Speeches by Evans.

“indicated dissent.”

“T7. The Government insist on forcing through local government reorganisation when there is no agreement in Leicestershire. There are three different plans ahead. One thing that Leicestershire does agree on is no expansion of Leicester city. Will the Minister put that to the test and have a referendum on it, so that the…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“When the Courts Minister closed her statement, the principle was not about the backlog: she said that she would have gone ahead with scrapping juries to this extent regardless of the backlog. Will the Minister clarify the Government’s position? Is it a principled position or is it about dealing with the administrative …”

“Absolutely. That is fundamental. There must be trust in the system and in the decision taken, and I worry that that is being eroded by this proposal. I am going to change my speech. I started on the presumption that the Government are trying to solve an admin problem with a principled change, but I think, after listeni…”

“I refer the hon. Lady directly to the opening speech. If she sits and reads Hansard, it was very much different regarding that point. I will move on to the other practical points we need to talk about—some even in the letter—about process. For example, the letter states: “judges will assess the likely sentence in accor…”

“From prepping for this debate, I know that the policy is one that tries to solve an administrative problem by simply changing a principle. The three areas I will try to cover—we will see how I get on—are the principle, the policy process and the practical side. To deal with the principle first, we have heard a number o…”

“The letter on criminal court reform written by the Justice Secretary to the Justice Committee states on rape and prioritisation: “We are not introducing a specific target for rape cases, but our overall objective is to drive down these wait times as quickly as possible. Listing is a judicial function and the judiciary …”

“New year, new David!”

“Will my right hon. Friend give way?”

“If the Minister’s argument is about enforcement, and given that is it already illegal to hunt with dogs, is she not arguing for more resources for our rural communities to enforce what is legal or illegal? Let us take the example of Leicestershire. We instituted our rural crime team in 2019 and have seen that type of c…”

“rose—”

“In Hinckley and Burbage, if you look one way, you can see the rooftops of lots of logistics businesses, because we are the heart of the logistics sector; looking the other way, to Barlestone and Nailstone, you see agricultural land that has been turned into solar farms. My constituents rightly ask why we cannot have mo…”

“The Government say they have been listening carefully, but they had 14 months and four votes to listen to the Opposition and the farming community. One question is: what changed the Government’s mind? The second question is: who made the decision—the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, the Prime Minister or …”

“This Saturday is the Hopkins Brothers Tractor Run. Dozens of tractors covered in lights will start in Barwell and go through Earl Shilton, Hinckley, Higham, Stoke Golding, Dadlington, Market Bosworth and Desford and past my house in Newbold Verdon. The run was set up by Liam after the tragic loss of his brother Kieran,…”

“I have long argued in this House that when it comes to mental or physical health, it is about women and men, not women or men, and that is important. I welcome the strategy coming forward, but can I also bring a sense of caution, because terms like “toxic masculinity” and labelling young men and boys are potentially a …”

“I have two questions—one practical and one policy. Let us make no mistake: the Government have been dragged here today to answer an urgent question about their welfare strategy, which they are bringing forward next week but which we cannot scrutinise because Parliament goes into recess today. Why is that the case? On p…”

“I am grateful that a comprehensive plan is coming forward. One problem we have is joining the leadership up. The Kingdon review, which was launched in May and finished in November, made 12 recommendations that will help align with all the missions the Minister is bringing forward. Can he tell us when the Kingdon review…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers, and I wish you and your team a merry Christmas. I thank the hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) for inadvertently creating what seems like a medical symposium; I feel as if I am back at one of my Christmas grand rounds—they often used …”

“My constituents would have much more sympathy with the Minister if he could explain why, when it comes to house building, Leicester city’s target will go down by 31%, whereas Hinckley and Bosworth’s and north-west Leicestershire’s targets will go up by 59% and 74% respectively. It means that we have 10,000 houses propo…”