Speeches by Carden.

“Carrying on that point, is it not the case that a two-state solution can only be imposed and pushed for by outside powers? What would you say that looks like?”

“At the beginning, you said the United States was unpredictable. We all expect something to happen when President-elect Trump comes to office. What do you expect from the US and other powers, such as Saudi Arabia and the UK? Which outside powers should take a leading role in trying to deliver peace?”

“Thank you, Sharone, for coming to speak to us today. It is heartbreaking to hear the experiences that you have had over the last 14 months. You mentioned Qatar. Qatar was leading negotiations. Hamas had been residing there. It has now pulled away from leading those negotiations, but during that time was there any part …”

“I welcome everything in the Foreign Secretary’s statement, and he is right that we must not be blind to the risks of this moment. I want to ask him about two groups. First, what is his hope in the future process for the millions of Syrians who have fled Syria over the past decades? Also, the Kurdish community is one of…”

“The Minister has inherited an incredible mess. Reportedly, £3.6 billion of overseas aid will be spent on refugees and asylum seekers in this country this year, but simply ending the use of hotels will not solve some of the problems that the system is causing in our communities. A lot of the private providers of asylum …”

“I am not sure that I would agree with the view that things are working better now than perhaps they did before the merger, but I know that the Chair wants to move on.”

“Good afternoon, Sir Philip. Could I take you back to the difficult period of the handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan? The predecessor Committee to this one published a damning report, which said that Afghan allies and British soldiers “were utterly let down by deep failures of leadership”. It accused your Depar…”

“Thank you for that. I wondered whether you felt that episode damaged your ability to lead as permanent secretary, and I want to link that to the last four years and the FCDO merger. I know that previous permanent secretaries have driven through change with programmes: Sir Simon Fraser had his diplomatic excellence prog…”

“I know that colleagues are going to pick up on ODA and some of those points, but specifically, with overseas development coming into the Foreign Office and all the pressures now on that—including spending a lot of that money here in the UK—I am still missing a vision that brings those two things together.”

“Was President Trump not right in his first term, when he pushed NATO countries to increase defence spending? The numbers have gone from six countries meeting the 2% target back in 2021, up to 23 countries meeting the target now. Is this not serious, because if President Trump makes decisions on Ukraine in his second te…”

“A Business Secretary in the last Government wrote an industrial strategy, but it was quickly binned. Under the Conservatives’ new leadership, what is their position on industrial strategy, because we went without one for many years?”

“I will not. I also welcome the intention to shift the focus to prevention in healthcare. My constituency is one of the most deprived in the UK, and far too many suffer the health impacts of poverty, addiction and despair. I hope to work with the Government to address those long-term public health crises. Next, and cruc…”

“What a privilege it is to follow so many accomplished and particularly moving maiden speeches. I start by congratulating my right hon. Friend the Chancellor on her first Budget. It shows the first steps of this new Labour Government as the work of change really begins. I hope that it will mark a turning point from decl…”

“I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as an MP who has been on picket lines of bus drivers over the years and who is supported by trade unions. I just want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for bringing this measure before us, to welcome the proposals and to say, on b…”

“The racecourse was an absolute bog filled with water, and two of those horses had to be remounted to get to the finish. The event hooked me on horseracing because it was so extraordinary. The hon. Member for West Suffolk and I now chair the all-party parliamentary group on racing and bloodstock, and our first meeting o…”

“Thank you, Sir Edward, for your chairmanship of today’s debate, and it is a pleasure to be able to contribute. I refer Members to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and congratulate the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy) on securing the debate. His extraordinary constituency has New…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Member for securing this debate—he and I are co-chairs of the all-party parliamentary group on racing and bloodstock. It is important to get more money into the racing industry because there are so many people employed throughout the sport for whom racing is their livelihood, but their commitm…”

“1. What steps her Department is taking to increase prison capacity.”

“I welcome the Defence Secretary’s statement, especially what he said about the deepening military and industrial strategy between the United Kingdom and Ukraine. There is clearly a growing alliance building between Russia and Iran, united in undermining democracy and risking further proxy wars. Will the Defence Secreta…”

“I refer hon. Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. One way to reduce pressure on numbers is to treat more offenders with drug and alcohol addictions outside the prison estate. That reduces prisoner numbers and reduces reoffending, which means fewer victims and fewer people returning to pr…”