Jack Rankin

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

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542 held · 539 searchable for Jack Rankin. The searchable lines are below in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 10.

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1. “Following the passing of the Act, each integrated care board in England has been required to have a board-level executive lead for Down syndrome, who is accountable for ensuring that the ICB meets its duties and supports people with Down syndrome effectively, including implementing the Down Syndrome Act 2022. However, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) pointed out last week in his Westminster Hall debate, there are currently only three listed leads for the 42 ICBs in England. Progress has been far too slow in all these areas. That, frankly, is an affront to the democratic process and reflects badly on this country.”

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2. “The publication date for the draft guidance has faced multiple delays; the most recent extension—that it should be published by Easter—has been postponed yet again. The new target is set for the summer. Sir Liam Fox’s Act got on to the statute book as far back as 2022, but still families are left waiting. I say it again: Parliament has given its instruction and the relevant officials should get on with it. Unfortunately, today is just the latest in a long list of debates, questions and letters from the all-party parliamentary group and the National Down Syndrome Policy Group, which time and again have been brushed aside and ignored.”

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3. “If we provide authorities with specific guidance, I really believe that we can move the dial and that those with Down syndrome can play a full role in society and be afforded the opportunities that they deserve. Specific guidance has the power to improve health outcomes by directing NHS professionals, and it will improve school outcomes, as it will stop those with Down syndrome from automatically being pushed towards specialist schools when they may benefit from being in the mainstream. As part of that, I hope that the Minister will be able to confirm that professionals delivering services to people with Down syndrome will have to undertake Down syndrome-specific training and that that will be included in the forthcoming guidance.”

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4. “That was never the purpose of the Act and risks watering down the legislation so far as to make it meaningless, particularly given that the call for evidence also made it clear that the needs of those with Down syndrome are distinct. The extension of the guidance would undermine the Act’s whole reason for being. Will the Minister commit to separating learning disabilities from the guidance completely and instead add a supplementary document? That would be a way of pleasing all interested parties without watering down the guidance. Currently, only 25% of those with Down syndrome are included in mainstream secondary schools. Some 94% are unemployed, and sadly their life expectancy is just two thirds that of the general population.”

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5. “People with Down syndrome may sometimes have learning disabilities, but Down syndrome is not a learning disability. In my view, the civil servants are seeking an easy life by mopping up the issue with everything else, but that is not what Parliament has told them to do. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care rightly called out NHS England as a public body that served the institution rather than patients and the instructions of this House, but frankly, when it comes to this matter, the Minister needs to look at the Department of Health and Social Care itself. In the Department’s call for evidence, it was mooted that the guidance could be extended to cover those with broader learning disabilities.”

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6. “That is why I put in for this debate today: to urge the Minister and her Department to listen to groups such as the all-party parliamentary group on Down syndrome and the National Down Syndrome Policy Group, and to make publishing the Down Syndrome Act guidance, which this Parliament has compelled the state to do, a Government priority. The guidance is essential for making sure that those with Down syndrome are treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve across a range of public bodies—from the NHS and the school system to other local authority services such as housing. If done well, it could set the gold standard for publishing other guidance for those with unique conditions. Importantly, the guidance must be specific to the unique needs of those with Down syndrome.”

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7. “I feel so strongly about the subject of this debate because of one particular campaigner in my constituency, Millie-Anna. Her commitment to raising awareness and campaigning on a range of issues for people with Down syndrome is inspiring. She is a leading light for people with this condition everywhere. The main thing I have learned from my discussions with Millie since becoming her Member of Parliament is that, when making policy that affects people with Down syndrome, the best thing that the Government can do is listen to those who actually live with it, as well as their families and groups such as the National Down Syndrome Policy Group.”

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8. “Does my hon. Friend accept that there is not a risk that a black market will open, because a significant black market in tobacco already exists? In 2021, some 23.6 billion cigarettes were sold under duty, whereas in 2024 the figure was 13.2 billion, a 44% reduction. Yet an Action on Smoking and Health survey has found that smoking has reduced by only 0.5%. The black market is already here—it is not a new thing that will be created—so the Bill presents an even greater risk.”

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9. “As the Minister and shadow Minister both said in their opening remarks, vaping is a legitimate and desirable smoking cessation tool for adults who currently smoke.”

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10. “That is why I am grateful to Members from across this House—on the Government Benches, the Liberal Democrat Benches and the Democratic Unionist Benches, as well as some independent Members—for supporting the measures in my name, new clauses 8, 9 and 10 and amendment 46. The message behind those measures is simple: let us ensure less harmful vapes and nicotine products get to the adult smokers who could benefit from them so that smoking rates continue to fall. In that regard, I associate myself with some of the remarks made by the hon. Members for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank) and for City of Durham (Mary Kelly Foy). I feel the risk of the Bill is that Ministers may inadvertently weaken the decline in smoking in Britain somewhat.”

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11. “I hesitate to break up the consensus ever so slightly, but I do disagree fundamentally with the Bill. In my view, a generational smoking ban misrepresents the proper relationship between the state and the individual, and creates two tiers of adults. Members will be heartened to know that, recognising the will of the House on Second Reading, I do not intend to plough on with that argument too far. What I have tried to do with my amendments, however, is to genuinely improve the main aim of the Bill in a way that gets people off smoking in the interests of public health, which, whether we are for or against a generational ban on smoking, is something that we should all support.”

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12. “This would allow us to listen to the consumers who actively use these products and find out how these changes will impact them. In the Public Bill Committee, the consumer voice was largely absent. Restrictions on flavours and packaging and vape-free areas are already subject to consultation and this amendment would simply bring marketing in line with that. A deeper consideration of the impact of the marketing ban would help us maintain our progress towards a smoke-free 2030 and allow the Government the opportunity to prevent the unintended consequences of the Bill. Education through marketing is one of the best tools the Government have at their disposal, so why not wield the free market to effect real social change and let vape companies do the leg work?”

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13. “The risk of a draconian approach to vaping, as I consider the Bill to take, will only reinforce that incorrect messaging, which is damaging to public health. By permitting marketing in limited circumstances and under strict restrictions, as my new clauses aim to do, we can get the message to the 6 million adult smokers that there is a safer alternative out there. Indeed, the Government’s own impact assessment recognises the risk of the “Health impacts of fewer people using vapes and nicotine products to quit smoking.” I say respectfully to the Minister that this should set off alarm bells in Government. That is what new clause 8 does. It simply asks the Government to have a proper consultation on the potential impacts of a marketing ban, digging deeper than the sparse bullet points currently given to it in the impact assessment.”

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14. “What concerns me primarily is the blanket ban approach to marketing, particularly for vapes and nicotine products, which my new clauses 8 and 9 would address. I know that many across this House have supported the new clauses and share those concerns. Although I totally support the need to stop disposable, rainbow, candy floss-flavour vapes being aimed at children—that is absolutely unacceptable—adult smokers do need to know that there is a safer alternative to cigarettes. On that concern, many smokers now believe vaping to be as dangerous as cigarettes. Cancer Research UK has found that 57% of adult smokers think that vaping is just as harmful, if not more harmful, than smoking cigarettes.”

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15. “Sitting on the Public Bill Committee, I realised how prevalent the view is among the public that vapes and other smoking cessation tools, such as non-combustible tobacco, are as bad as cigarettes, when in reality vapes are at least 95% safer than cigarettes, according to Public Health England and Dr Khan’s independent review—look at any smoking cessation website to find a similar message. Any smoker knows how difficult it is to go cold turkey, and less dangerous off-ramps like vapes can be a lifeline for those looking for a way out of cigarettes. In fact, in many aspects, the NHS actively promotes such tools through its swap to stop scheme, and has found that almost two thirds of people who vape alongside using a stop smoking service quit smoking.”

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16. “There are still 6 million smokers in this country, and none of them will come under the umbrella of the generational ban. We therefore need to ensure that there are safer alternatives out there for them. In my view, the Bill as currently drafted risks hanging those smokers out to dry by treating vapes and nicotine products—although they are not included in the ban—in the same way as cigarettes are treated, which is a false equivalence that is not backed by the science.”

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17. “I thank my right hon. Friend for his remarks, and also associate myself with the same remarks from my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage). We have to be a little careful about the inadvertent effects of what might be the goodwill of all of us in this House. Regardless of how one sees the state’s role in this matter, we should all welcome the decrease in smoking in this country from the highs of almost 30% in the early 2000s to 11.6% today. We have to recognise that that is partly due to education, partly to do with social stigma and partly because of legislation that this House has brought forward. We should also acknowledge, however, the essential role that the free market has played, particularly with vapes and other non-tobacco products, in getting adult smokers to stop smoking.”

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18. “I am assuming, to be honest, that it would be the same people who are responsible for the licensing of alcohol advertising. All my amendments speak to the principles that I have outlined, which I think are consistent with the aims of the Bill, and for which I have received support from across the House. I hope that Members both in here and in the other place will recognise the value of my amendments and that the Government will take these concerns seriously.”

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19. “I agree about the practicalities of needing to pick between two adults of similar age in a shop. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the person selling the cigarettes will probably be a shop lad aged 18 or 19? He will have to draw a distinction between adults much older than him. We should consider the position that puts that young gentleman in.”

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20. “I have a case in my constituency where a governor feels that she was pushed out, having raised concerns about senior teaching staff. I understand from last year’s Sky News report that that may not necessarily be an isolated incident, as the accountability process potentially involves trustees marking their own homework. I am a strong supporter of academies, but there must be a balance. Will the Minister commit to bringing in a system of accountability and transparency to prevent such things from happening?”

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21. “Scotland’s world-class defence industry will play a key role in rebuilding Britain’s military capabilities, and during my visit to Babcock at Rosyth I saw at first hand how defence spending benefits Scotland’s small and medium-sized enterprises. However, investment in Scotland’s defence SMEs lags far behind that in the rest of the United Kingdom, accounting for just 2.5% of the total spending of the Ministry of Defence, largely owing to the hostile environment created by the Scottish National party. How is the Secretary of State working with the MOD and Scotland’s defence industry to unleash Scotland’s SMEs and enhance our nation’s defence capabilities?”

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22. “As the MP for Windsor, Eton is in my constituency. I appreciate, as the hon. Lady says, that not all private schools are Eton, but I point out in its defence that the sports centre she mentioned is used by local schools and community groups, and that Eton does an awful lot in my community. I accept her point that Eton is not among the schools that we necessarily want to focus on in this debate, but I suggest that some of those points are a bit unfair.”

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23. “The saddest conversations I have had have been with parents who have felt the need to separate children from classes mid-year. Frankly, only a Labour Government could set out with the aim of improving education in this country and introduce policies that have led to 40 school closures since the Budget.”

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24. “Labour Front Benchers frequently refer to parents who pay for independent education enjoying a tax break, but parents actually save the state £8,210—the money it costs to educate a child in the state sector—and receive no compensation for the income taxes that they pay. In my book, that is no tax break at all. Frankly, the numbers do not add up. The Adam Smith Institute has estimated that if even 10% of children move to the state sector—anecdotally, in my constituency I am seeing more than that—any revenue will be nullified. Any more than that 10%, and the policy will actually cost taxpayers money. That highlights the ideology behind the decision. In my view, the Labour party is playing politics with children’s futures. It is forcing families to have difficult conversations mid-year and make tough decisions.”

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25. “I previously co-signed a letter that my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull West and Shirley (Dr Shastri-Hurst) sent to the Chancellor, calling on the Government to protect from VAT military families who make use of the continuity of education allowance. Although the Chancellor has committed to re-rating CEA, I maintain that the full exemption from VAT is needed to truly support military families. That would make a real difference to those enlisted at either of Windsor’s two great garrisons, to whom we owe so much. That support should be given special consideration in the light of the Prime Minister’s discussions over the weekend and in the House today.”

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26. “I think every single Member of this House recognises the challenges facing their local authority when it comes to SEND provision. From my involvement with the all-party parliamentary group on Down syndrome, which my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire chairs, it is clear that getting an EHCP is already an uphill struggle, and taxing independent schools will create the most regressive possible outcome. It will add to the pressures already facing our local authorities, and the SEND children in the existing state provision will pay the highest price. In a similar vein—the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) discussed this—2,666 military families in this country rely on independent schools to give their children a stable education. For those families, VAT relief can make all the difference.”

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27. “No other country in the world tries to tax it. When they have tried—as in Greece, where it lasted only four months—it has massively backfired. In fact, many developed countries look to subsidise independent education to promote parental choice and drive up school standards, so the Government are unique in their policy and, frankly, their vindictiveness. Whenever the Labour Government hike taxes, there are unintended consequences. Just as their jobs tax is hitting charities and hospices, their tax on independent schools will hit military families and the 130,000 SEND pupils who are currently in independent schools. Many of the parents I have spoken to use those schools as a way of giving their children that extra bit of support that they would struggle to find in the state system.”

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28. “Often, both parents are working, and one of them may have taken on a second job. In many instances, they have remortgaged their house. They have gone without. Many marriages are under pressure, and I am concerned about those parents and their children. Because we have such a high percentage of independent schools in my constituency, they are not the only ones affected, even though they might be the most directly affected. The displaced children hit my state schools, and that means our state sector is bracing for an influx of children that it will struggle to accommodate. That is why I think this is a false choice: it should not be state versus independent. Our schools are an ecosystem, and they are all valuable, because education is a public good. It promotes social mobility, strengthens our economy and benefits society at large.”

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29. “It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Lewell-Buck. In Windsor, we are very lucky to have some of the finest state and independent schools in this country, and I am proud to represent them all. One has already been mentioned; it is very prominent, but it is not very reflective of the situation in my constituency. On two constituency visits this morning before I came into Parliament, I counted the independent schools that I passed. I passed six; 23% of the pupils in my constituency attend independent schools. The caricature that my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) said was always in the papers when independent schools are discussed does not reflect 23% of the parents in my constituency. In my recent surgeries, I have had many parents who are really struggling with the proposed policy.”

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30. “I wholeheartedly reject this “politics of envy” policy, which places politics above children, families and the good of the country, but if the Government are determined to stick with it, I urge them to introduce full exemptions for all SEND children, military families and specialist schools.”

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31. “After only a few months, we are seeing pupils being taken out of private school at three times the previous rate. We will have to wait until September to see the full extent of the damage, as many parents are doing everything they can to get to the end of the school year before, sadly, taking their children out of the schools they love. In this country, we should be aiming to set the highest standards across the board, using schools that excel in the independent and state sectors as examples of what can be achieved. Labour would rather cut down that aspiration in return for uniformity. We are seeing this attack in their dismantling of the academy system, which has blossomed under successive Governments of all colours. Far from guiding the invisible hand, Labour’s education policy is strangling the school system.”

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32. “My point is that this will not raise any money. It will exacerbate the problem, because if 10% of the students are displaced, that nullifies the revenue. One thing that has not been mentioned is that all our local authorities are under some kind of financial strain, and the royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is under more than some others. One of the biggest exploding bills on its books is the school transport budget, which this policy harms by putting another unexpected pressure in the system that local authorities will have to pay for. I do not know whether that is in the numbers; perhaps the Minister will comment on that. I find it almost humorous that some teachers’ unions—it is not often that Conservative Members agree with them—are raising concern about the impact of this policy on staff and pupils in state schools.”

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33. “5. What assessment the Church has made of the potential implications for its policies of the level of funding available from the listed places of worship grant scheme in 2025-26.”

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34. “Holy Trinity church in Sunningdale has served the parish for 185 years. It wants to build on that legacy with a community hub, complete with new facilities, including a volunteer-run café for the wider community. The £25,000 cap on VAT relief may be enough to sustain smaller projects, but this one will cost well over £1 million; that means that another £250,000 in donations will be needed, which cannot stretch that far. I understand that the Government are encouraging churches to apply for lottery funding, but Rev. Jon Hutchinson has raised the fact that the scope of that funding is too narrow to cover the project. Will the Second Church Estates Commissioner meet me to discuss how we can get this project over the line?”

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35. “I welcome the Secretary of State’s robust response from the Dispatch Box today, and thank her for it. This is an egregious example, but the problem is the pattern of behaviour; for example, the BBC has spent £330,000 of taxpayers’ money on legal fees to cover up the 2004 Balen report into coverage of this conflict. Does the Secretary of State agree that there are valid questions as to why the BBC has refused to submit to an independent inquiry? Does she agree that the findings of the Balen report have been suppressed, and will the Government urge the BBC to publish that report?”

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36. “Q4. The floods of 2013-14 devastated Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury, and the flooding last January was not much better. But shockingly, the River Thames scheme as currently proposed continues to leave my constituents at risk. The council was asked to cough up tens of millions but, like many, it is cash-strapped. Does the Prime Minister agree that the only option to protect my constituents is to fund channel 1 of the River Thames scheme as national strategic infrastructure, which really it is?”

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37. “I believe that if we in this place can change the law for those in our communities who are taking matters into their own hands, we can help them to turn around some of the trends that we are seeing. The only thing limiting that is political will and time. I think most of us in this House, on a cross-party basis, would encourage the Minister to move in that direction. Communities across this country have had enough of the downward spiral in children’s mental health. Parents, teachers, children and charities such as Well Windsor are taking action. It is time that we in this place did the same.”

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38. “Charities such as Well Windsor go directly to the schools that need help and deliver it—not in a month’s time or a year’s time, but within weeks of discussions first taking place. Importantly, Well Windsor’s approach is non-invasive, with a focus on positivity, self-esteem and general mindfulness. We should be careful about raising awareness for the sake of it, because the last thing that suggestible children need is to be bombarded with information about depression, anxiety and mental health. That would be counterproductive. There can also be a tendency to medicate away mental health problems in children. That can sometimes come at the cost of addressing the root causes of those problems in the first place. One of them is clearly social media.”

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39. “The data that they have collected on mental health provision in schools in Windsor confirms what we already knew intuitively: parents and teachers feel underprepared for providing the necessary support when facing rising anxieties among children. Well Windsor works with third parties such as myHappymind to provide schools with programmes to help children to check in with themselves, practise mindfulness and improve their resilience, so that they can face the modern world head-on. The NHS, local authorities and the Department for Education can often go round in circles, directing children and parents from one service to another, while children are left to fall by the wayside.”

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40. “In my constituency, the Well Windsor charity, which I emphasise is neutral on this particular proposition, is unique in what it does. I believe it could be the blueprint for change across the country. It was officially launched late last year by Andy Nuttall, along with seven other parents, who recognised that there was a gap in state services when it came to children’s mental health locally. It is more than a cluster of well-meaning adults; the charity is run by individuals with varied professional backgrounds, including former teachers, ex-CEOs, business leaders and clinical psychologists. They are proactive: they are raising funds, talking to schools and delivering already for students.”

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41. “Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) that that is easier said than done—we can give parents and children a fighting chance. I believe that changing the law will play a key role in reversing the fortunes of our children, but we also need to make sure that they are prepared for the challenges of modern life. As with many of the great initiatives that have been discussed today, change in Windsor has come from the bottom up. There is already a very active branch of Smartphone Free Childhood in my constituency, and parents have shared awful stories of hardcore pornography being circulated in primary school WhatsApp groups. Separately from the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign, there is a wider movement around children’s mental health.”

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42. “Those are hours in which they are not having formative experiences or interacting with the world around them—experiences that our generation took for granted. I spent my early teens climbing trees and playing rugby, not staring at a screen. Something is being missed today in the healthy development of young people. What sets social media apart is the ability to circumvent the traditional safeguards of parent, family and community, with children now exposed to the weight of the world in their bedroom. Feeling unable to protect their children from the ills of social media, many parents are resorting to banning phones entirely, which I do not think is sustainable. Things need to change. By changing the law to limit under-16s’ access to social media—I take the point from my right hon.”

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43. “In particular, suicide has increased dramatically: since 2012, the rates have doubled in boys and trebled in girls. According to the “Good Childhood Report”, British children are now reporting some of the lowest happiness levels in Europe. In my constituency, a freedom of information request submitted to the royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead found that mental health referrals in children had doubled since the pandemic. The problems are due in large part to smartphones and social media. As was stated in a recent Select Committee session, the average 12-year-old now spends 21 hours a week on their phone. As well as the obvious direct harms, there are indirect consequences, which is the point that I believe the hon. Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) was making.”

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44. “Mr Stringer, you would struggle to find a Member of this House who is more committed than I am to classical liberal ideas surrounding individual liberty and personal responsibility. I do wish there were more of us. However, when it comes to children, I very much agree with the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) that the Government’s role is very different. Our job is to protect children and give them the skills they need to make decisions for themselves as they grow into adults. That does not mean mollycoddling them or wrapping them in cotton wool: there is a clear difference between a bloody knee or a playground argument and exposure to graphic violence and pornography, which can be easily accessed on social media. As many hon. Members have noted, anxiety levels in children are at an all-time high.”

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45. “Although all-digital services are desirable, we should never freeze out those who are not digital savvy, given that over 1 million people in this country do not own a mobile phone, for example. Does the hon. Member agree?”

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46. “Three former Law Officers have criticised the Attorney General for not declaring his earnings, labelling it as “irregular” and a break from “normal practice”. Who is in the wrong: the three former Law Officers or the Attorney General?”

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47. “I agree with my hon. Friend that this is a step too far. Does he also agree that this would be an enormous waste of police time? The police often get their priorities wrong as it stands, but the idea that they should spend time prosecuting smoking in a private vehicle is clearly a waste of police time.”

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48. “There is a risk that the places designated for vaping will often be the places designated for smoking. We all agree that even though we do not want people to start vaping, we would rather that people vaped if they are on cigarettes. In my view, the clause will be detrimental to its own aims.”

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49. “I am afraid to say to Government Members and to the shadow Minister that I am going to break up the cosy consensus. I had lunch at the Institute of Economic Affairs, which has given me some classical liberal vibes. I know that that will warm the Minister’s heart. Part 7 of the Bill will give the Secretary of State powers to designate smoke-free places through secondary legislation; clause 139 will do the same for vape-free places. I have a few concerns about that approach. First, it has the potential to force people who have already switched or are in the process of switching from cigarettes to vapes—or indeed to heated tobacco, which is the subject of the next clause—to use their devices in the same areas as smokers, which runs the risk of their moving back to cigarettes.”

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50. “It is not that people are not going to vape. They will go outside to the designated vaping spot, which in the overwhelming majority of instances will be either the same place that is designated for smoking or immediately adjacent to it. If someone is a recent ex-smoker or is trying to quit, effectively forcing them to vape in an area near cigarette smoke seems incredibly damaging to public health. I do not think that that is a particularly controversial statement.”

    House of Commons28 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗

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