Speeches by Arthur.

“rose—”

“I am interested to hear about the hon. Gentleman’s knowledge and experience of alternative fuels. He perhaps understands this statutory instrument better than I do, but I understood that it was about the weight of vehicles, and that an alternative fuel going through the internal combustion engine does not result in add…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair today, Mr Vickers. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Mohammad Yasin) for introducing the debate so well. I should start by referring Members to the register of interests and saying I am a member of the University and College Union. I am also proud to say that…”

“I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s points about the impact of immigration policy—the sector needs a policy that helps it to attract the best staff and the best students—but he will know that the challenge facing the sector in Scotland is long-lasting and is due to underfunding. Student fees have dropped substantially be…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you, Mr Stuart. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). When I was elected last year, I cared about eating disorders, but through her work on the APPG I have really come to understand them much more. I pay tribute to the secretariat, Hope Virgo—it is almost insulting t…”

“The hon. Member is of course right to talk about the economic impact of Brexit, but would it have been different if the vote had been won on our joining the customs union—a vote that the SNP abstained on?”

“I cannot resist—did the hon. Member say that people were so angry they voted Lib Dem?”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. He suggests that we “go for it” on the customs union, but I think he was one of the MPs who abstained when he had that chance. Why the SNP abstained is a great mystery in Scottish politics. Can he explain why?”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for opening the debate so ably, and the many people in Edinburgh South West who signed this petition. I will speak briefly because what I was going to talk about has been well trod. Brexit has been an absolute tragedy for the UK, both economically and cul…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you today, Chair—I notice that you have got younger just in the last few minutes. [Laughter.] I hope it is orderly to flatter the Chair.”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. We all know someone who has suffered from a rare cancer—a brain tumour, childhood cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, or one of the other cancers on a long list that are unfortunately all too familiar. Each of them may statistically be considered rare, but co…”

“I welcome that intervention; I think that was a leading question. Of course it is not good enough. I do not think that anybody here thinks that it is good enough, including the Minister. Unfortunately, at present there are very few clinical trials in this country for rare cancer treatments. Families such as Kira’s shou…”

“Absolutely. Last week, I attended a reception for the Eve Appeal. I was really struck by the fact that early diagnosis was a big feature of what the charity was talking about, and I will come on to that in just a second. As a consequence of the lack of recognition of the symptoms of rare cancers, too many people are di…”

“I thank my hon. Friend and office neighbour for making that point, which was also made by Eve Appeal. I cannot remember the statistics, but there is a stark difference. I talked about this issue when I met the Minister yesterday and she gently pointed out to me that it is not just in healthcare where women are dismisse…”

“With the leave of the House, I would like to thank a few people. First and foremost, I thank the Minister for her speech. I met her yesterday, and she was filled with genuine passion, energy and excitement for this subject. It is great to see her come here today and use her power to support this Bill, and let us hope t…”

“Absolutely. There is fantastic expertise in our universities across the UK; as I say that, I have to refer hon. Members to my registered interests because of my connections with the university sector. There is much more that we can do to attract the best researchers to the UK and build capacity in UK universities. The …”

“The challenge is devolution. I am a huge fan of devolution, but often the UK is at its best when it works together, particularly on healthcare. I hope that in time we will see progress and the nations will work together. I do not want to overstate this, but there have been discussions across the UK about how we could w…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for the sensitive way he is navigating through this. However, is it not the case that people defined as economically inactive include those who are retired? Is he suggesting that we go around the golf courses and bingo halls in our constituencies and get those people into the workforce, build…”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I am not sure if that was an insult or not. First, I should declare an interest by saying that back in 2015, an overseas healthcare worker saved my life. It was my cardiologist, and I put on record my thanks to him. The right hon. Gentleman will know that the population in the UK is falling, and we are getting older as…”