Speeches by Hazelgrove.

“I declare a deep interest: I am a member of the all-party parliamentary group on political and media literacy, and I believe these issues are very important. Does my hon. Friend agree that this is not just about the education of young people in and of itself, but about how people go on to engage in our democracy later …”

“Just to come in on that point, which was really interesting to hear about, would you say that the World Service in India has been able to retain its independence, despite the fact that it has restructured because of the preferences of the Indian Government?”

“Dr Westcott, to expand on the point you were just making on Sudan, how important would you say the role of the World Service is in providing information during crises and conflict—you were talking about Sudan there, but also with reference to Ukraine and Gaza? It would be useful to hear about any impact of the World Se…”

“Following on from that, do you believe the Government currently makes sufficient use of the World Service to reinforce British foreign policy goals in any given conflict, or could it do more?”

“I have a final question on this. There is some interesting information about the different types of medium that have been used alongside the World Service—for example, using different social media platforms to complement the work done via traditional channels such as radio, particularly in some conflicts, or setting up…”

“Thank you both for your time. This has been very insightful so far. Mr Angus, you earlier shared with the Committee some interesting thoughts on where you felt that Government funding could be better located from, for example from the Cabinet Office. I wanted to touch on the funding specifically of World Service langua…”

“Would you therefore say there is sense in uncoupling, so you have got different sources and different ambitions to some extent? We were looking yesterday at the FDCO’s intended outcomes. Granted, those were formed by the last Government rather than this one, and the work to reshape them is being done at the moment. But…”

“Just to come in on that point, which was really interesting to hear about, would you say that the World Service in India has been able to retain its independence, despite the fact that it has restructured because of the preferences of the Indian Government?”

“Dr Westcott, to expand on the point you were just making on Sudan, how important would you say the role of the World Service is in providing information during crises and conflict—you were talking about Sudan there, but also with reference to Ukraine and Gaza? It would be useful to hear about any impact of the World Se…”

“Following on from that, do you believe the Government currently makes sufficient use of the World Service to reinforce British foreign policy goals in any given conflict, or could it do more?”

“I have a final question on this. There is some interesting information about the different types of medium that have been used alongside the World Service—for example, using different social media platforms to complement the work done via traditional channels such as radio, particularly in some conflicts, or setting up…”

“Thank you both for your time. This has been very insightful so far. Mr Angus, you earlier shared with the Committee some interesting thoughts on where you felt that Government funding could be better located from, for example from the Cabinet Office. I wanted to touch on the funding specifically of World Service langua…”

“Would you therefore say there is sense in uncoupling, so you have got different sources and different ambitions to some extent? We were looking yesterday at the FDCO’s intended outcomes. Granted, those were formed by the last Government rather than this one, and the work to reshape them is being done at the moment. But…”

“This is the last one from me, and then I will hand over to colleagues. The OBR has said that it does not expect fiscal circumstances to allow an increase in ODA from 0.5% to 0.7% within this Parliament. What do you expect the timeline to look like in reality?”

“Thank you, Chair, and Sir Philip. I thought a good place to start might be to follow on from where my colleague left off, with your reflections on the merger, but thinking about ODA. You set out the very different world we find ourselves in from the one we thought we might be in, in terms of the politics of it as well.…”

“Okay, thank you. I want to turn briefly to the FCDO’s priority outcomes, and in particular priority outcome 3. For the benefit of those watching at home, that is: “Reinvigorate the UK’s leadership role in international development to tackle shared global challenges, respond to humanitarian crises, and support the Susta…”

“There is the challenge, which you touched on earlier, of the ODA decrease from 0.7% to 0.5% that the last Conservative Government brought in, so you are trying to stretch less over more. Your reflections on that would be interesting, because we are keen to make sure that the funds are going where they are meant to go. …”

“Thank you for your honesty there. Do you think that that cut has had an impact on UK soft power?”

“When I was out knocking on doors and listening to fellow residents at the weekend, many people in Winterbourne said how pleased they were to see us begin the change that has been so desperately needed by so many for so long. From our NHS and our schools to our industry and our roads, this Labour Budget is focused on fi…”

“I rise to speak in support of new clause 8, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), who is not a Committee member. The new clause would provide protection for bereaved guarantors by prohibiting the application of a guarantor agreement in the event of the death of a tenant. My hon…”