Speeches by Aquarone.

“6. What steps she is taking to support small schools in rural communities.”

“North Norfolk businesses, including PSS in North Walsham, have written to me to share their concerns about these tariffs. One thing that has been raised is that there are tariffs on raw materials, but not on the import of finished and machined products. This creates a bit of a perverse incentive to move manufacturing a…”

“My question is on integrated transport. We heard from expert witnesses who welcome the Better Connected strategy, but there was not quite enough clarity on how it is actually going to be delivered. Jo, what changes are you making to the way the Department is organised in order to deliver on that strategy?”

“To make sure that this new law has a real effect, the Government urgently need to take two key steps. First, they need to work with overseas territories and Crown dependencies to ensure they are operating to the highest global standards to prevent the financing of designated groups—just as they would be expected to sto…”

“Secondly—this is incredibly important if, as I suspect, the Government do not accept this amendment today—we need to get better at enforcing the current laws around beneficial ownership. We must ensure that those who are not correctly reporting beneficial ownership, for whatever reason, are not able to get away with it…”

“The rate was the issue, not the concept.”

“I will speak to my amendment 1, which I am very pleased has the most supporters of any amendment before us today. Amendment 1 would make an offence of the concealment of beneficial ownership relating to a designated organisation and the establishment and maintenance of that concealment of finance and assets. In simpler…”

“I support this Bill and want it to pass, but I am concerned that some who play a crucial role in propping up designated groups, shielding their finances and contributing to their malign activity could get away unscathed. I urge the Government to support this amendment today.”

“Another Russian intelligence arm, the FSB, directs cyber-attacks against our country and the businesses in it. Indeed, the Government identify that FSB Centre 18, known as Star Blizzard, has targeted Members of this House. Sanctioned oligarchs Dmitry Patrushev and Denis Bortnikov were identified as part of the Navalny …”

“Clearly part of the integration may be some gentle integration of budget lines within the Department for Transport, but it is bigger than that, is it not? We heard one evidence contribution in our hearing from a witness who said that we think the Swiss can afford integrated transport because it is a rich country; actua…”

“I gently say that the claim by the MCA is that it will improve the future strength and resilience of the service. I would very much like to see the evidence behind that statement and we could have a separate conversation about how we deal with volunteers. There are alternative models such as the RNLI of course but I am…”

“The malign state actors—the people my amendment is targeting—have a simple role: they are the enablers, the fixers, the money men. They may not write the hacking code or carry out sabotage or violent acts personally, but by enabling and obscuring the finances which make such activity possible, they are culpable and res…”

“That feels thematically aligned to the concept of integrated transport. Lots of progress can clearly be made through better joined-up working. This is also about investment and investment in growth. Governments can do a lot to limit economic growth. There are very few things they can really do to deliver economic growt…”

“It was announced that the rescue officers are going to move to a volunteer expenses model, which means that hourly remuneration for training and operational activities will cease. This is particularly important in my coastal community. One of your Ministers told the House that Government was committed to ensuring volun…”

“We are changing to an expenses-only model. I am really concerned that this is going to impact the volunteer capacity, particularly in my coastal community. There was a claim that this would improve and protect the future strength and resilience of the service. I am particularly concerned that the opposite will be true.”

“I did not table this amendment for theoretical cases or as a stimulant for debate, however; I tabled it because groups such as the IRGC are benefiting from these structures right now. It is alleged by The Times, Bloomberg and Transparency International that Iranian-Cypriot banker Ali Ansari has purchased a huge London …”

“I know there is a court case that has been completed.”

“It is not only the Iranian regime who can fund their state threats through obscuring ownership. Just this week the Government have sanctioned individuals and companies that existed as fronts to purchase technology that could be used in Ukraine at the behest of the GRU—another candidate to become a designated group unde…”

“We cannot run emergency services on the basis of goodwill so surely paying them is the only sustainable option.”

“I am a big fan of devolution; I wish we lived in a consensual, participatory political environment. Maybe we will get there one day. Are there risks to fragmented local delivery given the devolution potential here? If the answer I assume you will give is, “Yes, but—”, what is the fulcrum? What do we need to be able to …”