Speeches by Ballinger.

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“The right hon. Lady says that this is an international problem for the UK, but does she not agree that the Americans, the Canadians, the New Zealanders, the Australians, the Indians and even the Pope support the deal? It is really important that our Five Eyes security partners are behind us.”

“Could the right hon. Lady outline what was in the deal that the last Conservative Foreign Secretary was negotiating? The points of sovereignty and everything else were conceded by her party.”

“Does the Minister agree that it is completely wrong for the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) and Reform UK to claim that President Trump did not support this deal, when he said it was a “very strong” deal that was secured for a “very long” time?”

“Does the Minister not think it is the height of hypocrisy for those in the last Government, who negotiated 85% of this treaty over 11 rounds, to wait until they were in opposition to make these claims, none of which they made during their negotiations?”

“My hon. Friend has spoken about the important capabilities of this vital US-UK base. Does he agree that it would be dangerous and counterproductive to put those capabilities at any risk—certainly if that could have happened in a matter of weeks or months?”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“The hon. Gentleman will know that the Foreign Affairs Committee had the Minister in front of us to discuss the deal, so there has been parliamentary scrutiny on this, including by other Committees, just not by the Defence Committee. On the costs, as the PPS to Lord Cameron, maybe he can say a little bit about what the …”

“Does the right hon. Gentleman, who is my colleague on the Foreign Affairs Committee, acknowledge that by opening negotiations with Mauritius, the last Government conceded that there was a point around sovereignty to be discussed and that, certainly from then onwards, it was difficult for this Government to roll back th…”

“I thank the Minister for his speech earlier, although he is no longer in this place. We have heard clearly from those on the Opposition Benches that they are opposed to this deal, so it is first worth outlining what sort of deal they are opposed to. They are opposed to a deal that secures our vital national interest on…”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“That is really good to hear. At the same time, we are looking at the headcount reduction in the FCDO, so I wondered whether you had done an impact assessment on how that is going to affect Europe as a whole and maybe the UK mission in Brussels. What impact might that have?”

“Thank you, Ministers. You both mentioned the UK-EU security partnership in the introduction. It is a very significant part of the EU reset. It has a number of dialogues embedded underneath it: Russia and Ukraine, the western Balkans, the Indo-Pacific. Can you tell us a bit more about what you expect to achieve from tho…”

“While EU institutions have a more limited role in security than member states or other organisations, could you say more about what the E3 or JEF might do on the back of those type of arrangements?”

“I wanted to ask a bit more about the role of the FCDO. Of course, it is really important to have the agreements, mechanisms and dialogues, but as the Chair said at the start, a measure of success will be how people in the EU feel about the EU reset—and how they feel about the UK as a whole. Could you tell us a bit more…”

“Populations—the people in the EU. How are they feeling about us? Tell us about the good work you have done.”

“My constituents in Halesowen continue to be concerned about the number of people crossing to the UK on small boats. They are calling for swift and tough action against the people smugglers responsible for these dangerous crossings, which are putting the lives of women and children at risk. Can the Solicitor General out…”

“rose—”

“The right hon. Member is delivering an excellent speech. As the Defence Committee did in 2016, the Foreign Affairs Committee is now conducting an inquiry into disinformation, which covers many of the same areas that he discusses. Does he agree that the increasing spread of disinformation, increasingly in countries that…”

“10. What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of people smugglers.”