we can secure our waterways in all their forms, and I will ensure that the hon. Member gets an update from the relevant Minister.”

“I thank the hon. Member for raising the issue of step-free access at her local station—this issue is raised with me all the time at business questions. I am sure that a debate on the topic would be very well subscribed, if she wanted one, but I will ensure that she gets a ministerial response. I am pleased to hear abou…”

“I am happy to join my hon. Friend in telling Staffordshire county council—which I hear a lot of complaints about in business questions, I have to say—to get its act together and get this new GP surgery open so it can serve his constituents.”

“Food poverty remains a huge blight on our country. This Government are absolutely committed to tackling it, which is why we have extended free breakfast clubs and introduced this huge expansion in free school meals, which is something I am sure we can all be proud of. I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue.”

“I will certainly ensure that the hon. Lady gets a discussion with the relevant Minister on the issue of conditional selling, which sounds like something that should concern us all.”

“I am sorry to hear about the response the hon. Gentleman has had. We are working with telecommunications companies to reduce poor mobile signal—particularly in rural areas, which is not an easy task—and we have the shared rural network deal. However, I will ensure that he gets a better ministerial response to his quest…”

“First, I congratulate my hon. Friend on becoming a new dad earlier this summer. I thank him once again for being such a brilliant champion for proper investment in our northern rail and connectivity, which is absolutely vital to the rebirth of our regions.”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue again. It is not the first time that I have heard of problems in the Environment Agency and about its not following through on the commitments that it has given. I will ensure that he gets a ministerial response, but we are determined that the Environment Agency and othe…”

“Absolutely, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising that awful case today. As he says, the Government take hate crime incredibly seriously. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion. We need to combat and stand up to rhetoric and campaigns that can make people feel insecure in their comm…”

“I thank the hon. Member once again for her bravery and her powerful testimony. I know many of us continue to be appalled by the experiences she has had over a number of years in the campaign brought by her abusive ex-husband and what he has tried to do in undermining her capacity to be an effective Member of Parliament…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his thanks. It has been my absolute pleasure to answer all the hundreds of questions that I have answered over the last year, and he raises another important one, too. He is absolutely right that motor neurone disease is an utterly devastating disease that is currently incurable. I wish all t…”

“Absolutely. We have introduced our neighbourhood policing guarantee to put more neighbourhood police on the streets, along with our Crime and Policing Bill and the many other measures that we are taking, so that town centres such as Morley can thrive and businesses can go about their work without fear of the blight of …”

“My hon. Friend is a great champion for her constituency. “The Great Pottery Throw Down” is one of my favourite shows, so maybe I will visit her constituency. She is absolutely right to call for more healthcare provision in her constituency—an integrated care hub in Longton. I will happily work with her to get that off …”

“I could not have put it better myself. The contrast between the NHS in England and the NHS in Scotland under the SNP Government could not be clearer. As my hon. Friend said, they have just had a record Budget settlement, so there really is no excuse. They should definitely learn some lessons from what we are doing here…”

“I am really sorry to hear about that case. Those who suffered with mesothelioma still suffer a great injustice. I will absolutely ensure that my hon. Friend gets a full response from a Minister, and hopefully a meeting on the matter.”

“I join my hon. Friend in wishing Malcolm Hanson a very good 80th birthday. His granddaughter has a very good name; I will say that. It is great to see that he is offering great job opportunities to young people in his constituency, and Hanson Springs sounds like it is going from strength to strength.”

“I thank my hon. Friend; I am looking forward to a well-earned rest. He is very much on-theme today in inviting me to his favourite spots in his constituency, and he has done that very well. The Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms sitting next to me just said about my hon. Friend’s constituency, “It is very, very …”