Speeches by Gilmour.

“My constituency, which straddles the Devon-Somerset border, has a disproportionately elderly population. We have perhaps even greater and more regular healthcare needs than some other parts of the country, but significant funding shortfalls have hit GP practices particularly hard. In the coastal west Somerset area, we …”

“Does the hon. Member agree that the scourge of rural crime, especially the theft of essential agricultural tools and equipment, demands a two-pronged approach, with more bobbies on the beat who are known in their local area, as well as significantly harsher sentencing? Theft in our rural areas seriously affects people’…”

“I speak as the mother of man who was not diagnosed with ADHD until he was 31. Fortunately for him, he has a very good employer who has made his life considerably easier than it might otherwise have been. However, I am appalled to have found out recently that great institutions such as the British Army, the RAF, the Roy…”

“My hon. Friend is making some compelling points. Does he agree that the crucial point is that if Britain retreats from our role as a leader in international development, we not only undermine our unique soft power but leave vital regions exposed, ceding ground to the increasing assertiveness of hostile powers and geopo…”

“May I bring the Minister back to the subject of my earlier intervention? Will she, as a matter of urgency, take it up with the Home Secretary and get a decision? We should not discriminate against people with ADHD by preventing them from joining the services, whether it be the police, the Army, the Royal Navy or the RA…”

“I would love to have a meeting with you to discuss the issues.”

“I am glad to hear that the inspections are going better. I suppose it depends on which questions you ask farmers and how much you know about farming before you actually go there, which is feedback I have had from farmers in my constituency. My final comment is that I think it is very healthy for an organisation to have…”

“I just wanted to drill down a bit into where you were coming from.”

“I am not going to ask my question, but I will make a final observation before I go. To say that I am fuming is putting it mildly. I think that most of us on the Committee are fuming. With the exception of Dame Tamara, who seems to be on it, I have never come across such an incompetent, complacent, obtuse reaction to th…”

“Thank you very much. I will get a date in my diary.”

“Mr Earwaker, I notice from your CV that your company is an economic consultancy that advises companies, regulators and Governments. Presumably, you earn your money by being an adviser to the water companies and regulators that you are currently talking about.”

“I should declare an interest: until 2014, I was employed as head of strategy at the Environment Agency. I have to say, Mr Duffy, that I hope it is a happier place to work now than it was when Paul Leinster was the chief executive. My not-so-fond memories of those days are that it seemed that the optimum solution to any…”

“Oh yes.”

“So our water in the south-west is better than the water is in Mali. That is a pretty low bar.”

“Thank you. I’m afraid to say that my question is going to be rather tongue in cheek. I represent Tiverton and Minehead; Minehead is on the west coast of Somerset. Sewage outflows across the whole of the west country have gone up 10 times, almost on a year-on-year basis. As a former head of strategy at the Environment A…”

“I am very glad that my hon. Friend has mentioned the issues surrounding this practice so sensitively. I want to begin by saying that my comments are based on animal welfare issues, as reflected by my constituents. Does he agree that this practice is not only outdated but barbaric, and that it inflicts needless sufferin…”

“Q2. My constituent, Molly, is a single mother caring for a child with cancer. She cannot work because of her caring responsibilities. Since January, she has tried to claim disability living allowance and universal credit, but faced constant Department for Work and Pensions bureaucracy. That bureaucracy continued right …”

“Does the hon. Member agree that it is important to recognise the interconnected barriers in such discussions? The dearth of post-16 education and poor transport connectivity blunt young people’s ambitions and further entrench the disadvantages of which she speaks in areas such as my constituency.”

“I am sure that my hon. Friend knows about the problems that we have had at Tiverton district hospital. I was lucky enough to have had my three sons at the old Tiverton hospital. I am sure that people not being able to go to Yeovil hospital to give birth will push down—literally—into Tiverton hospital, but I remind my h…”

“Dementia is a uniquely tragic disease because it is, after all, an attack on the mind and on one’s memories. It is a terminal malady for which there is currently no cure and which affects almost every family in the country. My constituent, Timothy, said this of his family’s experience with the disease: “My wife, to who…”