Neil O'Brien

Thank you for your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. The irony of all this is that the Minister’s only argument is that we must avoid a two-tier system, but what the Government want is to replace one two-tie

I am very sorry to hear that. It is bad when people feel that the goalposts are being moved because it erodes trust in the process even further. Crucially, nobody asked for this. People email me every

My right hon. Friend is quite right, and he has also pre-empted something I was about to say. The Government are pressing on with “big is beautiful”—they have expanded Norwich, Ipswich, Portsmouth, So

I am very sorry to hear that. I was just about to make that point: as well as the loss of local accountability and identity, the argument is just wrong. Ministers believe that big is always better—tha

I beg to move, That this House has considered local government reform. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I would particularly like to thank Mr Speaker for granting me exc

The House gave the Government a clear instruction that the only documents that could be redacted were those that might prejudice UK national security or international relations, and all those document