Speeches by Griffiths.

“The question was more about the measures you have in place currently to monitor the effectiveness of the MPAs. It is great to hear about what will happen in the future, but what are you doing at the moment?”

“I wanted to talk about some MPAs that are further afield. With the Government planning to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos islands, can we have some details about the future of the marine protected area there?”

“At the point of the transfer of sovereignty, what will happen to the current MPA? I understand that we have not had anything confirmed yet, but why will the current MPA not be continued and those protections guaranteed until something different is put in place?”

“I just wanted to ask one question about what you have already said. Can you be a bit more specific on timing? You also mentioned targets. It would be really interesting to get some more specificity on those targets too. You mentioned the Catapults and the UK Research and Innovation Council. Could you be, again, more sp…”

“Is there anything else from your colleagues on that?”

“EIP is a strategy that engages the whole of Government. How will DEFRA use the refresh to get cross-departmental engagement with the refreshed plan?”

“Yes, coming back to the EIP.”

“rose—”

“I will make some progress. Who is paying the price for the Government’s economic mismanagement? It is our pensioners. Of the 23,282 pensioners in my constituency of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton—at least 5% more pensioners than in the constituency of Makerfield—nearly 90% will lose their winter fuel payment this year.…”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I merely wish to set the scene for winter fuel payments.”

“Once again in this House we find ourselves discussing Labour’s failure to protect our pensioners. Time and again we have exposed its false narratives and asked how it intends to use technology to reduce costs, improve services and drive productivity. This Government capitulated to the archaic working practices of train…”

“I refer the hon. Gentleman to the comments made by the hon. Member for Gateshead Central and Whickham (Mark Ferguson), who acknowledged that it was indeed the covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine that caused such a problem with the UK finances.”

“rose—”

“To be honest, I am absolutely delighted to hear the first Member on the Government Benches acknowledge that there is not a fictitious £22 billion black hole that they are trying to fill, and that they have understood, finally, that the effects of covid and the war in Ukraine are part of the issue they are trying to dea…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“This morning, I received an email from Santander informing me that the Bognor Regis and Rustington branches in my constituency are both set to close. With four other bank branches having shut across the constituency in 2023 alone, the most vulnerable members of our society are being gradually cut off from essential ban…”

“What are the specifics that those other countries do that we should be doing? I know we will have to keep it brief.”

“Before I start, I would just like to refer you to my entry in the register of interests and my directorship of Strategic Risk Control, which is a holding company for a company that operates in the operational technology cybersecurity space and the international defence markets. Moving on from that, starting with both B…”

“Can I just ask specifically—”