Speeches by Bool.

“There are 5,310 businesses registered in my constituency of South Northamptonshire. Of those, 99.6%—or specifically 5,245—are small businesses. This Bill, among many of the Government’s policies, is a calamity for those small businesses. Not only are many of them rural, meaning that they will be affected by the family …”

“My right hon. Friend makes a powerful point, and I think all Labour Members must reflect on this because we need the public to understand truly why this legislation is going through. That the Government have seen fit to table 87 of their own amendments at this stage alone is indicative of how uneasy they must feel abou…”

“It has been reported that thousands of pollution tests were passed at sewerage points that were actually never carried out. Do you have a transparency problem? It seems you have quite an opaque structure but, equally, we see some of these results. What is going on there?”

“T9. We all agree that the court backlogs must be cleared, as justice for victims is essential. However, are the Government heeding the Law Society’s advice to not waste precious time and resources on an intermediate court, and what engagement have they had with the Law Society on that?”

“2. How many schools left the breakfast club early adopters scheme prior to 24 February 2025.”

“Primary schools have been forced to pull out of the pilot or take a financial hit to participate in it. Does the Secretary of State really believe that the basic funding rate for breakfast is 60p?”

“I did not hear from the Minister a response on the Law Society’s concern about parents and guardians being criminalised, and I wonder whether I could hear some thoughts on that.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. If, as I imagine, the wording of clause 18 will not be changed further, I just wanted to draw attention to the concerns that we will be criminalising those making the crossings and not those who organise the passage. I point to written evidence from the Law …”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. As someone with type 1 diabetes, having been diagnosed only four years ago I completely understand the feeling of isolation just from having diabetes, let alone having to deal with disordered eating as well. Does he agree that we need to destigmatise both conditions,…”

“I want to encourage all our GPs to remain in the UK, giving back, so I am always fully supportive of anything we can do about that.”

“I concur that I have not seen anything, which is why today’s debate is so important. My GPs tell me that more attention needs to be given to GP practices: they are the praetorian guard who can ultimately protect the NHS. Access to timely appointments is crucial, as is rebuilding the key relationship and contact between…”

“The Government came into office making all the right noises about tackling waiting lists and delivering a better healthcare service, which all our constituents want to see. However, since their election, I am concerned that Ministers are giving out more money—about £22.6 billion —for the day-to-day running of the NHS, …”

“I will make some progress. That key relationship and contact between a GP and their patient was reinforced by the Public Accounts Committee report on NHS financial stability, published in January, which concluded that a reallocation of funds was needed to focus attention from sickness to prevention. I am a massive advo…”

“To follow up on the points of the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton West, the duty to prepare annual reports feels like a self-appraisal. Essentially, all the commander has to do in those annual reports is state how they have carried out their role and set out their view on the performance. We nee…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. These provisions relate to the supplying or handling of articles, the majority of which will, I assume, be held outside the UK. Clause 17, which we will come to, tries to ensure that the offences have effect outside the UK, but how does the Minister see that …”

“I think the intention behind the new clauses, as has been identified, is to give the Border Security Commander more teeth to help him to do what he is supposed to do. Although I appreciate that behind the drafting of the Bill is a recognition that the commander might need to be reactive in future, the new clauses aim t…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. If the role of the Border Security Commander is ultimately to be successful, there needs to be confidence in its efficacy. The title of clause 3 is “Functions of the Commander”, but headings in law are often not necessarily reflected in the interpretation,…”

“Some residents would like to know if you at least have a timetable and some plans. I know that you appreciate that it does take a long time, but, as I said, at this moment, I cannot see where the priorities are. You are doing a lot with Windermere. You are going to be doing a lot on these different elements. Is there a…”

“Thank you for coming in today. We have talked about this, but Ofwat considers United Utilities to perform well when it comes to mains repairs, asset outages and tackling leakages, but it performs very badly when it comes to supply interruptions, and you mentioned internal sewer flooding. Can you just explain why we hav…”

“Some residents would like to know if you at least have a timetable and some plans. I know that you appreciate that it does take a long time, but, as I said, at this moment, I cannot see where the priorities are. You are doing a lot with Windermere. You are going to be doing a lot on these different elements. Is there a…”