Speeches by McDonagh.

“Could I follow up on John’s questions about romance fraud and the impact it has on individuals apart from the money side of things? How far is that exacerbated by the closure of bank counters and face-to-face banking services? In my experience, when somebody went along to make a payment at the local Barclays and the la…”

“I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate. I also ask you to be mindful about issues of sub judice; we have been given some flexibility by the Speaker, but I urge you to err on the side of caution when referring to ongoing cases.”

“I call Jim Shannon—a brief Jim Shannon.”

“I apologise to the two Members who are standing; we have 12 minutes left for Back-Bench speeches, so that is six minutes each.”

“He didn’t do that himself, though.”

“Can I just add, isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?”

“Silently and in semi-secrecy, London and the south-east of England are experiencing the largest mass eviction by a private landlord in decades. Criterion Capital has issued at least 130 no-fault eviction notices across its portfolio, including in Britannia Point in Collier’s Wood in my constituency. Those affected have…”

“Just under, yes.”

“I am really lucky, Minister, because I was born and brought up in my constituency and I have seen the changes in my high street. I live in a very suburban area; I live opposite Kevin Godding, who owns Colliers Wood’s Coffee in the Wood, so he was able to put a briefing about his business rates through my letterbox late…”

“Be better organised—join a trade union.”

“I am not going across the road and telling Kevin that he’s an outlier.”

“I do not want to queer the pitch of our next questions, but it is a holistic thing. A small business does not just consider business rates; it considers what its total costs are. When you make these decisions, do you know what the potential total cost of the whole thing is, and whether these businesses can keep going?”

“My understanding is that that is an increase; you can have your business rates increased by up to £800. The original figure—what he pays this year—is £509, so that plus £800 is £1,309. That is not a big sum on its own, but it represents a 157% increase. I appreciate that you are worried about confidentiality, but my po…”

“Can I just clarify that that is the increase, not the total bill?”

“No, it was something like portable discount. If that helped you to buy, you could buy in the private sector, releasing the social housing unit. It helped a family to get on the ladder, and a property was made available for somebody else in need. Obviously, you would bend it towards the larger properties, which were wha…”

“Sorry, Chair, but I have so many hobby horses that I am able to try out here. Given the reduction in the discount under right to buy, for all the reasons that you have described—there was a product, and I am trying to remember its name, where if somebody left their social housing unit to buy, they would get—”

“Most of the problems seem to me to be around the whole issue of leasehold flats in London. Whether it is shared ownership or outright home ownership, the issues of service charges, management and all the rest of it run across that whole type of property. Back in the day, there was a notion of portable shared ownership,…”

“I want to ask about the shared ownership model. What thoughts do you have about, perhaps, decreasing the proportion that somebody is required to buy? Might that allow more people to step into home ownership?”

“We all know that, while money is important, if the institutions that are given money do not spend it, we are all left frustrated and wondering what will happen. I have met cancer Ministers in both the last Conservative Government and this Government, all of whom have been well-intentioned and meaning to bring progress,…”

“I have met Moderna, a leading company in developing cancer vaccines. I asked if it would give University College London a cancer vaccine for free for a trial on glioblastoma brain tumours, but it refused. Its excuse was that it could not make enough of the drug for 16 people. This is the rub: commercial companies do no…”