Speeches by Olney.

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the use of first-past-the-post in general and local elections. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner, and to be in an environment with such great air conditioning. “I am committed to proportional representation…I think it would change the political cu…”

“Thank you for your chairing the debate, Mr Turner. It is interesting that the majority of voices in the room have argued against first past the post, when all of us are here because we were elected under that system. That shows how even those of us who have—dare I say—benefited from the system recognise its flaws and a…”

“Sitting suspended.”

“T5. Today marks 10 years since the Brexit referendum. Since that date, we have had 10 Home Secretaries, nine Foreign Secretaries, eight Chancellors, seven Defence Secretaries and 6 Prime Ministers. Does the Chancellor agree that such instability has acted as a break on growth in this country and can she set out what sh…”

“9. What steps she is taking to recruit and retain teachers.”

“A Public Accounts Committee report published last summer found that the Department for Education not only lacked a plan for recruiting the additional teachers that Labour pledged in its manifesto, but did not understand why teachers are leaving the sector. Despite the Secretary of State’s saying that the Department is …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I congratulate the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans) on securing this debate and on his excellent opening remarks. Abuse against people in customer-facing roles is always unacceptable. No one should ever have to face abuse in their place of work. T…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that excellent point. We could be doing so much more, not just through the police but across society in different ways, to increase safety on our high streets. People need to know that they are backed up by the police, and that they have a strong and effective police presence to turn to when …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that excellent intervention and for all his work. He speaks so powerfully for the victims of domestic abuse, and I thank him for taking this opportunity to raise the issue. I hope that the Minister has heard what he said, because it is an extremely serious point. We should have the victims of…”

“The steel sector is a vital UK industry. We must support it in the face of numerous challenges, including China’s unfair practices and Trump’s trade war, but I am extremely concerned about the impact on parts of the steel industry supply chain if these proposed tariff changes are implemented. We all want businesses to …”

“T2. The Government’s proposed high-value council tax surcharge will be collected by councils but retained by the Treasury. If councils neither control the charge nor keep the revenue, why is it being called a council tax? Will the Minister commit to changing this misleading policy title? Given that most of the revenue …”

“And it is a safe one, I hope.”

“What would typically happen with a decommissioned building? Would it be repurposed for further research work or would it be a disposal?”

“Mr Mian, are you confident that UKRI is decommissioning sufficiently to enable the best value for money?”

“Is there a plan with an end date—the point at which you expect to achieve net zero across the estate?”

“Will you tell me about the plans to achieve net zero across the estate?”

“Is there a plan to upgrade the estate so that less than 45% is in an unacceptable condition?”

“That is a good aspiration.”

“The STFC estimated in 2023 that 45% of the estate was in an unacceptable condition. Is that still the case?”

“Yes, I think so.”