Speeches by Ballinger.

“I think Aphra had some questions on the loan.”

“I am incredibly proud of our naval engineering history in the Black Country, including at companies such as Somers Forge in Halesowen and Brooks Forgings in Cradley Heath. I am delighted that this Labour Government are increasing defence spending to levels never seen under the previous Government. Does the Minister agr…”

“4. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the defence industrial strategy on Northern Ireland.”

“Is there any polling on this sort of stuff? Is there anything that could help us to get a tangible, evidence-based feel of it?”

“It was interesting to hear some of the examples you gave of Chinese misinformation around the decadent west, the culture wars, NATO being a big threat to Russia in Ukraine and the like. Those are also the narratives that we hear the Russians are pushing. Is there any evidence that China and Russia, or maybe other actor…”

“And you are saying that is increasing—they are learning from each other in the successes.”

“With all these disinformation networks and the various channels that they are using, it is clear that France is a target of a lot of the stuff in west Africa. But how much is it affecting the perceptions of Africans towards France, towards the west more generally, and maybe towards institutions such as the UN and NATO?”

“Is there any polling on this sort of stuff? Is there anything that could help us to get a tangible, evidence-based feel of it?”

“I was going to ask the question that you just answered: how can we counter these disinformation narratives? I agree, and the Committee strongly agrees, that the BBC is an excellent way of doing that. Are there any other approaches? Some people have suggested digital literacy or more independent, home-grown African medi…”

“With all these disinformation networks and the various channels that they are using, it is clear that France is a target of a lot of the stuff in west Africa. But how much is it affecting the perceptions of Africans towards France, towards the west more generally, and maybe towards institutions such as the UN and NATO?”

“And you are saying that is increasing—they are learning from each other in the successes.”

“It was interesting to hear some of the examples you gave of Chinese misinformation around the decadent west, the culture wars, NATO being a big threat to Russia in Ukraine and the like. Those are also the narratives that we hear the Russians are pushing. Is there any evidence that China and Russia, or maybe other actor…”

“I was going to ask the question that you just answered: how can we counter these disinformation narratives? I agree, and the Committee strongly agrees, that the BBC is an excellent way of doing that. Are there any other approaches? Some people have suggested digital literacy or more independent, home-grown African medi…”

“I thank the many petitioners who brought forward this debate, which is fundamental to parents in my Halesowen constituency. I have been speaking to many of them, and the message I am receiving is clear: the system is not working. Parents raised three major themes with me. First, getting support for children with specia…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that Israel’s attack on our friend Qatar—indeed, against the very negotiators that were supposed to be discussing this ceasefire—shows that it has no interest in securing peace, and that there must be consequences for that action?”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“I go back to the example of RAF Gan. The Maldivians refused the Soviet Union back in 1976, because the UK had a good reputation with them. We honoured our agreements and respected international law, and they felt that it was inappropriate for them to be seen to be supporting a country that had not done the same. In the…”

“I will carry on for a moment, and then I will give way. Despite the risks, the Conservatives have come out in opposition to this deal. The right hon. Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly)—the former Foreign Secretary, who is not in his place—has described the deal as “weak, weak, weak”, but it was he who started th…”

“We do not know why Lord Cameron closed them down, because the Conservatives have not released any details of the deal that they negotiated up to that point. Maybe the costs were too high because they had not negotiated a better deal, or maybe things like the 24-mile security zone were not included in the deal, but this…”

“As the hon. Member will know, the official Government statistics say the cost is £3.5 billion, which is about 0.2% of our defence budget. I wonder what other assets in the entire world that may be worth 0.2% of our defence budget are quite as effective and important as Diego Garcia. I will come to my conclusion. The la…”