Speeches by Hoare.

“I appreciate the need to sustain it, but, in your assessment, is it sufficient?”

“Is that a no?”

“As a former elections policy Minister and member of the defending democracy taskforce, may I thank the Secretary of State for launching this inquiry? I also thank Philip Rycroft for his work; it was a pleasure to give evidence to him during that process. I welcome the spirit in which the Secretary of State has brought …”

“It is a no.”

“Yes, please.”

“The £474,000 awarded to Dorset council last week as part of the Chancellor’s announcement is welcome, but I must tell her that it really will not touch the sides; more will need to be done to support rural communities. Unwillingly and unwittingly, the Government will be profiteering through a massive hike in VAT and du…”

“My right hon. Friend is right. It is important to relitigate this point: we froze fuel duty not merely because we could but because there was a reason so to do. It is why—I say this as a former Local Government Minister—we enhanced and protected and preserved the rural services delivery grant to reflect precisely the a…”

“This is a point I made to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. All these increases—in council tax, domestic and transport fuel, food prices and so on—are putting pressure on so many household budgets. The Minister knows that; he will see the data from his officials in real time. Families need to make plans—can …”

“I would probably suggest to my hon. Friend that a lie-down with a cold flannel in a darkened room might be a good idea for him if that is what he thinks they are doing. I think that they have broadly given up. Let us just make the point. I do not want to rub Government Members’ noses in it, but with the exception of th…”

“Mine is 440.”

“I must be suffering from some sort of political amnesia, because I was absolutely convinced that it was a Labour Government that introduced tuition fees in the first place. Maybe the Minister will correct me.”

“It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross), who spoke with her usual passion on behalf of her constituents and a sector that is important to her local economy, and with the depth of knowledge that the House has come to expect from her. She raised the important theme—I tou…”

“That is encouraging to hear. This is the final thing from me. We all know that it is much easier to deliver services and support in our urban areas with denser populations. Notwithstanding the reserved and devolved balance, have you given any thought to an assessment to the levels of needed support and provided support…”

“Of course—it gives me an extra minute.”

“When I woke up this morning and sprang out of bed thinking about my upcoming 57th birthday, I was feeling quite young and sprightly, but having listened to the speech of the hon. Member for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting) I feel particularly ancient and amazed that I have managed to get to my feet to give this speech. The …”

“I do. My right hon. Friend is right to point to the universality of the negative impact of the proposal. As a good Yorkshirewoman who I know is always persuaded by the validity of common sense, I hope that she will accept the point that when everybody says that the impact on rural communities will be disproportionately…”

“There are a huge number of families up and down the country who manage their household budgets incredibly tightly. They will be thinking about whether they can afford a holiday this year and so on. I appreciate that August seems a long way away, but many of those people will be sorting out their budgetary plans now. I …”

“I wanted to echo what Mr Swann was saying, but to pick up particularly on women from minority ethnic groups in Northern Ireland. There is not a long-standing tradition of their presence in Northern Ireland. It is relatively recent as a result of Syria and other things. As a predecessor Committee, we did quite a bit of …”

“I am just about to give up and I will not get an extra minute. I like the hon. Gentleman very much and in ordinary circumstances I would, but I will not. We need some urgency on this matter, and I urge some cross-party working to make sure that all our constituents, whether urban or rural, and whether first, second, th…”

“No, I will not give way; one can be a useful idiot only so often in an afternoon. I say to the Minister: whether it is at the front of the queue, the back of the queue or the middle of the queue, this is an issue that cannot be put aside any longer.”