Speeches by Bloore.

“Can I just come back on a couple of things? The Business and Trade Committee recently went to Canada and saw first-hand how the federal and provincial governments are working hand in hand on exporting. There is a very similar position in Canada, where there are lots of small businesses that make up the framework of the…”

“On telling the story, do you know when the Export Champions scheme will be unpaused and restarted?”

“Minister McDougall, when we visited Northern Ireland, we talked about trade quite a lot. There was quite a mixed picture of feedback and reaction from both the businesses and the trade associations, which were concerned about whether we were making the best efforts that we could to support businesses in Northern Irelan…”

“I congratulate the Minister on securing this deal, which is the sixth from his Department—not bad for a Government made up of public sector workers, as derided by those on the Opposition Front Bench. I was interested in what he said in his statement about this being a statement of intent for future co-operation. I hope…”

“Just to follow up on that, are there any particular sectors or regions that you have concerns about right now?”

“Kate, you have a track record of working to protect working people and have done a lot of work in your current role to enhance people’s rights at work, which we are very grateful for. You will probably realise that there is still a lot of scepticism and concern about AI and how it will impact people’s jobs. Without sca…”

“Thanks to everyone for your evidence so far. It is pretty clear from the evidence that has been submitted that there is a frustration that the approach to reconciliation across the three Governments involved is perhaps not as co-ordinated as it could be. We are interested in how the absence of such a coherent strategy …”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for packaging in the circular economy. Like her, I have engaged extensively with manufacturers across the supply chain. They support the EPR in principle but raise concerns about its implementat…”

“Do you think it lets Governments off the hook?”

“Would you say that your biggest challenge is not potentially people breaking the laws or regulations but an awareness of what the laws and regulations are in the first place?”

“I am not really sure I can follow that, but I am going to go on to forced labour. I am going to put the pretext that I know, Minister Bryant, that you were quite strong about forced labour issues in the Chamber prior to taking on your current role. In 2021, you co-signed a letter calling for a Uyghur slave labour gover…”

“As ever, Minister, you are very charismatic and very engaging.”

“Yes. Again, a lot of people listening to some of those answers and accepting your personal opinions will say that, with other countries such as South Africa in the past when we have made decisions about trading with them, nothing is fundamentally going to change about what we know is happening in this part of the world…”

“Thank you for your evidence so far, Mr Taylor. The FWA has prioritised visible and impactful enforcement. You have touched on this already, but I wanted to know what that means in practice and how it will differ from previous bodies that have had the responsibility.”

“The Chair has taken all of my questions.”

“As the Minister probably knows, a petition calling for reform of the bereavement support payment has now passed 100,000 signatures and is backed by Widowed and Young, Gingerbread, and Cruse. Many families in Redditch are among those affected. Before the parliamentary debate on that petition, will the Minister engage wi…”

“13. What support is available for bereaved families through the benefits system.”

“Thank you, Peter. Finally, Josephine, I will come to you; I think the first two questions are slightly unfair to put to you. How are you ensuring that staffing levels are where they need to be to meet demand? We have heard from Peter that that is a real challenge, but are all positions filled right now across the organ…”

“Thank you, Sir Declan. I will push this question to Peter. What impact has investigations being paused due to financial issues had on the victims?”

“Finally, Holly, obviously the report was pretty damning on financial management. Moving forward, do you feel that the organisation is in a better place and can start to fulfil its duties?”