Speeches by Stone.

“Okay. I still think that the debate should go forward, because there is lots in it, but I just wondered whether you might want to change some of—”

“He does not need to add a motion to the application to get a debate in the main Chamber—”

“I am on your list to speak, so I am slightly biased. Just a little quibble of mine, Swindon is not in the south-east but we are covered by Thames Water as well.”

“You said that there is an overlap. Would you be open to merging the debates if that meant that you were guaranteed to get a debate? My second point is more of a statement. Shamefully, there are only two Labour MPs on the list. Have you contacted any others to try to get the 50-50 balance?”

“In my time in the Army, I saw at first hand blokes not getting the kit and equipment that they needed to operate efficiently. It angered me to read this weekend that the previous Administration wasted £5 million on McClaren mudflaps. Will the Secretary of State promise me that he will not take the—[Interruption.]”

“To return to my question, I angers me that the previous Administration wasted £5 million, when blokes like me did not have the kit and equipment that they needed to operate—[Interruption.] That is a fact. Will the Secretary of State promise me that he will put service personnel and our nation’s security first?”

“I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for bringing forward this important debate on something that we do not discuss enough. I was not hugely knowledgeable on it until my partner became a financial adviser; we have lots of financial discussions now. More often than not, she is telling me th…”

“Can I chime in on that? I understand why you want it in the Chamber: obviously it is grand to be there, and this is such an important issue. I have had constituents who have been affected, including Owen Dunn, who was stabbed—it was terrible. In Westminster Hall, we could guarantee you a longer debate, which is more li…”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide that an unlicensed driver who has never held a valid driving licence and who causes the death of another person by driving commits the offence of careless driving under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988; and for connected purposes. I thank Members fo…”

“7. Whether she has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on plans to ban greyhound racing in Wales.”

“I thank the Minister for her response. I am incredibly passionate about animal welfare—I have a dog and a cat—and for the most part we are an animal-loving country. That is why I find it so shocking that we still have practices such as greyhound racing that treat animals as disposable. If they do not run fast enough or…”

“Q6. In Swindon North, we have the Panattoni Park development, which is one of the largest employment developments in Europe and has massive potential for growth. Will the Prime Minister join me in acknowledging the site for boosting economic growth in not only my region but the country, and will he visit it with me?”

“Obviously it is a fantastic debate, on a subject you always talk about—clearly you are passionate about it—but for this to happen you need more Labour Members: you need a 50:50 split. As a Backbench Business Committee, we should probably do better at getting out there and telling people that. Week in, week out we are g…”

“It is obviously a really important issue and Members did not have enough time to speak last time. Is the aim of this debate to allow as many people to speak as possible? Having it in Westminster Hall allows allotted time, whereas debates in the Chamber sometimes get squashed down and condensed. Do you want more people …”

“That is fair. Over the last couple of weeks we have seen debates cancelled, squashed and condensed in the Chamber because of how things roll over. That might be something for the Committee to think about. Your preference is time, then?”

“You beat me to it—even better.”

“That has shut me up.”

“On that note, I will keep it short. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for bringing forward the debate. I slightly disagree with his suggestion that food is the only answer, because I think fitness plays a part, but I guess that is a slightly different discussion. Prior to becoming an MP, I was a p…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. There has been some suggestion that Saudi Arabia and other global partners might want to join the programme. What does the Committee think of that?”

“Other than that, it looks good.”