Speeches by McDonagh.

“You said our inquiry today is into the work of the Financial Ombudsman Service. We get from what you have told us so far about your chief executive leaving that it was not a question of personal competence or anything. I understand how it is hard to talk about somebody else, given that reputation is all. Given the prob…”

“So you would not split hairs on that particular one.”

“The decline in the number of bank branches accelerates that. The banks in Mitcham town centre were forever chatting to customers who they knew to say, “Please do not send this money. They are ripping you off,” but very vulnerable people do not have that same access now. Let us be absolutely clear: we assume that it is …”

“It has to be a fraudulent or dishonest act or course of conduct to manipulate, deceive or persuade a consumer into transferring funds. Most scams are never passed to the police or to any other regulator. Do you require that, or require it to be investigated in order to say, “Yes, that is dishonest and deceitful”?”

“There is an upper limit of £85,000.”

“I am delighted to announce to the House that we will be opening a drug trial for glioblastoma brain tumours in May, in memory of my late sister, Margaret. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] But for how long will progress on this depend on people baking cakes, running marathons and organising dinners? When will the NHS and t…”

“Welcome, and congratulations on your appointment. I understand your point about small businesses, but what about big businesses? Should Starbucks accept cash?”

“On a panel we had last week, we met a very nice young man with learning difficulties. He wants to be part of mainstream society, as we all do. He wanted to go to Starbucks but he does not have a debit card or may not be able to use a debit card to manage his money. He wants to go to Starbucks on a Saturday afternoon.”

“Experience suggests that that is not the case because we have a whole section or stream of businesses that provide services to people who are poor. They are not mainstream businesses. This is not for you to answer but is a rhetorical question: why do lots of mainstream supermarkets, such as Morrisons in Mitcham, close …”

“What comes up time and time again, in all financial services in this Committee, is the poverty premium. If you are poorer and you live in a poor neighbourhood, it is hard to get car insurance; it is more expensive; it is harder to insure your house. It is harder to access what all the rest of us take for granted and do…”

“That will exclude certain marginalised people in our society, as large businesses move away from accepting cash.”

“Oh, I am sorry; I nearly denied the hon. Member for Strangford his right to sum up. I apologise. I would never wish to silence him.”

“The hon. Gentleman can go on for as long as he likes.”

“Order. I will now put—[Interruption.]”

“I apologise again to the hon. Member for Strangford. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered innovation in the field of rare retinal disease.”

“I think my point will be unlike that of any other Member in the House. The specialist emergency care hospital in Sutton is in tier 2 of these schemes. Can I say to the Secretary of State, as I have said to every Health Secretary over the past 25 years, that no one wants this? We want the services at St Helier hospital …”

“How concerned are you about the risk of HMRC being taken down by a cyber-attack? Sir Jim Harra gave evidence to the Committee on cyber-attacks. He talked about people trying to hack individual accounts. In your role as chair of the HMRC board, do you think HMRC is sufficiently prepared for a cyber-attack, which might t…”

“How many public sector systems actually achieve that level, given the amount of ingenuity and dexterity of the hackers? Could you put your hand on your heart now and say that it will not happen to HMRC?”

“Does HMRC have access to the funds to ensure it has a premier system that holds out against the hackers?”

“This week, we have spent a lot of time talking about Elon Musk and his concern about violence against, and the sexual abuse of, women. I am aware of an ongoing case in which a woman continues to be stalked by a man who has already been convicted of stalking her, and who has set up an X account in her name and is postin…”