Speeches by Dyke.

“Yesterday, I spoke to Ian, who has a beef enterprise and grows cider apples on his farm in Glastonbury. Now 74, he has worked his entire life to buy back his family’s 100-acre farm. He has finally done it, but the Government’s changes to the APR will soon tear it apart again, undoing his life’s work and leaving the far…”

“Improved rail performance is of course welcome, but my constituents in Somerton and Langport are not served by the railway at all. A family in Curry Rivel recently wrote to me; they are over half an hour away from the nearest train station, leaving them isolated from the train line. Will the Minister outline any plans …”

“I have recently received more than 200 emails from pensioners in Glastonbury and Somerton who do not know whether they can afford to turn on the heating this winter. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Government should provide targeted energy discounts for vulnerable households, to reduce the number of people liv…”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the prohibition of the sale in England of horticultural peat by the end of 2025; to provide for certain exemptions from that prohibition; and for connected purposes. Let me begin by paying tribute to the right hon. Theresa Villiers, the former Member …”

“Thank you, Chair; I appreciate that very much.”

“My constituent in Ilton is now in debt because they had to take their son, who is eligible for free NHS dentistry, to a private dentist, as they could not find an NHS dentist in the whole of Somerset. Sadly, that comes as no surprise, given that four in 10 children in Somerset have not been able to see a dentist this p…”

“That is right. Thank you, Chair, for allowing me to bring this application forward. I will give you a bit of background on the subject. I recently had a 30-minute Westminster Hall debate on bus services in rural areas that was very well attended. I took five or six interventions—indeed, the Minister took six interventi…”

“Yes, I appreciate that. Obviously, it would be preferable to have a Chamber debate on a Tuesday. Given the amount of interest in the debate, it is such an important issue for all of us in the south-west, and I think there were more issues on the trains—”

“I would be hopeful, but obviously I appreciate that there would always be a question mark around a Thursday debate.”

“This is a Budget of inequality. It seems that the Chancellor decided to deliver two Budgets: one for people in cities and another for rural communities such as Glastonbury and Somerton. Somerset is home to more farmers and food producers than anywhere else in the country. The Government’s choice to swap the agricultura…”

“It has now been more than 10 years since devastating floods wrecked the Somerset levels and moors, causing untold damage. At the time, affected communities were told that money was no object when it came to protecting the area, but now, deep in the Budget document, there is a hint that the farming and flood defences bu…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for making such an important point. I think we have progressed in our understanding of stroke awareness, but there is so much more yet to do. Neither strokes nor the grim predictions I have made are inevitable. Stroke is preventable, it is treatable, and it is recoverable.”

“The hon. Member makes a really important point. Although we often assume that it is older people who suffer with strokes, so many young people suffer in the same way. Unless there are major improvements, Somerset’s poor ambulance response times and poor life-after-stroke care will mean that a disproportionate number of…”

“I am grateful to have this opportunity to address the House on World Stroke Day. Stroke is the UK’s fourth biggest killer and the single largest cause of complex disability in the UK. On our current trajectory, the number of stroke survivors will increase by 60% over the next decade, which will swallow up nearly half t…”

“The hon. Member makes a very good point, and I also celebrate those people, who do such hard work within their communities. The UK knows how to deliver world-class stroke care, and some parts of England are doing that as I speak. Stroke is one of the few conditions that takes patients through the entirety of the health…”

“I thank the hon. Member for her intervention and for all the work she has done in this area. I will come to the issue of ambulance response times a little later in my speech. Delays in urgent care are currently leading to high mortality rates, and post-stroke services that provide crucial emotional, practical and socia…”

“I rise to support amendment 5, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings), to require a statement of strategic priorities on the facilitation of community-based clean energy schemes. Energy supply is the second largest contributor to UK domestic greenhouse gas emissions, making up 20%…”

“I wholeheartedly agree, and that is exactly the point that I was making. Research from the Stroke Association shows that the NHS faces £1,300 of additional pressure for each person like Garry who does not receive life-after-stroke care, due to avoidable secondary strokes and other health complications. It is an injusti…”

“I thank the hon. Member for the intervention. He makes a strong point. Our health and social care services are likely failing the 14,159 registered stroke survivors in Somerset at some stage in the system, but there is reason to be optimistic. If the Government put stroke at the heart of our health and social care syst…”

“I thank the hon. Lady, and it is so good to hear that her husband is making such a full and quick recovery. World Stroke Day is a pertinent reminder that stroke must be well represented in the new 10-year health plan and that the Government must engage with patients, carers, and health and social care professionals, so…”