Speeches by Hobhouse.

“I would be happy with either.”

“That is interesting: on my draft, it says Tuesday for 90 minutes or Thursday for 90 minutes, but I don’t know whether that reached you.”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. I congratulate the hon. Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) on his strong advocacy on this topic. I welcome the Government’s confirmation last week that people with BNO visas will continue to qualify for permanent residence in the UK after five years. That is…”

“My all-party parliamentary group on eating disorders recently published a report on preventing eating disorder-related death. The report highlighted that eating disorders are not accurately recorded on death certificates. I was promised an update from the Minister for Women’s Health and Mental Health over two months ag…”

“The hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Sarah Bool) did not let me ask this question earlier, but is it not true that the safe and legal routes have been all but destroyed except for BNO and for Ukrainians? It is really important that the Government restore safe and legal routes to this country to make sure that ev…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“The Minister mentioned the hospitality sector earlier, and I briefly want to come back to that. Bath council and I are seeking the power for local authorities to introduce a modest visitor levy, alongside our proposed 5% cut in VAT for hospitality. Does she agree that a visitor levy on overnight stays would generate a …”

“UK ports are clear that large-scale electrification is essential for maritime decarbonisation, but the required grid capacity is severely lacking. The Transport Committee has urged the Government to provide planning authorities with clear guidance to facilitate grid and substation upgrades. Will the Department prioriti…”

“3. What steps her Department has taken to help support the decarbonisation of the maritime sector.”

“T3. Yesterday, I met Volkswagen. It stressed that to meet our electric vehicle targets the Government must provide long-term support and certainty through to 2030 and beyond, with sensible incentives, a supportive tax framework and more robust infrastructure. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that consumers…”

“I speak today on behalf of one constituent, although there are many similar examples. My constituent, who does not want to be named in order to protect herself, is losing out quite substantially because the Child Maintenance Service is failing to enforce the regular payments that she is owed. The non-resident parent ma…”

“I hear from so many constituents that, out of those suffering from any condition, people suffering from ME have the lowest quality of life. Is it not also the case that people simply do not understand what ME is?”

“6. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in tackling drug dealing on social media.”

“Drug dealing is absolutely rampant on social media. The Minister might be aware of the campaign I lead, together with the University of Bath, against spice-spiked vapes in school and the terrible harm they are causing. We are increasingly frustrated that Ofcom does not use its power under the Online Safety Act to hold …”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Is it not the truth that the reason energy bills are still so high is because we still produce a lot of electricity by burning gas? Burning gas, which is sold on the global market, keeps energy prices high. That is the main problem. We need to decouple electricity from gas prices, and particularly to get away from gas.”

“Is it not the truth that once the projects have been built, the energy is free? There is no commodity concentration, because the wind and sunlight cost nothing; there is very little cost apart from the installation.”

“I am interested in hearing what he has to say about cutting bills. Does he not recognise that the cost of letting climate change go on unmitigated is a vast one for every household in this country?”

“Very quickly, why can community energy groups not be directly involved in the local area planning?”