Business of the House

Rishi Sunak Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this matter, which has caused some concern after the reporting on it. Dartmoor ponies are an important part of Dartmoor’s heritage and are important in supporting its habitats. Natural England is not recommending a cull—I do not believe it is in its power to do anything about that anyway—and let me put it quite clearly on the record that the Government would not allow one.

[Rishi Sunak (Richmond and Northallerton) (Con)]

My constituents and I are deeply concerned about proposals to develop what would be one of England’s largest onshore wind farms right next to the Yorkshire Dales national park. With turbines as tall as the Gherkin, it would have a huge impact on the visual landscape in one of the most beautiful parts of our country and could damage our precious peatland in the moors, which, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, is a natural resource that we are lucky to have. Will he join me in praising the work of Councillor Thompson and the Hope Moor wind farm action group for organising our community? Will he support both their and my efforts to ensure that our local voices are heard loudly during the process?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

It is good to see the right hon. Gentleman in his place; I would have thought that No. 10 was a rough place to be, but it sounds as though he has been in the wars more recently, although perhaps of a different nature. He is right to raise this matter on behalf of his constituency. I know his area well; it is a very beautiful part of the world, and I understand the concern that people there have. I offer my congratulations to Councillor Thompson and the local people on raising their concerns. Whatever the outcome, it is important that local people have their voices heard, because it is very much part of their heritage.

Business of the House

Rishi Sunak Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak (Richmond and Northallerton) (Con)]

Last week I met two of my constituents, Mark Farrow and Stephen White, who volunteer for the Driving Ukraine charity, which takes modified vehicles to Ukraine to serve as ambulances and for other humanitarian purposes. Later this month, they will take one more vehicle out, funded by generous donations from local people. Will the Leader of the House join me in commending their efforts, as well as the charitable contributions made by so many across our country in support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people? May I also thank her for giving us an opportunity to commemorate their efforts during the week following the recess?

[Lucy Powell]

Let me take this opportunity to pay my respects to the right hon. Gentleman. The way in which he has conducted himself since leaving office and remained here as a parliamentarian, active on behalf of his constituents, provides a model for others to follow. I do, of course, join him in commending Mark and Steve for the work that they do. The whole House wants to support Ukraine and, indeed, we have continued to do so, as have many of our constituents in a range of ways. I am very pleased that we will have that debate when we return.

Business of the House

Rishi Sunak Excerpts

Thursday 14th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am happy to endorse completely what the hon. Gentleman is saying. The female employment rate is at a record high and there is a higher percentage of women on FTSE boards than ever before. There are now about 1.2 million businesses led by women, which is more than ever before, and the gender pay gap has fallen to a record low. However, as the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) was saying, we need to address issues in terms of getting more women into Parliament—getting more people representing those who share some of their particular interests. I am happy to read the report he mentions and I congratulate him on doing it.

[Rishi Sunak (Richmond (Yorks)) (Con)]

The Government are funding the installation of almost 600 mobile phone masts in remote areas as part of their emergency services network roll-out. It would be hugely helpful for rural constituents in areas such as mine if the Government were to allow mobile phone operators to freely locate on these towers and strongly encourage them to do so, to broaden mobile phone coverage in rural areas. Will the Government make a statement about their plans in this area?

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend raises an issue that matters a great deal to lots of our constituents, including mine in rural areas. The mobile network operator EE is delivering about 500 new sites, of which just under 300 will be part of those Government-funded sites. He will be pleased to know that EE is making sure that those new Government-funded sites will be open to site applications from other operators.

Business of the House

Rishi Sunak Excerpts

Thursday 2nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

Like the hon. Lady, I have had cases in which constituents have come to me about that kind of harassment. There may be an opportunity for the hon. Lady to highlight the issue via an Adjournment debate. Ultimately, we have to accept that in individual cases we must rely on the good sense and professionalism of the judge who is presiding in the particular case to hear and make a judgment about the evidence put forward by the two parties and come to a fair resolution.

[Rishi Sunak (Richmond (Yorks)) (Con)]

Mr Speaker, if you visited my constituency, I would certainly take you to one of our three fabulous livestock auction markets. Alongside our livery yards and riding schools, they are key to the fabric of our rural community, yet their future is threatened by eye-watering rises in business rates. Will my right hon. Friend provide time in this House for us to debate why rural businesses are being so unfairly penalised?

[Mr Lidington]

In my hon. Friend’s relatively short time in the House, he has already emerged as a formidable champion not only of the Richmond constituency, but of North Yorkshire and rural businesses more generally. The position nationally is that the business rate revaluation will, overall, benefit businesses in rural areas across England, and no small property will have an increase of more than 5% from 1 April because of the transitional relief scheme. If my hon. Friend would care to write to me about the particular cases of the auction marts in his constituency, I undertake to draw them to the attention of the Communities Secretary.