"My hon. Friend is right: I do have that role, and it does present significant safeguarding risks and resource challenges. The hon. Member for Walthamstow said earlier that everyone should have a right to education, but I do not know where she thinks those school places just emerged from. We …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"I fully take on my hon. Friend’s earlier point about who holds the responsibility for applying those duties and how they mix together. That is a complex issue and one that I cannot answer today, but he is right that we need to ensure that we safeguard children and offer …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"I was horrified to hear that those on the Opposition Benches feel that this is about xenophobia and racism, scapegoating and dog-whistle politics. This is a simple matter of fairness—fairness for my constituents, who work hard and do the right thing, who see other people who arrive here illegally able …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"I do not know whether my right hon. Friend saw my article in The Times a few weeks ago, but it discussed opportunities for towns, such as Mansfield, that have specific local requirements when it comes to tackling economic inactivity, the opportunities of building bespoke local schemes with local employers …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I will try to skip the partisan rhetoric and get to the crux of some of the issues.
I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) for mentioning PFI, because I also represent a hospital that, …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his kind words and for giving way. I should mention that I co-wrote that article with Adam Hawksbee of Onward.
The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. He mentioned Mansfield’s statistics and the high levels of economic inactivity. These schemes are best built …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"I was not planning to go through everything we discussed in the previous sports debate, but we talked at length about that issue, and my right hon. Friend is absolutely right that the cost of running sports facilities, in particular swimming pools, is hugely challenging at present. The business energy …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"The hon. Lady is absolutely right. We all know about the recent economic challenges around long-term planning, but the sooner we can have longer-term security around staffing the better. I would make the same point about the Department of Health and Social Care funding stream for school games organisers. They …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech
"That is certainly an option. Where taxpayers are funding those facilities, they should be able to use them. In cases such as Manor Academy, where schools do not feel able to do that, they could give the facilities back. Let the community or the district leisure trust run them—whoever is …..." Ben Bradley - View Speech