Speeches by Vickers.

“The Under-Secretary of State for Transport will be visiting Immingham this afternoon. Does he agree that his journey would be much more convenient if there were a direct train service from King’s Cross to my constituency, and will he join my campaign to ensure that happens?”

“Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your earlier comment. It is surprising that the Secretary of State is not here to make a statement before he visits Scunthorpe, which I understand he is doing today. Like the Father of House, I have no objections to—and have supported the Government on—saving the steelworks by nationalisation…”

“I have already raised the issue once, in Transport questions this morning, and I will do so at every possible opportunity. Grimsby and Cleethorpes comprise one of the largest urban areas in the entire country that does not have a direct link to our capital city. The Government claim that the creation of Great British R…”

“Earlier this week, the green flag awards were announced, and two parks in my constituency were successful: Baysgarth and Bridge View in Barton-upon-Humber. I congratulate the community groups that helped with that, but as well as support from community groups, parks need support from our local authorities, and it is im…”

“Earlier this week, I spoke in a Westminster Hall debate about the isolation of coastal communities. I had prepared a five-minute speech, but we were only allowed two and a half minutes—so here’s the other two and a half minutes. The More in Common research group recently produced a report, commissioned by Associated Br…”

“As the Minister knows from our Westminster Hall debate last week, I was part of an APPG delegation to Gibraltar a couple of months ago, where we had a wide-ranging set of meetings. I congratulate all those involved in achieving the treaty. One reservation that was put to me by the Leader of the Opposition there—who did…”

“I was not aware of the situation of the two towns the hon. Gentleman mentions, but he highlights a key point. I have been campaigning for the last 15 years to reintroduce the direct train service from Grimsby and Cleethorpes to London King’s Cross. What Hull Trains has done for the north bank of the Humber—many Members…”

“It is a particular pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Alec. I congratulate the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley) on securing this important debate. I have lived and worked in a coastal community throughout my life, so I can speak with some force about the challenges they face. Our sea ports are no…”

“I welcome the Government’s acceptance of the Lords amendments. As hon. Members will know, part of my constituency takes in the Scunthorpe steelworks, and hundreds of my constituents work there. My aim throughout the rather tortuous and long saga about the future of the steelworks has been to ensure that their jobs are …”

“On Tuesday morning, I, along with Members across the House, attended the national parliamentary prayer breakfast, which was a very uplifting occasion. Does the Leader of the House agree that there should be an opportunity to thank the churches and faith groups across the country that provide so much support in our loca…”

“May I take the Foreign Secretary back to the reply she gave to the Father of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh)? By including some other admittedly vital services, she managed to come to a figure of 4% spending on defence. The reality, as we know, is that Europe is still heav…”

“I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. Following our meeting with the leader of the opposition, we met with Eva Wallace, who is a store manager at Morrisons. Those who know Gibraltar well will know that Morrisons is not just a key part of the retail scene there but a big business operation. Ms Wallace outlined what …”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the draft UK-EU Agreement on Gibraltar. It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir John, for what I hope will be an interesting and constructive debate about the future of Gibraltar. I am delighted to be joined by the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Gibralt…”

“I can see the Minister nodding; no doubt he will confirm that later. On our trip to the airport, the concerns about Spanish officials operating on the Rock were, to some extent, assuaged. I was delighted that we were able to receive reassurance from not just the Chief Minister but his senior officials who accompanied u…”

“At the outset I expressed the hope that this would be an interesting and informative debate, and I think all Members would agree that that has been the case. The essence of the debate, as we have just heard from the Minister, has been about sovereignty, which was one of the most important issues that we debated on our …”

“We usually ask for a minimum of seven Opposition signatures on a Chamber application. At the moment, you have only three. Will you be able to come up with another four?”

“Again, if it is in the Chamber, we would want a substantive motion rather than just, “This House has considered”. If you could liaise with the Clerks on rewording it slightly, I am sure it can be arranged.”

“The Chairman of the Committee sends his apologies, Mr Speaker. In addition to the business that the Leader of the House has announced, the Committee has agreed two Select Committee statements: one next Thursday from the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee and one the following Thursday from the Work and Pensio…”

“I declare an interest because I have signed the application. There is a very long list, as I am sure you are aware, of requests for Chamber debates. Would you consider Westminster Hall to get the debate sooner?”

“I recently visited Grimsby jobcentre and met Nick Gregory and Jo Corney, two excellent officials. One piece of information they gave me was about the opening of a youth hub in Scunthorpe, which will serve many parts of my constituency, but many of the young people who go will be from rural areas. What new initiatives a…”