Speeches by Evans.

“The point is about the culmination of all the changes the Labour Government have brought in. This Government have indeed raised national insurance, and may need to do so again in future. However, the key point is what the ramifications of all these changes will be—the living wage change, the cuts to business rate relie…”

“To be fair to the Labour Government, they have seen a surplus in self-assessment tax receipts, at £15 billion. The problem is that the OBR was expecting that to be £21 billion. We therefore have the prospect of them trying to find where we get that extra money from. The Government need to set out whether they are going…”

“This was compounded even further only yesterday, when the statement was handed to the Leader of the Opposition with redacted information. That is absolutely shameful. The duty of His Majesty’s Opposition is to hold the Government to account. How can they do that if they do not get the information needed to make the bes…”

“I have a feeling that if I had an invisibility cloak like my right hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge (Tom Tugendhat) seems to have, it might well help us win in Ukraine. I simply ask this: negotiators have been given a negotiation to do, so in the name of transparency, can the Government tell us which budget the fun…”

“The Defence Secretary was asked this morning on LBC where the funding was coming from. He said: “There will be no payments unless and until the deal is struck.” That does not answer the question. Who would go into a deal without knowing how they will pay for it? Which budget is the funding coming from—the Foreign, Comm…”

“rose—”

“The independent Regulatory Policy Committee looked at the Bill back in November and said that eight out of the 23 categories were “not fit for purpose”. Was that discussed? Given that the committee is independent, does the hon. Member give that point any credit when it comes to discussing the Bill?”

“Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 26 February.”

“As the shadow Defence Secretary is aware, it was the Prime Minister who came forward and said how he was going to spend that funding. The Opposition need to know if the defence increase he announced includes the Chagos deal. The Government have made that decision but they have to put it to the House first. It does not …”

“I am pleased the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) pointed out that many people actually do have a good birth. I think that is really important, as there is a danger we scare potential mothers. There is good-quality care up and down the country, but it could be better. The hon. Member for Redditch (Chris …”

“The Prime Minister will have the support of both sides of this House when he goes to see President Trump on Thursday. If he fails to encourage the US to become the backstop for Ukraine, though, no matter how much he increases spending in the next couple of years, there will be difficulty. What conversations is the Prim…”

“May I ask the Leader of the House for the help of her office, please? The Government have produced an elective reform plan, a key plank of which is having 10 direct-to-test pathways. I have written two parliamentary questions to find out what is being considered, and have been told that 10 pathways are under considerat…”

“Before I start my speech, I think it was Gandalf who said: “A wizard is never late…Nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.” I think it is correct protocol to be here at the start of a debate, although I for one would certainly like to see the Minister sprinkle his magic on this topic, because I hope tha…”

“On a point of order, Mr Mundell. In perfect symmetry, this debate has taken a somewhat different procedural pathway than usual; that is indeed what can happen to patients with cardiovascular disease—things surprise them, although we have systems for dealing with cardiovascular disease. My concern is that some of the qu…”

“The Labour Government’s elective reform plan says that there are plans for 10 straight-to-test pathways. Can the Secretary of State name them, or give one example?”

“This is the Secretary of State’s own plan. There was one example in the plan, but as an article in The BMJ on 17 January helpfully pointed out, that one example—which featured Sarah, who had sinus pain and hearing issues—was quietly removed from all online and future drafts after “a flurry of GPs pointed out that her t…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank the Minister for stepping in, and we agree that this SI needs to be passed with urgency. I also agree that it is not the place for a discussion of the CQC and its failings. She highlighted a couple of issues of concern, on which I would like to pro…”

“Listening is really important. I have heard from my local farmers that they are caught between thinking, “Is this a mistake?” and thinking, “Is this done on purpose?” Did the Government mistakenly not realise that they were going to bring all these family farmers into inheritance tax and agricultural change? Or, worse …”

“What a mess this whole consultation has been. Let’s face it: the councils were going to have to jump or be pushed. As she said in her own statement: “I will be issuing a legal invitation to all 21 two-tier” authorities. In the spirit of working with local leaders, would she accept my legal invitation to meet all the bo…”

“One of the ways the last Government helped to deal with this issue was by dealing with the taper. It was at 63% and it went down to 55%, so people who were working got more of their own money back. Does my hon. Friend believe that this is one way we could incentivise people to step back into the workplace—by having mor…”