Parliament

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will set student immigration quotas which do not restrict the ability of international students to stay in the UK.

Michael Fabricant: Lord Walney has come up with a marvellous report. I am not surprised: I knew him when he was a Member of Parliament and he was an excellent Member of Parliament too. His report talks about preventing protests from going ahead on account of the “cumulative impact” of serious disruption. He is right to identify that; it is intimidatory and, as my right hon. Friend the Minister has already...

Michael Fabricant: On National Numeracy Day, will my hon. Friend take the opportunity to praise the work of universities, such as the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London and Loughborough University, that go out of their way to attract women on to engineering courses?

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to maintain routes to enable international students to (a) study and (b) make an economic contribution to the UK.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by the Migration Advisory Committee entitled Rapid review of the graduate route, published in May 2024; and whether he plans to implement each of the recommendations in full.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for (a) sharing the guidance on network north local transport fund with local authorities and (b) announcing the funding allocations for the first two years.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2024 to Question 23369 on Government Departments: Press, how much and what proportion of total Government expenditure on communications activities was with independent (a) broadcast media and (b) web-based only news media, including those that are members of the Independent Community News Network, in the last 12...

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to promote independent news networks by ensuring that (a) Government and (b) other public announcements are made by buying space on news websites not owned by newspaper groups (i) in areas where no local printed newspapers are available and (ii) generally.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will introduce National Planning Policy Guidance to assist local government planning authorities to provide a consistent approach to (a) canal and (b) associated infrastructure restoration.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department provides guidance to navigation authorities on attaining World Heritage Status for canal systems.

Michael Fabricant: Hear, hear! The extension of the Birmingham to Lichfield line goes all the way to Burton and passes the National Memorial Arboretum. At the moment, the line is used only for freight, and I was told four years ago that the cost of upgrading it for passenger traffic would be only about £10 million, which is nothing in the great scheme of things. When will we see the line being completed so...

Michael Fabricant: What steps he is taking to help local authorities improve local transport in the west midlands.

Michael Fabricant: On the subject of transmission and distribution policy, is my right hon. Friend aware that the Senedd has decided to ban GB News? What is his policy on that?

Michael Fabricant: The International Atomic Energy Agency has recently made an assessment that enough uranium has been enriched in Iran to produce three atomic warheads. If that is true, what is the Government’s consideration regarding snapping back sanctions on Iran?

Michael Fabricant: I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. He will be aware that the head of the luftwaffe, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, made an appalling lapse of security. The former director general of German intelligence, August Hanning, said on the subject that NATO security and British troops had had their existence in Ukraine “compromised.” Does the Minister agree?

Michael Fabricant: What recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on the war in Ukraine.

Michael Fabricant: I was very interested to hear the Secretary of State say that it is just the United Kingdom and the United States doing the interdiction to ensure that there is no rearmament of the Houthis, but what assessment has he made of the sources of that rearmament? What percentage does he think comes from Iran, through Syria, or through other agents?

Michael Fabricant: My spies tell me that my hon. and learned Friend was in France just nine days ago. Were there any lessons to be learned from the French authorities about more co-operation that can go on to stop the boats even further?

Michael Fabricant: What recent progress he has made with his French counterparts on tackling illegal migration.

Michael Fabricant: Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that individual sports clubs have a role to play in providing youth services? In that respect, can I thank the Government for funding Lichfield sports club and Chasetown football club, which have both received grants for the work they do—grants that reach up to £2.5 million?