Alex Mayer MP: speeches

Speeches

• 7 May 2025 · United States Film Tariff · Hansard source

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  The economy is set to benefit from a £50 billion boost from the Universal theme park in Bedfordshire, which will star Paddington Bear; all Members will welcome that. Does the Minister agree that stars like Paddington Bear have an enormous amount of soft power? We have heard that in the Chamber today. What can the Minister do to reassure me that he will ensure that we protect and support the next generation of Great British storytellers?

• 6 May 2025 · Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary · Hansard source

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  I absolutely think that everyone’s contributions to the war effort were vital to ensure victory and peace. This Thursday, I will be at Leighton Buzzard war memorial with local people, laying a wreath in memory of those who served at Q Central. It is vital that we make sure that the people whose wartime service was carried out in the shadows are now brought into the light.

• 6 May 2025 · Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary · Hansard source

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  Eighty years ago, celebrations broke out across the country that were spontaneous, joyful and often very noisy. There was a group of people, however, who were not talking loudly about the work they had done during the war. Some were based in Leighton Buzzard, in a place called Q Central. It was a secret communications hub and at its height, more than 2,000 people— predominantly women—were working there, running the largest telephone exchange in the entire world. Many in the constituency and further afield think that more people need to find out about this contribution. Lots of people know about the neighbouring secret work at Bletchley, but Leighton Buzzard’s contribution has not been recognised for too long. I am proud of the work of a local historian called Paul Brown, who has been bringing that secret work to the public’s attention.

• 28 Apr 2025 · Scientific and Regulatory Procedures: Use of Dogs · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a bit of a disconnect between the scientific possibility of non-animal alternatives and what is happening on the ground? For decades, there have been suggestions of ways that we can use non-animal alternatives, yet we are not using them. Will she also commend the work of Cruelty Free International, which is producing a new list that explains exactly how we could switch from one type of experiment to the other?

• 22 Apr 2025 · Road Safety and Active Travel to School · Hansard source

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  I think everyone in this room agrees that walking and cycling are good; they are good for health, for the environment and for young people’s social skills. I also think they are a selling point for people trying to sell houses. In my constituency, there is a development called Bidwell West. For the last decade, there have been pretty pictures of children cycling to a local school, only that school has not yet been built, which is a bit of a problem. Children have to go a mile and a half away, on a completely and utterly unsuitable road, with a lack of footpaths—there are footpaths, but they have to cross from one side of the road to the other—water running off the nearby fields and a lack of street lighting, because it was not built for that. My question to the Minister is: how do we make sure that this does not happen as we build more houses, which we desperately need?

• 8 Apr 2025 · Easter Adjournment · Hansard source

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  With Easter approaching, thoughts often turn to eggs. My favourites are Cadbury Creme Eggs or possibly Smarties ones, but the eggs that I want to talk about this afternoon are those that chickens produce, and which are sold in our supermarkets. Although the majority of whole eggs sold in UK supermarkets are now from cage-free environments, shockingly, one in five hens still spends its life cramped in a cage. When battery cages were banned, in many places, so-called enriched cages were introduced to replace them. I have to say, however, that the word “enriched” is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, they are slightly better than the traditional battery cage—for example, they have to have a perch—but I think “enriched” makes it sound a bit like they are on a yoga retreat or something. The marketing people absolutely earned their wages that day. The reality is absolutely nothing of the sort. “Confinement cages” might be a better description; they are smaller than a piece of A4 paper and have minimal room for birds to spread their wings. They restrict natural behaviour; hens cannot properly dust-bathe or forage, and are all subject to frustration and stress. I welcome the £22-million fund from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to transition to higher welfare standards for hens. However, I also worry about low-welfare imports that undercut our UK farmers, especially of powdered and liquid eggs, which are often found in products such as a quiche or a hot cross bun at this time of year, and which often come from countries with lower animal welfare standards. Turning back to shell eggs, if hon. Members buy a dozen eggs and plan to tuck into a soft-boiled egg this Easter, I urge them to check where the eggs come from. They all have a code printed on their shell, and the first character will tell them where they are from. If the character is a three, it means that the bird was caged. Anyone can choose to vote with their feet, support our hen heroes, and make an eggs-traordinary difference. Sticking briefly with the Easter theme, as the Easter getaway approaches, I want to give a shout-out to the UK coach sector, which is often the unsung hero of holiday travel. Every year, 23 million people travel by coach to visit attractions, attend events and explore our regions. Coach passengers spend £8.3 billion annually in local economies, supporting hotels, restaurants and tourism attractions. Given the climate emergency, it is important to note that a single coach can remove up to 50 cars from the road, cutting congestion and emissions. I hope that Ministers in the Department for Transport will consider some of the things that the coach industry is asking for, such as being able to use bus lanes by default, more robust data from transport authorities on the coach sector, more drop-off, pick-up and parking facilities, and allowing the coach sector funding similar to the zero emission bus regional area funding we have had for the bus sector. It is, after all, a cracking industry. I would like to say, in my remaining 30 seconds, that I think this will be a particularly good Easter, because the clocks have already changed, so we have plenty of daylight to celebrate it in. I end by wishing you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and all hon. Members a very happy Easter.

• 8 Apr 2025 · Horizon Redress and Post Office Update · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his positive engagement on this; I have discussed with him on a number of occasions the situation at Leighton Buzzard post office. Can he confirm that a Leighton Buzzard post office will remain in the high street area, and what can he tell residents about the opening hours that the branch will have?

• 7 Apr 2025 · Road Maintenance · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. “It’s like driving over the surface of the moon,” is what Karen from Houghton Regis told me. Marion and Brian explained how they had had two tyres ruined, costing them over £200. A plumber from Dunstable sent me multiple photos of craters in his road. Councillor Matt Brennan showed me more when we visited Aldbanks in Dunstable, and a constituent in Leighton Buzzard told me that Mile Tree Road has become increasingly hazardous because of the number of potholes. After 14 years of Conservative rule and the increasing effects of climate change, too many of our roads are in a sorry state. Figures from the RAC show that drivers encounter, on average, six potholes per mile in England and Wales. That is bad news for not only car drivers but cyclists, bus users and coaches. I welcome the Government’s investment in improving our road conditions. This Labour Government have increased the funding to Central Bedfordshire council to nearly £9.7 million this year, which represents a 39.7% increase. That sounds like really good news, and one would think that more potholes would get filled in, so I was really concerned to see that the council budget showed only a 5% increase in highways spending. I appreciate that Central Bedfordshire council also contributes capital to the highways budget along with the Government, but I was hugely disappointed by a statement made at the council’s joint budget scrutiny taskforce committee: “When the Government announced that we would receive more funding, the decision was made to spend less of our own money rather than increase the programme.” I have warned that that attitude could jeopardise the full uplift of Government funding. I would be grateful for the Minister’s thoughts on that. In the light of that, I particularly welcome the Government’s plan, as we have heard, for councils to publish reports on their websites by the end of June detailing what they are doing to improve the state of local roads. I was especially pleased to hear that the reports will be short and in plain English—all reports should be, really. Particularly important is that the template means that councils must show how many holes they filled in during the previous five years. Residents expect, and indeed deserve, to see the number of potholes being filled in increasing. We are all watching this space. Councils will also be required to show how they are spending more on long-term preventive maintenance programmes, which is incredibly important. As I have said, we are living in a time of climate emergency, and the wetter winters and extremes of hot and cold are making potholes worse by increasing the number of freeze-and-thaw cycles. However, some emerging technologies may help. Apparently, artificial intelligence can identify cracks and spot potholes before they appear. There are also graphene-reinforced asphalt, which is self-healing, as well as bacteria-infused cement and systems to regulate road temperatures. Tech is clearly moving apace. Given all those innovations, is the Minister considering updating the Department’s guidance on preventing potholes during the winter? While we are on climate change, well-maintained and smoother roads reduce fuel consumption and cut emissions. Data show that smoother roads can reduce vehicle emissions by more than 5%. The opposite is true for bad roads: the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that poor road conditions have an impact on driver behaviour, as I think we know as we try to swerve around potholes. It has calculated that that changed driver behaviour from speeding up and slowing down means that CO 2 emissions are about 0.5 tonnes higher. It is also crucial to minimise the disruption caused by utility companies’ street works—I know that Ministers have repeatedly stated that—because we know that when a road is opened up with a trench, that can reduce its structural life by an average of 17%. I therefore draw all hon. Members’ attention to the street works inquiry currently being carried out by the Transport Committee, which I and other hon. Members in the Chamber are members of. Members can tune in to any of the evidence sessions, and the final report will be available very soon in all good Vote Offices. We are all familiar with instances where the same stretch of road or pavement seems to be repeatedly opened up by different companies over a short period, particularly in new developments. A constituent wrote to me about Bedford Road in Houghton Regis to say that, over roughly a month, five different companies had dug up the road, one after another. When I queried that with the council’s street works team, I was informed that “no collaboration opportunities were identified to reduce the number of road closures”. Residents think the situation is ridiculous. Let me turn to cost. In April 2024, the Centre for Economics and Business Research reported that poor road conditions were costing £14.4 billion a year in economic damage to England—or 60% of a Tory Government black hole, as I like to think of it. But there is hope, because the Department for Transport’s economic appraisal tells us that for every pound invested in local road maintenance, there is a minimum return of £2.20, and typical returns identified of up to £9.10 at a national level. Finally, let me turn to buses and coaches. Unlike car motorists, cyclists and pedestrians who can often take different routes when there is a particularly bad potholed road or a road is closed because of potholes, buses have an obligation to stick to their routes wherever possible. The Confederation of Passenger Transport highlights a 13% increase in bus operators’ costs per kilometre since 2019, with much of that attributed to delays, diversions and disruption, including those caused by the poor state of roads. First Bus told me that it spends more than £1 million each year repairing bus suspension components. That cost inevitably gets passed on to passengers through higher fares and reduced service levels. I welcome the Labour Government’s investment in road maintenance and sincerely hope that all local councils will rise to the challenge. For my constituent who thinks it is like driving on the moon, this really is not rocket science, but nor is it just a matter of inconvenience. Filling in these potholes is crucial for safety, for the environment and for economic growth.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Right of Self-Determination · Hansard source

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  Some 700,000 people in Washington DC are currently disenfranchised because their representatives in the Senate and the House of Representatives do not have voting rights or full control of local government affairs. It is the equivalent of everyone in Bedfordshire voting for MPs who have no chance of going through the voting Lobby. Does the Minister agree that that is a particularly strange anomaly?

• 1 Apr 2025 · Right of Self-Determination · Hansard source

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  12. What steps he is taking to increase the understanding of and respect for the right to self-determination globally.

• 27 Mar 2025 · Double British Summer Time · Hansard source

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  Spring is in the air, and it is almost time for a familiar ritual. On Sunday, the clocks will go forward by an hour, and our evenings will become lighter overnight as British summer time begins. Frankly, each time the clocks go forward and back, it is a bit of a faff. I think we have all looked in confusion at the clock on the car dashboard, trying to remember how on earth to change it. I understand that clock mechanics will be carrying out the task of adjusting the time on more than 2,000 clocks across the parliamentary estate, including on Big Ben —no mean feat! I have to say that I am always a lot happier with the spring clock change than with the autumn one, which plunges our communities into longer evenings of darkness. Is this the right time system for today? I think it is time to talk about time. It was in 1907 that the first serious proposal for daylight saving time was made in Britain. Angry at the lack of daylight during summer mornings, a campaigner by the name of William Willett self-published a pamphlet called “The Waste of Daylight”. Although he did not live to see his proposal enacted, British summer time was first established during world war one by the Summer Time Act 1916, which is still in force today. However, it is the experiment during the second world war—British double summer time—to which I would like to turn today. As Britain faced peril, Winston Churchill took the decision to move the clocks two hours in advance of Greenwich mean time in the summer and one hour in advance of GMT during the winter months. Why? To save energy. The crisis at the time meant that bold ideas were required. We needed to think outside the box. Today we face a different emergency—the climate crisis—but one for which the same prescription could really help. I believe that we should learn the lessons of wartime Britain and move to double summer time: one hour ahead of GMT in the winter and two hours ahead in the summer months. We know that we must cut our emissions and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. We have a Labour Government who are seizing the moment, through Great British Energy—our new, publicly owned clean energy company—and by retrofitting homes to help families to save money on their energy bills and reduce emissions as the warm homes plan accelerates. Another immediate, practical and effective way to cut emissions could be to make better use of the daylight that we have. By choosing Churchill time, we can reduce our energy use and lower our carbon footprint. When it is lighter in the evenings, households and businesses switch on lights and heating later. That small shift, spread across millions of homes, adds up to a significant difference. Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that an extra daily hour of sunlight in winter evenings could save £485 million in electricity bills each year. They calculated a saving of 6 GWh of energy per winter day. It would reduce carbon dioxide pollution by at least 447,000 tonnes each year, which is equivalent to more than 50,000 cars driving all the way around the world. Evidence from Queen’s University Belfast shows that Churchill time would reduce evening peak energy demands by up to 10%—roughly 5 GW of electricity taken off the grid during the busiest time of day—offering significant reductions in energy costs and emissions. All that is great news for the planet. Lighter evenings mean more time spent outdoors, in parks or on walks. They mean more time visiting cafés and pubs on our high streets, giving local businesses, particularly in the hospitality and retail sectors, a much-needed boost. When the sun sets at 4 o’clock, people rush home; they do not linger in our town centres or high streets or stop for a coffee. When the sun sets at 5 pm or 6 pm, we change the rhythm of our days. We create opportunities for commerce, connection and community. That would especially be the case in autumn half term. In 2011, the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions claimed that lighter evenings would increase tourism earnings by between £2.5 billion and £3.5 billion and would bring increased tax revenues and have a positive impact on the UK’s balance of payments, particularly from overseas visitors. This week, the Tourism Alliance told me that there is a real case for Churchill time to boost tourism in the so-called shoulder seasons, helping more visitors to enjoy everything our amazing country has to offer all year round, which means jobs and growth. Some will ask, “What about the mornings? Don’t we need light in the mornings?” Those are fair questions. However, the evidence tells us that the cost of dark evenings is higher than the cost of dark mornings. Studies show that road collisions increase by 19% in the two weeks after the clocks go back in October. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents points out that during the working week, accidents are always higher in the afternoon/evening peak than in the morning peak. For much of the winter, during that most dangerous afternoon/evening peak, about an hour and a half is currently in darkness. This change would more than halve that. Similarly, the AA estimates that around 100 lives a year would be saved by reducing accidents in the dark evenings. Brake, the road safety charity, told me ahead of this debate that with five people killed on our roads every day, more strategies that reduce road deaths and injuries can only be a positive thing. Changing to lighter evenings could prevent hundreds of accidents and injuries every year. That is not just statistics; it is lives protected, hospital beds freed up and families spared tragedy. The result would be fewer injuries, less pressure on our emergency services and reduced strain on our national health service. Sunshine cheers us up, too. According to the NHS, a lack of sunlight may lead to lower serotonin levels, which is linked to feelings of depression. Getting outside has many mood-boosting benefits. “Surely the health, the refreshment, the happiness of such a gift cannot be overestimated!” —[ Official Report , 8 May 1916; Vol. 82, c. 305.] That is what the then hon. Member for Blackburn said in this place back in 1916 when debating daylight saving time. Lamenting the waste of daylight, he asked your predecessor, Madam Deputy Speaker, if there could “be a more wasteful, more unhygienic, more senseless proceeding” — [ Official Report , 8 May 1916; Vol. 82, c. 304.] I will not go quite that far. Simply put, I believe that we should make the most of what we have. I urge the Minister to consider letting us spring forward to a greener and brighter future.

• 20 Mar 2025 · Disabled People’s Access to Transport · Hansard source

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  Our report highlights that the understanding of disabilities has changed since many of the relevant laws and regulations were put in place. This issue is about not only ramps for wheelchairs, for example, but conditions such as neurodiversity. Does my hon. Friend agree that making transport more accessible for those with hidden disabilities is important, not least because, for economic growth, we must use the talents of all?

• 12 Mar 2025 · Sustainable Farming Incentive · Hansard source

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  As the Minister has just alluded to, the scheme is called SFI ’24. Might there be a clue in the title that makes this less surprising than people are saying, given that it is now 2025?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Anti-social Behaviour: East of England · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving way on that point about councils. In my area, Central Bedfordshire Council has just decided to remove all of its safer neighbourhood officers. The chief constable has said that there will be increased risks to the public because of that. These are uniformed people who go around our streets handing out fixed penalty notices for littering, looking at graffiti and generally making members of the community feel safer. Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in the council voted against an amendment to keep such officers in place. Does my hon. Friend agree that councils have a duty to make sure that they crack down on low-level antisocial behaviour, and that if they do not do so, there will be a real knock-on effect on local people?

• 5 Mar 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour and Illegal Bikes · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Tipton and Wednesbury (Antonia Bance) on securing this very popular debate. For far too long, off-road bikes have been driven in an antisocial and dangerous manner. These vehicles tear through parks, speed along pavements and roar through residential areas. The results are noise pollution, frightened residents and a real danger to public safety. My constituents constantly talk to me about this issue. A woman recently told me that the riders “do wheelies through the main streets of Dunstable and Houghton Regis, often in small groups, sometimes with up to 30 or more bikes.” Another constituent told me that the bikes constantly travelled the wrong way down their one-way street; another said that they are an “accident waiting to happen”. An email that turned up in my inbox not long ago said: “Today boys playing football were almost run over by these idiots. It’s only a matter of time before someone is hurt or killed”. Many of the riders are balaclava-clad, with a bag slung over their shoulder, and they are checking their mobiles as they go along. This activity is not just antisocial and dangerous; it is clearly linked to drugs. I commend the police and crime commissioner for Bedfordshire, John Tizard, and Bedfordshire police’s Operation Skytree for the work that they have done to start to tackle this problem, particularly in Houghton Regis and Dunstable. Just last month, more than 25 officers were deployed, along with specialist equipment. They were driving around on quad bikes, so they were able to chase these individuals. They even managed to employ one of their new drones, so that they could track the individuals as they went to places where it is normally more difficult to track them. As a direct result of that operation, one man on a bike was arrested in possession of drugs and five bikes were seized. That is a positive first step, but there is clearly much more work to do. I really welcome, as do many other hon. Members, the introduction in Parliament last week of the Crime and Policing Bill, with the provision to make it easier to seize illegal bikes—ideally, when the crime is actually happening. I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend the Minister could clarify that there is nothing in the law to prevent the police from pursuing riders who are not wearing helmets. People need and deserve to be able to live in communities safe and secure from the menace of misused off-road bikes.

• 4 Mar 2025 · Saving · Hansard source

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  1. What steps she plans to take to encourage saving.

• 4 Mar 2025 · Saving · Hansard source

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  The nation’s favourite way to save is through premium bonds. Does the Minister think that they are good for the country and a valuable way of encouraging saving? For everyone who has them, they are quite exciting every month.

• 24 Feb 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T7. Eenie and Meenie, two white cats from Stanbridge, were recently shot and killed. Could the Minister outline what discussions she has had with local police to that ensure that these crimes are properly investigated and that the law is upheld?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  What does my hon. Friend think about online games that are not gambling, but in which, when someone loses a turn, they are immediately presented with something like an online app roulette wheel to win an extra game? Is that normalising gambling?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Local Post Offices · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) on securing this important debate. I think that most Members and most people are pro-post office. After all, post offices are part of the fabric of our nation. Many Members of my age were brought up on Postman Pat and his black and white cat. It would not have been the same without Mrs Goggins at the local post office. The Leighton Buzzard post office first opened its doors at its current location near All Saints church back in 1887. We all recognise that a lot has changed in the last 137 years, and since Postman Pat hit our screens in the 1980s. I used to queue at the post office to get my car tax. Emails have transformed how we communicate. TV licence sales have moved online or to phone or direct debit. What has not changed is the way that post offices foster a sense of community pride. Half of UK consumers say that their local post office creates a sense of belonging and community identity. An Association of Convenience Stores survey ranked the post office third for having a positive impact on local communities. Post offices also drive footfall to our high streets because when someone goes to the post office in the town centre, they often spend money elsewhere. More and more, post offices support e-commerce, and they are important to small businesses, half of which use them at least once a month. Increasingly, they are a vital means of accessing cash. Since 2015, my constituency has lost 60% of its bank branches. In recent months, two more high street banks, Lloyds and Halifax, have left Leighton Buzzard town centre. In September, when Halifax announced its closure, it was explicit that it expected the post office down the road to take up the slack. Whether that will be possible is a question I will turn to shortly. I was proud to stand on a Labour manifesto that committed us to strengthening the post office network. I welcome the Government’s £37 million investment to support post office branches, along with the £20 million boost to sub-postmasters’ pay and the plans to publish a Green Paper seeking public views on the future of the Post Office. This all comes at a critical time. The 100-plus-year-old Leighton Buzzard post office is a Crown post office. The desire of the Post Office to move to a fully franchised model is not new. It has been on the cards for some time, but it is causing understandable concern for local people who deeply value the service that their post office provides, for all of the reasons I have outlined. I welcome the expressions of interest in taking on those Crown branches. Although not all of those applications will be viable, it is encouraging that third-party operators are willing to step in, potentially integrating retail elements to make these branches more financially sustainable. However, as my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst) mentioned, the recent announcement by WHSmith, which hosts around 200 post office counters, has raised concerns about whether third-party takeovers truly are a long-term solution. I would be grateful for the Minister’s views on that. I would also be keen for him to explore with the Post Office whether there is merit in treating Crown branches where it owns the freehold of the building differently from those where it leases the premises. Let me turn briefly to the related issue of postboxes. Some new developments simply do not have them. That means that someone who lives in Bidwell West would have to go on a half-hour hike to post a letter. The law states that residents should be within 500 metres of a post box, but that is simply not happening. Perhaps the Minister might raise that with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure that housing developments include post boxes as standard. After all, letters are vital for a thriving postal service. The Post Office is a national institution. It brings essential services to countless communities, whether sending a parcel, withdrawing cash or topping up an electricity meter. It supports local businesses, high streets and local identity. Yes, it must change, but it must not wither. Local people must enjoy a first-class service.

• 27 Jan 2025 · Creative Industries · Hansard source

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  South Side Studios in Leighton Buzzard repurposes vacant spaces on the high street, which brings people to the high street. We also have the Peppercorn team, who want a cultural and heritage centre, which would bring people into the town centre. Does my hon. Friend agree that cultural industries can bring growth to not just cities, but our market towns as well?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  One effect of creating more strategic authorities appears to be the splitting of transport and highways powers in more areas. Will the Minister provide assurances that this will not slow down the delivery of capital projects that are necessary to achieve economic growth?

• 18 Dec 2024 · BBC: Funding · Hansard source

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  My area has excellent regional news coverage, including BBC Three Counties Radio and “Look East”. However, back in 2022, a decision was taken that has meant that my regional politics programme is now recorded more than 100 miles away from my constituency. Given that all news is local, would my hon. Friend care to comment on whether that is the right starting point for regional news coverage, or whether we might want to do something more local and perhaps better?

• 9 Dec 2024 · Fireworks: Sale and Use · Hansard source

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  I want to draw attention to another petition handed into Downing Street recently, which had 1.1 million signatures. Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be helpful to encourage manufacturers to design and produce quieter fireworks?