Debate on the Address
Before I call the mover and seconder, I want to announce the proposed subjects of debate during t...
I beg to move,
That an Humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows:
Most Gr...
Show all contributions (237)
It is an absolute pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Lee Row...
“Help”—[Laughter.]
It could also focus our minds on the need to respond to the threats of climate change. To encoura...
This year marks two anniversaries. The first is the 70th anniversary of the Parliament Act 1949, ...
The Prime Minister gave the right hon. Gentleman the opportunity of having a general election tom...
Quite simply because we do not trust the Prime Minister.
This Government have had three and...
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the challenges of rising child poverty, compounded by the me...
I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. We have almost a lost generation. Children are going...
Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the climate and nature emergencies demand so much more t...
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. I am coming on to that in a moment, but I absolutely ...
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. Does he support this Government’s policy to rapi...
If only they were, it would be a good thing. All the off-the-cuff announcements made by the Prime...
I trained in the bursary system and lived on a pittance each month. It is this Government who hav...
I have news for the hon. Lady: it is her Government who ended the nurse bursary system—simple.
I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way on that point. Does he agree with me that the decisio...
There is no question. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This legislation is designed to hit the...
Order. The right hon. Gentleman will give way when he chooses. He does not need to be told what t...
Freedom of movement has given opportunities to millions of British people to live, work and retir...
This Government exist to serve the British people and this Queen’s Speech delivers on their prior...
Let me anticipate the point that my hon. Friend is going to make. We will also look after the int...
The Prime Minister was just saying how his Government back the armed services. He will be aware t...
The hon. Gentleman should support —and I hope that he will support us in the Divisions— a Governm...
Defence is linked to foreign policy. Britain is respected around the world for the values it stan...
I thank my hon. Friend for everything he does to promote religious freedom around the world, and ...
Will my right hon. Friend give way?
I will give way with pleasure to my hon. Friend.
I thank my right hon. Friend. I know that he really cares about legacy prosecutions and what is h...
My hon. Friend has anticipated a point that I am about to come to, but let me deal with it out of...
I will give way, with pleasure.
I congratulate the leader of the Conservative party, our Prime Minister, on delivering an excelle...
Not only can I give my hon. Friend that absolute and unequivocal guarantee, but I am delighted to...
Can the Prime Minister give us an assurance that, in keeping with his one-nation philosophy, the ...
I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. I know that he campaigns passionately on this iss...
I welcome the Queen’s Speech and its emphasis on the people’s priorities. Is my right hon. Friend...
My right hon. Friend is completely right. What we have is a choice between a semi-Marxist, if not...
I am very grateful that the Prime Minister has given way to a woman MP. In the Queen’s Speech the...
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. She raises a very good point. At the heart of the Queen’s...
The Prime Minister rightly said a moment ago that those who are poorest are the hardest hit by cr...
The hon. Lady raises a reasonable question. The answer is that this is the first wave—[Interrupti...
I should like to pick up on the point about the environment. The Leader of the Opposition seemed ...
I am so grateful to my hon. Friend, because she gives me the opportunity to point out that it is ...
How does the Prime Minister think young people’s education opportunities are going to be affected...
May I respectfully suggest to the right hon. Gentleman that that might be a good reason—if it wer...
Including, particularly, Cheltenham.
Schools in Cheltenham, and teachers in particular, are doing a fantastic job of driving up standa...
My hon. Friend is entirely right. That is why there is a massive increase not just in primary sch...
I thank the Prime Minister for giving way. He visited St Albans and found it fabulous, but my St ...
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Of course, that is not the only act of wanton expropriation—thef...
I am most grateful to the Prime Minister for giving way. I am listening to his exposition on the ...
The destruction that Labour would do to business is, I think, the single gravest concern that thi...
The Prime Minister talks about getting Brexit done, but he knows it is a painful journey and not ...
I reassure the hon. Gentleman by saying that the trade Bill is in the Queen’s Speech, so I very m...
One of the things my constituents care deeply about is social care, so I welcome the proposals se...
My hon. Friend is completely right, and the entire country is yearning for this House to come tog...
The Prime Minister talks about Brexit. We all know that, whichever way we do Brexit, it will redu...
The right hon. Lady knows there is an ongoing review of HS2, but this Government will be conducti...
When I was re-elected at the 2017 election, I and all the MPs for surrounding constituencies, inc...
I concur entirely with my hon. Friend. The one thing that would be more divisive, more toxic, tha...
The right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry) asked a question that is very important to our r...
I can certainly give the Father of the House exactly that assurance.
The objective of Brexi...
I am delighted to give way to a great campaigner for Scottish fishing.
I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way on a point that, as he is well aware, is important fo...
My hon. Friend is completely right on that, and I congratulate him on everything he is doing to a...
But I am going to give way, before I come to a juddering conclusion, to my right hon. Friend.
...I hesitate to intervene on the Prime Minister and spoil his splendid peroration, except to say th...
My right hon. Friend has spoken with his customary wisdom and he is entirely right: that is one o...
On that point—
I am going to give way for positively the last time.
I am very grateful, because I welcome the Prime Minister’s opportunity to revisit the Marxist-sty...
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for her intervention. I must direct her back to the answer I...
Thank you, Mr Speaker. [Interruption.]
Order. I appeal to right hon. and hon. Members who are leaving the Chamber to do so quickly and q...
Before I begin my response to the Queen’s Speech, Mr Speaker, I am sure that you are aware of the...
That’s still ongoing!
It is still ongoing.
And there is no civil war in the SNP?
Actually, no, there is no civil war in the SNP. The hon. Gentleman will find that the SNP is abso...
How would the right hon. Gentleman rate the performance of the common fisheries policy over the p...
I will come on to fishing and agriculture, but when I am talking about the principles and what th...
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. We have our political differences, but the fact ...
I thank the hon. Gentleman—I did not think we had that many differences, but there we are. He is ...
Let me turn back to freedom of movement for one second. It happens so often that Members on the C...
My hon. Friend is correct and we celebrate all those who have come to live in our countries, give...
Will the right hon. Gentleman tell the House what is wrong with the Prime Minister of the United ...
I will tell the right hon. Gentleman what is wrong with what the Prime Minister is bringing forwa...
Order. I do not know whether it is something to do with the melodic susurrations emitted by the l...
I think the Leader of the House might need a bit more space if he is to lie back as he is prone t...
In terms of law and order, does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the Conservative party has lo...
I absolutely agree. The hon. Gentleman makes a great deal of sense and he is absolutely correct. ...
The right hon. Gentleman makes a powerful point about the way that we conduct ourselves in this p...
I thank the right hon. Lady, and I agree with every word she said. We must call out abuse whereve...
Will there be a hard border?
You couldn’t make it up. We are trying to deal with the issue of abuse in politics, and someone s...
One of the most depressing sets of conversations I have had in the last few days is with Members ...
I commend the hon. Gentleman, because he speaks with absolute sense. We have to be cognisant of w...
The right hon. Gentleman has asked Members of this House to call out misbehaviour. Does misbehavi...
It is not my job to give advice to the Scottish Conservatives, but I respectfully say that it mig...
The United Kingdom Government’s Queen’s Speech, placed before the House by the Prime Minister, st...
I have to say—I take no joy out of this—that my hon. Friend is absolutely correct. We should be d...
Is my right hon. Friend as confused as I am? I listened to the Queen’s Speech and heard the Prime...
My hon. Friend is correct. Some 3.8 million women are affected by these pensions changes. We have...
I totally agree with the right hon. Gentleman about the pensions of women born in the ’50s. Has h...
I very often agree with the hon. Gentleman, and I absolutely agree with him on this. There ought ...
We have just heard about the attack on women born in the 1950s and the assault on free TV licence...
Absolutely—and pensioners will be better off in an independent Scotland than they are under this ...
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
I want to move on, because I am conscious that other right hon. and hon. Members want to speak.
It is a great privilege to speak at the start of this debate celebrating a new parliamentary Sess...
The hon. Lady mentioned the police. As she knows, in the last Session of Parliament, we brought f...
I was very pleased to support the hon. Gentleman in that piece of legislation—the Assaults on Eme...
The hon. Lady will know that 2.6 million children go to polluted schools. Does she accept that if...
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the work that he has done on the Clean Air Bill, and I was p...
Does the hon. Lady agree with Sir Simon Wessely, who carried out the Mental Health Act review on ...
I congratulate the hon. Lady on all the work that she does on mental health and the changes that ...
The hon. Lady mentioned veterans and mental health. There are many good charities that do a lot o...
I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman. One of the issues that we have is making sure that peop...
It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch). Her r...
My right hon. Friend is movingly describing the huge anxiety that a lot of EU citizens face as a ...
I wholeheartedly endorse what my hon. Friend says about the human cost; it has not been properly ...
Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is also a desperately anxious time for British citizens...
My hon. Friend is quite right. In this place, we often have the debates, the braying and the back...
I am most grateful to have the opportunity to contribute relatively early in this Queen’s Speech ...
Why was it that we did not leave on 29 March? Was it not because Conservative Members consistentl...
With the greatest of respect, the hon. Lady has something of a brass neck by intervening with tha...
I reinforce the point I made to the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford)...
To be fair, across the House, nearly all of us are doing what we think is in the best interests o...
Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that people out there are saying they want Brexit to be over...
I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. I think he is arguing for a second referendum—a confirmat...
I concur entirely with the right hon. Gentleman’s aspiration for Britain to continue to lead inte...
The argument the hon. Lady puts is the one that led me to vote to remain. I did not feel that the...
It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell). I was in the...
The hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), the leader of the Liberal Democrat party, t...
Have I provoked the hon. Gentleman? Of course I give way.
We still won a majority of seats in the 2017 election. We still have a very strong mandate to spe...
I could have said that as well, and as gently too, but it is also worth remembering that having a...
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley). Let me be the...
I support today’s Gracious Speech. I have spoken on the first day of every Gracious Speech debate...
The canonisation.
The canonisation of Cardinal Newman —it was the first of an Englishman for 50 years. The House sh...
I put on record that there was a great degree of cross-party consensus, but praying for a miracle...
That was a faux pas on my part, but I think we got on pretty well. We share similar levels of str...
I thank my great Essex neighbour and hon. Friend for giving way. In Chelmsford, on one of our new...
I eat my words. If my hon. Friend has room for 70,000 trees in Chelmsford, perhaps we have a bit ...
Order. This is obviously a magnificent debate, and I do not want to place any undue stress on col...
I will endeavour to be a tad briefer than some of my colleagues on both sides of the House.
As you were.
As I was saying, EU citizens from outwith the UK who are living in Scotland make up just over 3% ...
I am most grateful to be called to speak on this first day of the Queen’s Speech debate. I echo c...
It is totally in support of you.
I am glad, and I wasn’t expecting that; Madam Deputy Speaker, I hope you will waive the rule that...
It is great to have this opportunity to contribute to this afternoon’s debate, Madam Deputy Speak...
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing up that group of young people and for talking about ...
I very much agree with my hon. Friend, and I shall return to that point later in my comments.
...It is a real pleasure to contribute to this Queen’s Speech debate on day one, which is certainly ...
My right hon. Friend mentions the railways, which is my favourite subject and on which I hope to ...
My right hon. Friend gives us a teaser of what we can expect her to speak about, which I am very ...
Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Very briefly, as I am conscious of time.
Is my right hon. Friend worried about Chinese intervention in the telephone network—5G and Huawei...
That is for another day and another debate, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right. China dominat...
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
I will not give way, because I am running out of time. I do apologise.
The nation has now w...
I have a huge amount of respect for the right hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), who ...
I am listening to the hon. Gentleman, who is making a very good speech, with lots of pertinent po...
As my right hon. Friend the Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) pointed out, the E...
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Patrick Grady). I am not sure that ...
My right hon. Friend has for many years been a great leader to those of us on the Government Benc...
I cannot stand that story up, other than to say that I have read the reports in the newspapers th...
I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way so generously. On the subject of HS2, she mentioned t...
I could not agree more. I have to say that I am very sorry for my hon. Friend’s constituent. Quit...
I agree with my right hon. Friend—absolutely—but I am confused. Most of us who drive cars carry a...
For my hon. Friend and me, that is true, but I am thinking about the people who do not drive. I a...
Will the right hon. Lady give way?
I have been very generous. I will give way one more time, but I would like to finish my speech.
I thank the right hon. Lady for giving way. In Northern Ireland, we brought in photographic ident...
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I understand exactly what he is saying,...
I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend, particularly as I came in halfway through her speech,...
It is good to know—
Order. I do believe that the previous incumbent of the Chair suggested 15 minutes.
Thank you so much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have taken rather a lot of interventions.
That does not matter.
In a similar vein, I would like to see regulation and transparency enhanced around companies such...
It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Dame Cheryl Gillan). I...
It is a pleasure to be called on the first day of this debate on the Loyal Address. In fact, neve...
I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving all the reasons why it is better for Scotland to be within ...
I could not have put it better myself. I agree with every single word that the hon. Gentleman has...
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman can explain why that argument then does not pertain to membership of t...
The hon. Gentleman will be fully aware that I campaigned and voted to remain in the European Unio...
My hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech. Does he agree that some of the rhetoric from SNP Mem...
My hon. Friend will be amazed to hear that I agree 100% with what he says.
Today, in this b...
I want to begin by echoing the tributes paid to my constituency neighbour, the late Paul Flynn, w...
My hon. Friend is making such an important point about how crucial the Orb is in producing high-v...
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. He is right, and it is a point I will come on to ma...
I congratulate the hon. Lady on the important speech she is making. Does she recognise that, to e...
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. Electrical steel can also be part of electric c...
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak on the first day of the Quee...
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Mansfield (Ben Bradley), another Nottinghamshire M...
The right hon. Lady is making a powerful speech. She talks about prosperity. Does she agree that ...
No. I completely agree. There was nothing for businesses of any size, or indeed in any sectors. I...
I suggested up to 15 minutes, so the right hon. Lady has time to carry on.
I am grateful, Mr Deputy Speaker.
We talk a great deal in this place about Brexit, but the ...
indicated dissent.
The hon. Gentleman shakes his head, but the fact is that 21 members of his party were effectively...
Order. I can honestly say that I have been very generous, but the right hon. Lady is now abusing ...
The Queen of our great country is a beacon of stability, of good sense and of serenity. It was a ...
Will the hon. Lady give way?
No, we are short of time so I will not take any more interventions.
Of course there is more...
I would like to focus on the significant and growing problem of regional inequality in this count...
As a London MP, I feel slightly embarrassed that we are getting all the riches, as my hon. Friend...
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention—I think! I will continue with my speech.
I urg...
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bradford South (Judith Cummins).
I rise to w...
My hon. Friend says we aim to spend 2.4% of GDP on R&D. If that is correct, it is an enormous amo...
My hon. and gallant Friend is right that 2.4% is a huge investment, but it is welcome that the Go...
And to 3%, which is where we need to be on R&D.
Of course, the 2.4% will come from both public and private investment, so it is not all Governmen...
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In fact, every £1 of public expenditure on R&D typically leve...
I am delighted to take part on the first day of our consideration of the Queen’s Speech, which wa...
My hon. Friend is making some powerful points. I believe he is alluding to the fact that this Que...
That is what we should have been prioritising in this Queen’s Speech, along with the abolition of...
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Drew), who, as always, made many excell...
The hon. Gentleman is making a very important point about some of the challenges that are faced i...
That is a very good reason to have a better test and to win the battle against the disease, and t...
The hon. Gentleman is being very generous in giving way. There is even better news: there is now—...
The problem with vaccinating against bacteria is that it is much harder for the creature—whether ...
As we look at the increasing dysfunctionality of our public transport system—outside of London es...
I would love to agree with the hon. Gentleman. I am not sure that the buses will ever be complete...