Kevin Bonavia MP: speeches

Speeches

• 30 Jun 2026 · Defence Investment Plan · Hansard source

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  The Prime Minister and many others have said that this country needs to be ready for an attack on NATO by Russia by 2030, so every step this country takes is critical, and I welcome today’s plan. We must mobilise everything we can, including our industry, so will the Secretary of State or a Minister in the Defence team meet me to see how the defence industry in Stevenage—including MBDA, Airbus and our SMEs—can benefit from the new defence export facility?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. [Hon. Members: “Right honourable.”] Yes, right honourable —I remember her time as Chief Whip. Like her, I did not have the burdens that people who went to university after me had to face, so I am very conscious of my responsibility to those generations and the generations to come. I am glad that the right hon. Lady has raised the issue of young people, because this Government recognise the extra pressures that young people face. That is why we are taking measures to help those who are feeling the pressures of the cost of living, whether on transport, childcare, or so many other things. We are helping our younger people and looking at how we support our students into the future—we are bringing back the maintenance grants that I benefited from all those years ago.

• 2 Mar 2026 · Representation of the People Bill · Hansard source

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  We have just heard the Conservative definitions of a child and an adult, but according to the law in this country, there is no single definition. The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 10, the driving age in this country is 17, and the voting age has gone down over the decades. Surely we should be thinking about what it means to be able to vote. By bringing the voting age down to 16, we are bringing that to people who have the capacity to vote and who actually will vote. There is also evidence out there that 16-year-olds voting in Scotland are more likely to carry on voting. Does the right hon. Gentleman not agree that that will be of benefit to our country—to the United Kingdom as a whole?