Social Media: Ban for Under-16s
Ms Darlington has indicated to me that she needs to speak and then leave. The Front Benchers may wish to know that, exceptionally, I have given her leave to do so.
Conservative and Unionist Party MP for Herne Bay and Sandwich since (elected).
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| Party | Office | Area | Period | Began | Ended | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | MP | Herne Bay and Sandwich | – present | elected | — | Party history |
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Ms Darlington has indicated to me that she needs to speak and then leave. The Front Benchers may wish to know that, exceptionally, I have given her leave to do so.
May I associate myself with your remarks, Mr Speaker, relating to the sad loss of Sue Holt? During my time as the leader of our delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I found Sue to be always there, always cheerful and always helpful, as did the whole of the delegation that I was privileged to lead. We shall miss her dreadfully. Let me also support your other remarks, Mr Speaker. During my time as an acting Deputy Speaker, I leaned very heavily on the wise advice of Tom Goldsmith. I wish him every happiness in whatever he chooses to do next. I am sure the whole House will associate itself with the support for active travel in general and for cycling in particular, but there is a downside. The growth in the number of cyclists has led to a clear growth in the number of cycling offences, with cyclists on pavements, crashing through red traffic lights and cycling at night without any lights at all. Does the Minister have any information about prosecutions relating to those offences?
The figures underpinning the business case for National Grid’s ludicrously environmentally damaging Sea Link project have been shown to have been fiddled together in cloud cuckoo land. The Energy Secretary is due to issue her determination on the planning inspector’s inquiry into that scheme imminently. Will the Leader of the House, with his usual courtesy, seek to ensure that that announcement is made on the Floor of the House, and not slipped out in a written answer on a non-sitting Friday?
I think I am right in saying that the right hon. Gentleman’s constituency, like mine, relies very heavily on the tourist trade. That industry is on its knees gasping for air. It does not need breathing space; it needs help. There was nothing in the Budget for that industry.
I hope you received my note, Mr Vickers, indicating that I could not be here at the start. I offer my apologies to the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley), who moved the motion, and all other colleagues. I meant no disrespect; I was chairing a Committee upstairs. Street Farm House is on a corner opposite the village shop in a quiet, rural village. During rush hour, there is a fairly high volume of traffic. There is a 30-mile-an-hour speed limit that is hardly ever adhered to during the rush-hour. The illustrious cabinet member for highways and transport, Peter Osborne, a Reform county councillor, has chosen not to take any action to introduce traffic-calming measures, despite the fact that we have warned over and over again that it is only a question of time before a child or an elderly person—I can speak with some authority on that matter—will be killed crossing that bottleneck. On a light, bright morning six weeks ago, Baxter, aged two-and-a-half, chose to cross the road. It was totally out of character because, so far as we are all aware, he had never done it before. He was hit by a car travelling, at a guesstimate, well in excess of 50 miles an hour. The driver did not stop. Five other drivers did not stop. Unfortunately, the village shop CCTV did not pick up the number plate. Afterwards, one decent human being took the trouble to pull in, look after the dying cat and make sure that the owners—not me—were aware that their desperately loved family pet had been killed on the road. I have always had some strong feelings about this issue, but this incident has inevitably sharpened my attention. I understand entirely the concerns raised by Cats Protection and others about liability. That liability applies to dogs: when a dog is out of control and causes an accident, the owner may be liable for whatever damage is caused up to and including death in that accident. Those of us who love cats and dogs must accept that it is much harder to keep a cat under control than a dog— the expression “herding kittens” is probably appropriate. Nevertheless, cats are now microchipped. The point has been made, fairly, that the person who hits and kills or maims the animal is likely to be traumatised. Patently, that was not the case for the driver who hit the cat that I referred to. They clearly could not have given a toss; they drove straight on with gay abandon. If it is difficult for people to grasp to whom they should report something after stopping, then I respectfully suggest that it is no harder than to know to whom to report hitting a dog, so I do not think that is a valid argument. I believe very strongly that to leave any animal, but particularly a family pet, dying in the road and go on without a care in the world is simply not acceptable. It is not decent behaviour. It is not what the British do, with their affection for animals.<span id="36WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="36WH"></span> I would entirely support an amendment to the Road Traffic Act or, as my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) suggested, taking guidance and turning it into something statutory. I do not accept the argument that it cannot be done. It can be done; we have to find a way of doing it. I want to see Baxter’s law—or something similar—on a statute book as soon as possible.
Mr. Trump’s disgraceful show of support for Putin has clearly raised the stakes, not only in Ukraine but in the Baltic states and Poland. Given the perfidious nature of the current incumbent of the White House, will the Secretary of State reaffirm our commitment to NATO, and indicate very clearly that an attack on one NATO state is an attack on all of us, and that this country stands by its friends?
Kent was once rightly regarded as the garden of England, but faced with intolerable pressures on their finances, many of the small farmers in Kent—having looked to the sustainability scheme for help and having been denied it—are now having to sell their land for housing and other development, further denying us national sustainability in food. Can the Minister tell the House how many farmers in Kent are benefiting from the scheme?
I associate myself with the remarks that have already been made about the murder of Sir David Amess five years ago to the day. David was a dear personal friend. He came into the House on the same day as myself and the Father of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), in 1983. I think I am right in saying that had David lived, as he should have done, it would have been he who was Father of the House today.<span id="557" class="column-number" data-column-number="557"></span> David was a passionate supporter of animal welfare. Earlier this week, my friend the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) introduced a ten-minute rule Bill to create a close season for the killing of hares. I lent my name to that Bill, and I know David would have done so had he been here. That Bill is due to have its Second Reading on 19 March 2027. As a ten-minute rule Bill, ordinarily it would not go very far, but will the Leader of the House see whether he can find his way to ensuring that it has Government support?
We do not have an abundance of peatland in east Kent, but we do have acres of wonderful marshland and sites of special scientific interest. On that land—<em>[</em><em>Interruption.</em><em>]</em>
I am most grateful, Mr Speaker. Let me go back to the beginning: we do not have acres of peatland in east Kent, but we do have acres of wonderful marshland and sites of scientific interest. On that marshland, National Grid is proposing to build a 90-foot-high <span id="167" class="column-number" data-column-number="167"></span>converter station the size of five football pitches, floated on concrete 2 metres deep. The Secretary of State is due to determine the planning application in short order. When she takes that decision, will she give an assurance that she will take into account the irreparable environmental damage that that ill-conceived project will do to the environment?