Speeches by Dyke.

“If I understand the hon. Lady correctly, she is saying that detection is important at any stage, and I agree with that. It is absolutely ludicrous that we cannot continue to test all animals in a herd. The Liberal Democrats call on the Government to develop safe, effective, humane and evidence-based ways of controlling…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this really important debate. Lynne Franks is a good friend of mine and a constituent, and she is also the creator of London Fashion Week. However, her impact does not end there. It is global, but also local. She is the founder of the SEED Hub in Wincanton, which provides a sp…”

“The hon. Member mentioned young people. Last Friday, I met some A-level politics students at Huish Episcopi academy in my constituency of Glastonbury and Somerton and I was struck by the political enthusiasm of the young women in the classroom. However, we face an alarming rise of extreme misogyny through people like A…”

“It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Huq, and a privilege to follow the powerful speech of the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft). I thank all the petitioners, including the 221 from Glastonbury and Somerton. As vice-chair of the f40 group, which represents the worst-funded 43 local education authoritie…”

“Practicality-wise, how are you going to make that plan work robustly cross-departmentally? Obviously the ambition is there, but how is that going to work on the ground?”

“Good morning, Minister. I just wanted to ask you a little more about how DEFRA intends to improve cross-government working on climate adaptation. To start, in a letter to this Committee on 3 March, the Secretary of State said that the Government were, “Committed to strengthening the nation’s resilience” and were consid…”

“I just wanted to move on to the resilience of land, nature and food against climate change. In its recent progress report to Parliament on climate adaptation, the Climate Change Committee was critical of some of the actions taken to support land, nature and food. Can you just tell me a little more about how the farming…”

“The CCC goes on to say that, “Adaptation progress is either too slow, has stalled, or is heading in the wrong direction.” How would you explain that in terms of how your Department is working to overcome that?”

“And that is where I was coming from. Obviously if we are reducing our funding to be able to support the maintenance of those rivers, then that has a knock-on impact down the line.”

“But it is also maintenance of the rivers, is it not?”

“Flood resilience in Somerset is obviously a really important factor. Certainly for the last few years, I have had farms that have spent six months underwater during the winter months, and then they are left in a terrible situation having to pick up from that. But by allowing their farmland to flood—by sacrificing their…”

“I very much appreciate that, and the offer of a meeting is very welcome. On the other side, if you like, of drought and heat, wildfires have been a massive issue this summer as we have seen right across the country. Somerset has a considerable amount of peatland in it. Although we did not suffer with any wildfires this…”

“Farmers are facing a lot of issues at the moment on a day-to-day basis, particularly with the halting of the SFI, which is really concerning for the industry. That is having an impact on how they farm, and they are now looking at the challenges coming forward. Many are saying that they want to be able to balance their …”

“We have already spoken a few times about farmers being able to develop their own infrastructure on-farm in terms of their resilience to drought. Legislative reforms could require farmers to adopt basic adaptation measures or give them more freedom to be able to do that, create these reservoirs and indeed other sources …”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) for securing this important debate and for his excellent speech. This summer has been a great one for British sport with the Lionesses’ success in the Euros, and I hope the Red Roses will follow s…”

“It a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire (Charlotte Cane) for securing this important and timely debate and for her excellent speech. As vice-chair of the f40 group, I know how vital fair funding is for education. Today, I want to highligh…”

“The Atherton report, published in 2021, surveyed 4,000 female service personnel and veterans. It revealed that 62% had been victims of bullying, discrimination, harassment or sexual assault during their service. Does the Minister recognise that at a time when we are expanding our armed forces, we must improve the overa…”

“4. Whether he plans to implement the outstanding recommendations of the second report of the Defence Committee of Session 2021-22, “Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life”, HC 154.”

“Queen Camel Community Land Trust is working to create much-needed homes in south Somerset, but it is often hampered by lack of access to finance and an outdated planning system. Does my hon. Friend agree that this Government should focus on community-led development to deliver the affordable homes that are so greatly n…”

“It is a pleasure to speak on this important piece of legislation, and I declare my interest as a vice president of the Local Government Association. This Bill’s intention is to support further devolution—something that the Liberal Democrats are in favour of. However, the Bill fails to properly do so, and instead only r…”