Speeches by Waugh.

“Earlier this month I hosted in Parliament Dr Waseem Saeed, a British surgeon who had returned from working in the Nasser hospital in Gaza, where he treated children for severe burns, amputations and shrapnel wounds that were crawling with maggots. He showed us videos that would shock everybody in this House. Does the F…”

“Hanson Springs in Rochdale was founded 62 years ago by Malcolm Hanson, and it has gone from strength to strength. This year the company is investing £3 million in new plant, machinery and expanded factory space. Malcolm turns 80 next month, but still works 40 hours a week and his granddaughter Lucy joined the firm only…”

“You are going to keep an eye on it, and if it dips, then you will reconsider, maybe?”

“Chair, can I follow up just briefly on that one? If we are over this hump that you describe, surely the only real metric is that access for local communities and sports clubs of those local schools and their facilities will be maintained in the next few years. In other words, what we want to be sure of is that now you …”

“Minister Peacock, for years, local communities have seen their playing fields gobbled up by development, a problem that stretches right back to the Thatcher and Major Governments in particular. What the Government are proposing now is to remove Sport England from the list of statutory planning consultees. How do you th…”

“The statutory requirement is not something either of you are particularly keen on. Is that fair?”

“Minister Peacock, do you have a view on whether there should be a statutory requirement on councils to provide these sports facilities as recommended by the LGA?”

“Minister McKinnell, sports and leisure facilities have been first in line for cuts, as we have known, throughout the austerity years. We have heard evidence from the Local Government Association, from Peter Mason in particular, that without a statutory duty on councils to provide those facilities and funding, too, we a…”

“Have you expressed your concerns in any way to the MHCLG?”

“Sport England tell us that they respond to 98% of applications within 21 days, that they do not object in 70% of cases, so this is not a bunch of blockers from development; these are people who are only going to object where there is a real risk of a community asset being lost. Do you think that the MHCLG should think …”

“What has your advice been to the MHCLG? Have you urged the Department to think again?”

“Q6. Workers in Rochdale on the minimum wage received a much needed pay rise this summer, thanks to this Government, but honest businesses are being undermined by the menace of illegal working, particularly by illegal migrants from Iran and Iraq in bogus barber shops and fake vape shops. Does the Prime Minister agree th…”

“We are trying to look a bit more at the relationship between the listed building system and the wider sense of culture in Britain. Michael, do you think the listing system takes into account enough counterculture and the sort of contemporary culture that you want to promote?”

“Does Historic England just not get it at the moment? It seems to have a perception that a famous band having performed somewhere when they were up and coming is not good enough for recognising a building, even though it might attract people from across the world to look at the first place someone gigged, for example.”

“Andrew, to follow up on that, can you think of examples where listed building status restricts access and/or other contemporary elements of what you do?”

“As the Chair said, we are really interested in your experience of operating in and maintaining historic buildings and the relationship between the creative sector and the built heritage sector. I will ask each of you in turn, just to set out the lie of the land, what proportion of your sector operates in listed buildin…”

“As the Chair said, we are really interested in your experience of operating in and maintaining historic buildings and the relationship between the creative sector and the built heritage sector. I will ask each of you in turn, just to set out the lie of the land, what proportion of your sector operates in listed buildin…”

“Can I ask you the same question, Joshua?”

“Michael, is there a way in which sometimes being a historic building can inspire contemporary art and contemporary creativity?”

“Is it the case for you all that a sense of local pride and a sense of place is crucial to attracting local audiences—that, no matter what show you are putting on, that building is part of their community?”