Speeches by Anderson.

“The hon. Member is right on that. How we work with our partners is important, but we have to invest and have a clear plan to hold our head high on the world stage. I will finish on this point. We are told that the Department is working at pace on the DIP. I probably know about pace better than anybody in this House. I …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that important point. How warfare is fought is catching people by surprise—we are seeing that played out in the middle east at the moment—and we have to be prepared. We have stood with our head and shoulders high on the world stage, and I want to see us continue to do that. I want to throw ou…”

“T4. Over half of South Shropshire residents rely on heating oil or other solutions, such as liquified petroleum gas, to heat their homes. The recent Government support does very little for the majority of my constituents, and the best price today for heating oil is more than double what it was five weeks ago. There is …”

“I definitely do. I have had the reserves deployed with me when I have been on operations, and they were a great asset. Scaling up the reserves is vital. We have the article 3 NATO commitment, and we need to ensure that we can fulfil that. It is not just about the reserves staying here and the regulars flying overseas. …”

“It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Loughborough (Dr Sandher). I do not think that I have heard anyone call for 20% of spending on defence, but I like it. I am not sure how we would maintain the reversal of the two-child cap if 20% of spending went to defence, but he made a very good speech. I will set out a…”

“I have five children, and have watched half of them go through puberty. They continually change their minds about things. Ethically, I can see no justification for allowing children to be experimented on. What might be a short-term solution could become a permanent solution that people often grow to regret.”

“The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. There is not one specific issue here; there are multiple issues, as I will come to. Constituents have talked about the road just outside Ackleton. They tell me it is like driving in a third-world country. A local resident, Barry, commented to me, “You want to come to Claverl…”

“We see that across South Shropshire. My hon. Friend’s mother-in-law is a lovely lady and I was delighted to meet her the other week—I get a few points for that. We are finding that Shropshire council is putting cones in the potholes, because they are that big, or putting up traffic lights, and some of the traffic light…”

“I thank the hon. Member for raising an important point. Between us, we are starting to see that we can deal with this issue in multiple ways, and I really hope the Minister will take them on board. I launched my rural road safety campaign back in August 2024. I urged key partners to get involved in road safety issues a…”

“I do. The hon. Member raises a really good point. This is not just about a pothole in the road; it is about the impact on people’s lives and businesses. That leads me on very nicely to my next point. This is not just about car damage; it is about road safety. We are talking about people’s lives here. Beyond damage to a…”

“I do. My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. There is more money being spent by councils than it costs to fix the roads. I will come on to that in detail in a minute. These are serious issues. I have one constituent that people have stopped visiting because their road is now impassable—talk about remoteness and being…”

“The hon. Member raises an important point—which I thought she might raise when I mentioned the local Lib Dem-run council in South Shropshire. For years, and under successive Governments, rural areas have not received the correct funding. That is not right; however, this is also about how the money is used. At the momen…”

“rose—”

“Yes—I thought the hon. Lady might want me to.”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the condition of roads in rural areas. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer, especially on a topic as important as road conditions in rural areas such as South Shropshire. We will all know that there is no place like South Shropshire, with its outs…”

“I would, but I do not have the time, so I will talk to the Minister afterwards. I invite her to South Shropshire to see the roads, many of which are not suitable for driving many cars on. Whatever plan she outlined, it is not suitable to my constituency. The rural services delivery grant really hurt South Shropshire. T…”

“I thank the Minister for winding up, and I want to respond to two of the points she made. We talked about the funding, but we were calling for funding up to 2032, not 2030; and the incentive payment that was withheld is still withheld—it is not with Shropshire council, so it cannot plan when it does not know that the m…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that excellent point. We have to look at rural counties, which are not being given the fair consideration that they need. The Government are currently holding back almost £46 million, I believe, from Lib Dem-run Shropshire council, because it has not met their stringent criteria. The …”

“Thank you, Mr Stringer; you raise a brilliant point. Before I conclude, I would like the Minister to address the support or approval that local councils need for community action to go ahead to help parish councils to fix certain areas, as they have in Devon. Residents in South Shropshire deserve better than the roads …”

“The hon. Member raises a very good point. I will come on to the preventive measures and what can actually be returned to the economy to help the Department fix this major issue. Potholes are one of the biggest issues raised with me since I have been an MP, and I am sure the same will be true for many other Members. Obv…”