Speeches by Arthur.

“Is this purely a business issue, rather than an issue that your customers might be concerned about? They will not be put off by using your service when they—”

“Your growth has already halted in EVs, yes.”

“James, sticking with London, the number of EVs in your fleet is dropping. In December I think there will no longer be an exemption for EVs with respect to the congestion charge, so what does that mean for you as a business? What does it mean for your customers once you drop out of that exemption?”

“What would you like to see happen? Is there anything else that can be done other than just continuing the exemption, anything else that would help you through this transition?”

“I wanted reassurance on that point. I guessed that was the case. Richard, you spoke about the lack of support in DfT, about nobody being responsible. How does it look in individual local authorities? Some local authorities must be leading on this and allocating resource to it, while, as you explained, the DfT is perhap…”

“Sam, thanks for introducing me to the interesting concept of grey mileage. If I understand rightly, in your example you are saying that the NHS has a car that people share. I understand the point that a worker’s car may be older, and all those other issues, but the reality is that the worker may well be bringing their …”

“I was going to ask this question earlier but I managed to stop myself. You talked about a street with a car on it. Someone I know co-owns a car with somebody else on his street, and it seems to work for them. This is a bit niche, but I wonder whether there are any barriers to people co-owning a car.”

“It is an interesting point about the TROs, the fact that it takes time and can be a lot of friction, if I can use that word, on your rate of expansion. Where I lived in Edinburgh a few years ago, there were no car club spaces because the local community council, a Scottish thing, opposed the loss of a car parking space…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship with a 90-second speech limit, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing this debate. In 2023, I met Elaine and her guide dog Tessy and she was able to show me first hand the impact that pavement parking was having on her life. …”

“I do not speak for RNIB Scotland or Guide Dogs Scotland but people with visual impairments leading isolated lives are a real concern for them. They want those people to be out working, meeting their friends, shopping and so on. Cars parked on the pavement are a barrier to that happening, so this issue is absolutely cor…”

“Often we are faced with a dilemma between driver convenience and the safety of pedestrians. I think the safety of pedestrians always has to come first. Parking on the pavement is not an alternative to blocking the road to emergency vehicles. You should not be blocking the road to emergency vehicles and you should not b…”

“The Government inherited bond yields higher than those in many other countries. Right now bond yields are going up in Japan, Germany and the United States. Is the Chancellor responsible for all that?”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I had forgotten how much I enjoyed bobbing. We all want to be proud of the UK’s asylum system, but because of the mess we inherited from the previous Government, none of us are there right now; that is just a fact. I thank the Home Secretary for the methodical work that she is doing to …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for this debate. A few days ago, in my office, I met relatives of people who died on the Suez Maru, which was lost in similar circumstances, with about 550 prisoners of war on it, a great number of whom were machinegunned in the water by members of the imperial Japanese navy. The fight of the rel…”

“I thank the Minister for his statement, and particularly for the news that there will be a thorough investigation. I have two quick questions. First, are the reports correct that the previous Government did not meet representatives of the sector for 13 years? I know the Minister said that he had met them recently. Seco…”

“I thank the police for how they have dealt with the violent disorder that we have seen from a minority of people in recent days. I would much rather that the police were investigating the crimes that are allegedly behind the incidents. I also thank the Minister for showing zero tolerance to the minority of people in ou…”

“I congratulate the Secretary of State on the scale of ambition he has shown today. Although there are many issues in the water sector in Scotland—not least the combined sewer overflow discharges into the Water of Leith at Colinton Dell—one thing we understand is that to reduce CSO spills, we have to reduce the amount o…”

“I make my comments in the context of my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I thank the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for securing the debate. It is on an issue that resonates strongly with many residents in Edinburgh South West—it is not an overstatement to say that…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend. I know that it is important to his constituency, because I can remember how people were really concerned about plastic cotton buds getting washed up on Portobello beach. Thankfully, through changes, that is now much rarer, but it is still an issue. In Scotland alone it is estimated that we …”