Speeches by Ballinger.

“In a previous life, I worked on the Turkey-Greece returns deal, which returned refugees who had crossed in small boats from Turkey to the Greek islands in return for properly registered asylum seekers in Turkey. As we all know, that deal drastically reduced the number of small boats that crossed into Turkey. Does the H…”

“One of the best matches in the country.”

“Does my hon. Friend agree with me that the three trade deals that our Prime Minister secured earlier this year with India, the EU and America will benefit our region greatly and can really help to turbocharge manufacturing in the Black Country?”

“It is fantastic to see the Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, promoting growth across our region. I am also delighted to see that the defence sector, which will be vital for jobs not just in our region but across the West Midlands combined authority, is front and centre among all the sectors that are being sup…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tipton and Wednesbury (Antonia Bance) for organising this debate. It is a pleasure to see so many Black Country MPs together to discuss our great region with such passion. It is also nice to hear Members from outside our region…”

“We have seen again images of children dying of starvation and malnutrition, and this comes after months of warnings from the UN system about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s announcement of more aid, but we know that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will not allow in mo…”

“Some of the respondents to our call for evidence have said that the UK is using its penholder position as kind of an improvement to our international influence, which is decreasing elsewhere. Do you think that is correct? How do you think us being a penholder on all these files helps to improve the UK’s influence?”

“I agree, of course. Other respondents to our call for evidence talked about the lack of transparency in how the UK conducts its penholding role. Can you talk a bit about how you ensure transparency and consult other members?”

“1. What steps he is taking to support workers’ rights in the renewable energy sector.”

“Many of my constituents in Halesowen work in energy-intensive industries such as forges and heavy manufacturing. The Government are rightly supporting those industries to become more energy-efficient, but workers need new skills, as well as skills in the many new jobs in the renewable energy sector. As they make this t…”

“I served twice in Afghanistan alongside some of the bravest soldiers, judges and women’s rights defenders I have met. After the fall of Kabul, I was based in Pakistan with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where I was involved in the evacuation from Afghanistan. At that time, despite the excellent work …”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his service. I agree that that is a gross injustice. Would he support a new investigation into his friend’s death, if new evidence were to emerge, and does he appreciate that the existing legacy Act would prevent that, which is one of the reasons it needs to be repealed?”

“The right hon. Gentleman is right. The nub of the matter is that we must ensure that veterans have the right protections and that they are not taken through additional tests, but we have to change the legislation, because it was unlawful. We have no choice. It has let down victims. The new legislation that we are putti…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. Like many other Members present, I was proud to have served my country. In my case, it was with the Royal Marines in 2006, when I deployed to Afghanistan shortly after basic training. I was a very young and green marine, and it was quite unexpected to go in…”

“I would like to hear more from the Secretary of State about the protections that veterans will be given, one of which, I understand, is that no veteran will be asked to travel to Northern Ireland; rather, they can give evidence remotely, which is important. There does need to be more on protections, but—[Interruption.]…”

“We will hear later from the Secretary of State about some of the protections afforded to veterans, but it is also important to note that in the last 13 years only one veteran has been prosecuted and, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Louise Jones), he received a suspended sentence. S…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Will the shadow Minister give way?”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?”