Speeches by Blake.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) for her leadership and wisdom on this topic over a number of years. Today we have heard powerful testimony and evidence about the desperate need for doctors an…”

“Constituents in Marylebone want to see improvements to the railway engines that go into Marylebone station. Does the Treasury agree that more work can be done to ensure that the overall investment in those trains is supported by the benefits that accrue across the whole line, all the way down to Aylesbury, as investmen…”

“I wish to speak against Lords amendments 58 to 62, which expand eviction grounds, and Lords amendment 27. I also wish briefly to revisit the core principles of the Bill, which are: ending no-fault eviction, and providing stability, not just for individuals but for the private rented sector; introducing a private renter…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for those remarks about the concerns of his constituents in Harrow. In any forthcoming consultation, I will focus on ensuring that we stick to those values of fairness and stability. There is already a high bar for those seeking indefinite leave to remain, who came to this country expecting to co…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that contribution. I want to focus my remarks on those who have BNO visas and particularly on the importance of stability in that system. I first became particularly interested in the lives of people living in Hong Kong because of my constituent, Jimmy Lai, who is currently interned in Hong …”

“I was intrigued by the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks about the success of the private rented sector. If the sector is so successful and is working so well, why have the Opposition consistently held the position—both when they were in government and, I believe, going into the election—that they would go forward with en…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the Petitions Committee for scheduling this important debate, and I welcome the spirit in which it has been conducted so far: the original purpose of debating indefinite leave to remain has been respected and we have risen above the appalling and divis…”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way again?”

“This is chart 2.5, so the wedge is staying about the same, but it just happens to be a bit—”

“There must be data on whether demand has gone up for personal loans, so that could inform this.”

“That would be helpful; thank you.”

“So we do not know.”

“Thanks very much. Governor, the experience of borrowing is not the same for everybody, in terms of the types of product that they are turning to. We have seen, in a really positive sense in terms of stability, mortgage rates coming down, but we are also seeing personal loan rates stay quite high. What do you think that…”

“Is the concern about shock from your data or your analysis to do with shocks such as covid or Ukraine—that kind of inflation—or are people anticipating more personal shocks and becoming more aware of those? Are people just becoming more financially aware through education? Do they know that there are good standard reas…”

“May I probe that caution point? You don’t have survey evidence to say that they are any more concerned about unemployment, but are you able to untangle whether the interest rates or generalised caution are driving the behaviour?”

“They are not saying that.”

“Ms Lombardelli, the report highlighted a household savings ratio that was up to 11.6%, while in the July consumer confidence barometer, the savings index, which tracks people’s desire to save, rose to its highest level since November 2007. What is driving that behaviour?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Chair. I am bringing forward a cross-party proposal for a debate on or around 15 September, which is International Day of Democracy. I know that many of you will be as concerned as I am about the decline in trust in politics. Just 12% of people trust Governments to put the interests of the nation above those…”

“Okay, so that is the one specific measure. Jack Jones: Yes, that is the one specific one. More generally, I think there should be guidance that makes it clear to trustees that they have to weigh up the benefits to members, or to make sure that any kind of surplus extraction benefits members through improved benefits, r…”