"T9. I recently met Estonian MPs to hear about their experience of using digital ID over the last two decades, and particularly about how people’s ability to see who has accessed their data is the cornerstone of the data privacy controls at the heart of their system. They talked about …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"I am fascinated by the hon. Gentleman’s argument. In many ways, it is the ultimate Conservative argument that the status quo is exactly right and exactly what we need. Has the hon. Gentleman done any research on public opinion of local government reorganisation in London in the 1960s, or the …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"We have established a principle in this country of changing our electoral system via referendum. We had a referendum on the alternative vote system during the coalition era. The Bill is going to switch the system back to single transferable vote as it was when it was originally envisaged, so …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"We are about to embark on a devolution deal for Cheshire and Warrington. The county of Cheshire alone has more than 330 civil parishes. Is the hon. Lady not concerned about the burden that would be placed on a mayor? Her amendment would require the views of all those parishes …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"Where in the legislation does it says that mayors will be prohibited from talking to town and parish councils? The way that the hon. Member phrased that implies that something in the Bill stops them from doing so, but I am not clear where that is...." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"My problem with the hon. Lady’s argument is that her amendment states:
“Engagement…must include…consulting town and parish councils”—
not “can include”, but “must include”. Of 300 parish councils, some might be home to only 150 people and some to 20,000 people, so they are completely different. I do not think …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"I agree entirely with the principle of mayors holding responsibility for police and crime commissioners where the boundaries of the roles are coterminous, and the idea of appointing a deputy mayor to that role makes absolute sense, as does the power to align boundaries where it makes sense administratively. That …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"I have a lot of sympathy with what the hon. Lady is saying. If she likes
“piña coladas, and gettin’ caught in the rain”,
may I suggest that she looks no further than the Piña Colada festival in Northwich, which is delivered by Northwich town council and adds £500,000 to …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"This is a timely set of proposals in an area that is too often overlooked by Government. In my constituency, further education has not functioned properly since the Tories’ failed top-down review of post-16 education in Cheshire led to the closure of the main FE campus. NEET levels in Winsford …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech
"I was a town councillor for a good decade and a half before I became an MP. We went through unitarisation in Cheshire in 2008, so I recognise a lot of what the hon. Lady is saying about town and parish councils being asked to take on more services—I saw …..." Andrew Cooper - View Speech