Dr Allison Gardner

Middle East: Economic Response

The Potteries welcome this statement. I have been working with local companies, the TUC, GMB and research organisations to develop proposals to support the ceramics industry to innovate, improve energy efficiency and decarbonise. I have previously called on the Government to release an industrial energy innovation fund for energy-intensive industries, with Government grants to explore process efficiency and new technologies, as well as vouchers to access shared pilot facilities. Could the Chance

Violence against Women and Girls

4. How he plans to work with the Prime Minister’s adviser on women and girls to help tackle violence against women and girls through the criminal justice system.

Violence against Women and Girls

I welcome the announcement of a record £100 million expansion of GPS tagging for domestic abusers following a pilot by the Greater London Authority that saw reoffending fall by up to 63%. However, the current plans will apply only to the highest-risk offenders. Given that all domestic abuse is serious and many perpetrators escalate their violence on release, I am concerned that this will allow abusers to slip through the net. Will the Minister consider extending GPS tagging to all convicted offe

Backing Business to Create Economic Growth

I am excited by this Government’s vision and commitment to renationalisation. We have started renationalising rail with Great British Railways, thus ending the subsidising of foreign owners. That, alongside freezing rail fares, means businesses and their workers can look forward to reliable, cheaper rail travel that expands where businesses can locate and where workers can seek employment. I also note the reopening of several rail stations nationally, and I of course continue to ask that we cons

UK Biobank Data

From my previous work with the AI and Digital Regulations Service, and as a scientist, I know that UK Biobank is an excellent resource, which furthers scientific research for the benefit of my health and my constituents. In particular, it is working very hard to ensure that its dataset is unbiased and representative of all peoples in our communities in our country. Will the Minister again reassure us that the data is scrupulously anonymised and that deanonymisation is exceptionally difficult and

Peter Mandelson: Government Appointment

I will reiterate the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) made: I wish I had never heard the name Peter Mandelson. He should not have been appointed. It is right that he was sacked. I acknowledge my hon. Friend’s experience and expertise on the issue, which I admit I do not have. Yesterday, in my question to the Prime Minister in his statement, I focused on Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, but I briefly mentioned the issue of other parties seeking to gain political capit

Peter Mandelson: Government Appointment

I promise I will come to the hon. Member in a minute. I am in the flow. People are tired after 14 years of the previous Government chopping and changing Prime Ministers and Secretaries of State. We had the blonde bumbler and the loopy lettuce. This country was on its knees, its people exhausted. The people do not want more of the same. Despite the Opposition’s constant efforts, we will not let them manufacture more chaos.

Peter Mandelson: Government Appointment

Polls can generate different answers depending on how the questions are formed. In other polls the Prime Minister is still a lot more popular than certain other Members present in this House. In reference to the Opposition’s chaos, I will speak up for the civil service and express empathy for Sir Olly Robbins. In the whirl of Prime Ministers and Ministers under the previous Government, among the covid partying and profiteering—for which the Conservatives have never apologised, and for which I wi

Peter Mandelson: Government Appointment

I apologise, because I struggle with my hearing. I did not pick up everything that the hon. Lady said, but I will come to the vetting and security policy in a second. I hope that might deliver an answer for her. Conservative Members are quibbling about the process, but I remind them that the policy of the FCDO being able to grant vetting, contrary to the advice of UKSV, has been running for many years under successive Governments. This Prime Minister and this Government are now reviewing the pro

Peter Mandelson: Government Appointment

I am conscious of the time. We have a seven-minute guideline, so I will carry on. It is clear that Foreign Office officials granted developed vetting security clearance to Mandelson and never told Ministers that they had done so, against the recommendations of the vetting agency. That is shocking, and any reasonable person would have assumed that the information would have been proffered without asking. The policy is wrong. It should change, and as a result of the review, hopefully it will chang