Speeches by Smith.

“You have focused therein on highlighting where there has been foreign interference in this way. If it was British-born but still intending to drive harm and inflame hatred towards particular groups or individuals, do you think that should also be acted upon, and there should be sufficient regulation for that legal reco…”

“You have mentioned a couple of times the threat of what is happening in the online world, specifically social media. That was a small section in the whole context of your report, and I recognise the barriers between what was within your scope and what was outside it. Recently, Hope Not Hate issued a report looking at t…”

“Your review also noted concerns that the concept of a regulated period before elections is no longer appropriate. Can you explain a bit more about what you have heard about this and why you have raised the issue?”

“Do you think we should be moving to an annual spending limit regime? Did you hear much about the potential bureaucratic burden that this might place on candidates and voters?”

“I just want to turn to the idea of universal donation caps. I am interested to hear the panel’s views on this, particularly in relation to whether you think that is a proportionate response to the foreign financial interference challenge, but does it also necessitate things such as increased state funding of political …”

“Before being elected to this place, I spent many years looking at how we can tackle the NEET crisis. Does the Secretary of State agree that we should be ambitious for our young people and aim to have 0% NEETs?”

“We had some of that. I think we were recommended to do this, but I arranged to sit down with my predecessor; she got approval to transfer some cases over to us, and we did go through that process. But there were other cases that came to us where they had had some previous experience, and maybe had not seen the email to…”

“We could get into a whole other discussion on that.”

“Absolutely. If we are going to have the most diverse and representative Parliament, we have to continue to make the case for families for people from all walks of life as to how being in this place can work for them. We know that the statistics on the impact that this place has on people’s mental health, their families…”

“As I said, I was fortunate to have someone experienced come into my constituency team, but it was a massive fight for them, even though they had the experience of doing it before. We had to move office from the previous one, due to location and a few other things. The biggest challenge we faced was finding an accessibl…”

“I am going to indulge slightly in explaining what the first couple of weeks were like for me. I was elected on the Thursday and we had to work out by the Monday where we were going to stay. There are some specific allowances that need to be considered for anybody who might come in, in the future, in my position: someon…”

“I am Sarah Smith, the Labour MP elected in 2024 for Hyndburn in east Lancashire.”

“For me, navigating that while holding a four-month-old baby brought a whole range of other challenges that I believe we will come to a bit later, given some of the things that you are keen to learn from this session. When I reflect on what I can remember of those first two weeks—frankly, I was barely sleeping, so forgi…”

“We had some of that. I think we were recommended to do this, but I arranged to sit down with my predecessor; she got approval to transfer some cases over to us, and we did go through that process. But there were other cases that came to us where they had had some previous experience, and maybe had not seen the email to…”

“As I said, I was fortunate to have someone experienced come into my constituency team, but it was a massive fight for them, even though they had the experience of doing it before. We had to move office from the previous one, due to location and a few other things. The biggest challenge we faced was finding an accessibl…”

“We could get into a whole other discussion on that.”

“What do you think strategic leadership needs to look like right now in local audit?”

“I might push you a little on that. Given where it will sit and the objectives of the organisation as the leader coming into it, what do you think will determine its success, and what early steps might you take to make sure you start off on the right track?”

“I had been a councillor in local government for a short period. I became the candidate a month before the general election, at which point my baby was three months old. The preparation I was able to do as a candidate was very little in that final period. I had obviously thought previously about what the reality of bein…”

“Absolutely. If we are going to have the most diverse and representative Parliament, we have to continue to make the case for families for people from all walks of life as to how being in this place can work for them. We know that the statistics on the impact that this place has on people’s mental health, their families…”