Speeches by Macdonald.

“I beg to move, That this House has considered anti-social behaviour in the East of England. It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. As we go about our daily lives—shopping, working, socialising or simply enjoying a quiet evening in our own home—nothing has the power to disturb our experiences like a…”

“I thank the Chair of my Select Committee for securing the debate. Twenty years ago, the words of Nelson Mandela rang out just down the road in Trafalgar Square. He called on the world to “make poverty history”, stating that “as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist…none of us can truly rest.” I hope w…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Hobhouse. I have a few questions about clause 56. I welcome the establishment of the national underground asset register. When one reads the detail, it is quite unbelievable that we do not already have one. It will help to reduce excavation accidents that cause traffic…”

“In Norfolk we had a virtual health hub. When we look at whether the health hubs are working and share best practice, can we talk about whether that is the best format for a health hub or whether a physical one would be better?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your leadership, Dr Huq. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) for securing this important debate. As we have heard for far too long, women have been paying the price of an NHS that simply is not working. Women know that; in a survey that I saw, half o…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your leadership, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Jenny Riddell-Carpenter) for securing this important debate. My area of Norfolk has unique challenges as well as the common challenges we have heard about from many Members. Between 2019 and 2024, we saw a …”

“I welcome the uplift in defence spending but, as the Prime Minister has recognised, there has been a difficult decision about our aid budget. Like many hon. Members, I have seen at first hand the impact of the aid budget, not only on tackling poverty but on our own stability and prosperity. I welcome what the Prime Min…”

“I welcome today’s announcement, and I am very pleased to see that St Williams primary and Kinsale infant school in my constituency of Norwich North will be among those that benefit from the early adopters programme—they are two of the 12 schools in Norfolk that will benefit. Will the Secretary of State expand on the “t…”

“5. What recent progress her Department has made on tackling antisocial behaviour.”

“Antisocial behaviour comes in a variety of forms. Norfolk police have recently made it a priority to address safety concerns about e-bikes and e-scooters. In just one day, they reportedly seized 12 illegally modified bikes in Norwich. I welcome that crackdown, but speeding e-bikes and e-scooters are a real menace in ou…”

“My constituent David Freeman is a nuclear test veteran who was deployed to Christmas island. Since he returned, he has faced a range of health issues, including cancer. He was rightly awarded the nuclear test medal, but much more needs to be done to recognise and compensate veterans like David. Like many, he has been u…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent speech. I totally agree that we need investment in capital as well as revenue funding. I recently brought together young people and youth organisations in Norwich to discuss the challenges they face, and there was a particular gap in the period between 3 pm and 7 pm. Does my hon…”

“An average. You gave us an average for your members for those two general buckets but is there also an average for the split of multilateral aid?”

“And building on that, I think in your 2022 report the OECD said that to be most effective multilateral aid needs to be aligned in terms of a development portfolio of funding. Can you explain why it is important that the bilateral and multilateral portfolio are similar?”

“Going back to Abdoulaye, I want to pick up on the multi-bi. First before I get to my question in terms of the percentage that we just discussed, in terms of 42% going through multilateral channels and 33% through bilateral spending for the FCDO within the multilateral spend is there a normal split that goes to multi-bi…”

“Just briefly, because you mentioned the UK, so in terms of the analysis that you have done of the UK’s portfolio do you think in terms of that complementarity it has the balance right? Is it working effectively?”

“This is very good news for Norwich and Norfolk and it will allow us to fulfil our potential. Many of my colleagues from Norfolk have spoken. Whatever they think of the proposals, I urge them to work across parties now to get the best possible outcomes for our residents. On growth, Norwich already contributes £3 billion…”

“When it comes to the UK and the previous Government, we have a list of all the different strategies that had some reference to global food security and nutrition. I think that there was a commitment to develop an internal sustainable global food security strategic framework. Is that continuing? What is your go-to strat…”

“I have a couple of questions on global co-ordination and then co-ordination within FCDO. I will confess that I worked on this in my previous life. In March 2024, there were 27 World Food Prize laureates who called for a global plan to tackle the hunger crisis, because of a feeling that there are so many different initi…”

“Thank you, Minister. Going back to a quick point you made around climate financing and adaptation, I think that currently 2% of climate finance goes to small-scale food producers. Does the UK Government have a target to move that upwards in terms of our contributions to climate finance or pushing other partners to scal…”