Speeches by Ryan.

“Do we just accept that, because of local funding decisions that have been taken, service quality and accessibility will fall?”

“As you know all too well, Mr Speaker, Lancashire has a proud defence manufacturing pedigree at the cutting edge of our British sovereign capability—you think manufacturing and you think Lancashire. Will the Minister for Defence Procurement continue to champion Lancashire’s defence jobs? Will she commit—I understand tha…”

“My hon. Friend talks about manifesto commitments, and it was a clear manifesto commitment of this Government that we would provide the triple lock throughout this Parliament—something that was only ever suspended under the Conservative party. Does she agree that the £1,500 increase to the state pension that pensioners …”

“Will the hon. Lady make it clear whether it is the policy of the Conservative party to reintroduce a universal winter fuel payment at the next election?”

“Sir Jim, are you moving to another job or retiring?”

“This is a much more general question. On the basis of all of that, some of the answers that you have given today and the talk we have had about the simplification of the tax system, in your view, relative to the cost versus the revenue they create, what is the most costly and time‑consuming element of the tax system th…”

“I understand it is not a magic measurement and it is not necessarily precise, but would you consider using cost per taxpayer as a measure of broader efficiency going forward in further investigations?”

“There are a few things that are raised in the report. One is why you do not use cost per taxpayer as a metric. The other is why, on average, the cost of dealing with VAT and corporation tax has risen by 5% whereas the cost of dealing with income tax has fallen. Is there an answer as to why that cost has increased for c…”

“It was corporation tax.”

“Sir Jim, on customer service costs and where they have grown, why have the costs of serving each corporation and VAT taxpayer increased?”

“What is concerning is that £4.3 billion is quite a lot of money. As much as you say that costs have increased but revenue has also increased, there is another section in the NAO Report that talks about the efficiency of the staff who you have taken on. I know that other people will cover this in questions later, but I …”

“Good morning, Sir Jim. What progress have you made on your key strategic measure to reduce the cost of running the tax system, especially within the context of the increase in staff costs that you have seen? You have had something like a 15% increase in your costs since 2019-20.”

“You do not look old enough. There we go. Is somebody talking to you, before you retire, about your views on the simplification of the tax system or how we might be able to look at it from a different direction or from a consumer perspective? Are they trying to exit interview you before you go? Frankly, if you can be as…”

“May I praise in the strongest possible terms the Prime Minister’s strong and pitch-perfect leadership, particularly in relation to the increase in the defence budget, and his statesmanship through this difficult time? He has spoken for the nation, and indeed has been the leader of the free world these past few days. Wh…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) and others for securing the debate, of which I am proud to be a co-sponsor. Many excellent and learned points have been made. There has been a real show of unity from the House and we can all be proud of the debate today. Three years…”

“My powers as a Back Bencher are somewhat limited, but I am sure that Members on the Treasury Bench have heard the hon. Lady. I have some sympathy, because there is currently a petition to reopen the Burnley custody centre—it is opportune to be able to mention it. Currently, police officers have to drive to Blackburn, w…”

“I hugely welcome this police funding settlement on behalf of all my constituents in Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield. They know that policing in this country has been underfunded, overstretched and undervalued for far too long. I thank the Home Secretary and the Home Office for bringing forward this vital funding packag…”

“T2. Green energy is the economic opportunity of the 21st century, and in an ever more unstable world, home-grown renewables are critical to our security and self-sufficiency. What will the Secretary of State do to make sure that Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield, and places like those, benefit from new green jobs growth?”

“I thank the Secretary of State for introducing this important Bill. Fraud is a serious issue, and we simply cannot tolerate the level of fraud that the previous Government left us with. In the year 2023-24, we lost almost as much to fraud as we spent on defence. We have all heard the stories of people fraudulently clai…”

“As interesting as it sounds, I have no idea what a “manosphere” is. As far as I am concerned, the only real question that the Security Minister needs to answer is what action the Government are taking to ensure this kind of disgraceful, politically motivated leak to a former Tory adviser cannot happen again, especially…”