Sir John Hayes

It is apposite that the hon. Gentleman should do so, because Joe Chamberlain is a great hero of mine; indeed, his portrait sat in my office when I was a Minister. What Joe Chamberlain understood was t

The hon. Gentleman is well known for his courtesy, as he has just illustrated by giving way. Even more shockingly, around 80% of water companies are foreign owned—in other words, the majority of their

You will recall, Mr Speaker—as will the Minister, from his earlier life—that when I was the Skills Minister, we had the biggest number of apprenticeships in modern history. I did that because I believ

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. This debate illustrates a difference across this House. It is a difference between those who feel that individual agency is always supreme, and those who, like her a

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady, whose speech is a series of oxymorons: she does not like polling that is against the Bill, but likes it when it is in favour; she feels the Bill should be amended

The hon. Lady makes an important point about empty homes. When I was shadow Housing Minister 20 years ago, the Empty Homes Agency estimated that there were 700,000 empty homes in England and Wales alo