Speeches by Forster.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) for securing the debate and introducing it in the way he did. It will not surprise him to know that I do not agree with all of what he said, but he did raise valid concerns about the abuse of our v…”

“My constituency has one of the busiest rail aggregate goods yards in the country, with about 300 trains delivering construction material each year. That replaces 14,000 long-distance lorries, which is 2.5 million HGV miles. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to do much more to support the rail freight i…”

“I completely agree, but I suggest that the hon. Member takes it up with his Government, who seem to be more focused on the hatred from the Reform party than on agreeing with our quite welcoming rhetoric. He should take that up with his Ministers rather than with me as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson—he might risk cro…”

“That’s you!”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing this vital debate. I know that, since his election almost two years ago, he has spent much of his parliamentary time raising the issue of cancer and getting investment into cancer servi…”

“Woking’s only brewery, Thurstons, is sadly closing down. The owner, John Mintram, said: “It’s all getting too expensive…People are feeling the squeeze—you can’t sell £8 or £9 pints.” Will the Government please apologise to the owners and customers of Thurstons for what they have done to the hospitality sector, and agre…”

“Will Forster, MP for Woking.”

“Week after week, British Jews are being attacked, intimidated and persecuted. We have seen what has happened at Heaton Park synagogue, Kenton United synagogue, Finchley Reform synagogue, and Jewish Futures in Hendon, and to the Hatzola ambulances, and more recently, there have been the Golders Green stabbings. The inde…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. The Liberal Democrats continue to be disappointed that the Government have not set out a credible plan to tackle the asylum backlog and end hotel use. The Minister said that the Government have a vision—yes, a vision, but not a plan—to genuinely tackle the pro…”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“I thank my fellow member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee for giving way, and I agree with his criticism of the Labour Government. Does he agree that the Conservatives also have an appalling record on defending our green belt and environment? In my Woking constituency, the Conservative Governm…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“T3. Many of my constituents are really concerned that the world’s attention is on Trump’s illegal war in Iran, while Netanyahu is annexing land in Gaza, Lebanon and the west bank. Following Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary, the EU is meant to be agreeing to take a tougher line on Israel. Will this country join it?”

“My concern about the impact of local government reorganisation is the lack of money for community-owned assets. Charities are entitled to a mandatory 80% business relief, with the 20% discretionary top-up from local councils. In areas that have gone bankrupt, like mine in Woking, community-owned assets and charities co…”

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“4. What steps the Church is taking to help protect Christian communities from extremism.”

“A wife of a civil servant in my constituency gave up work to look after her husband when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. She found herself in severe financial difficulties after significant delays in the processing of her husband’s civil service pension. He sadly died last year and she only started receivi…”

“I regularly meet church leaders in my constituency of Woking, and they often raise the plight of Christians abroad. Please can the hon. Member assure me that one of the Church’s top priorities is to tackle extremism and the persecution of Christians abroad?”

“I agree that we need to avoid extra charges and make train fares cheaper. The hon. Lady talked about neighbouring constituencies. Despite Woking being the busiest station in Surrey, we do not have tap in, tap out, which means that hundreds of people a year tap in at Waterloo and, unreasonably, are not able to tap out a…”

“Many of my Woking constituents have concerns about the speed and volume of traffic on Old Woking High Street, particularly near St Peter’s church. Those concerns have been increased significantly after a car went through a property on that high street. No one was seriously hurt, but a young family with a new baby recei…”