Speeches by Jarvis.

“Yes.”

“I do not know how much time the right hon. Lady spends thinking about matters relating to national security or understands the nature of the—”

“Not at all—I am seeking to explain to her that this Government, like the last Government, manage a range of national security risks. That would be the case whatever decision was taken around this proposal.”

“Fundamentally, Government are there to make the British people safer. For the reasons that I have explained, I am confident that this is the right decision from a national security perspective.”

“I know that the hon. Gentleman gives a lot of thought and dedication to these matters. He reflected on the engagement that had taken place under the previous Government, under former Prime Minister David Cameron. The hon. Gentleman will understand, because he thinks about these things very carefully, that there is obvi…”

“I do not agree with the hon. Lady’s analysis with regard to consolidation. This Government will always work to ensure that the British public are safer—that is our job, our abiding mission and the first responsibility of Government. I am confident that the decision that has been taken, with the mitigations in place, wi…”

“As with any embassy, either in this country or around the world—let us not be naive about the fact that Britain has embassies right around the world—the Vienna convention lays down the way in which different Governments should behave with regard to the conduct of their diplomatic presences. We take our responsibilities…”

“This is where the rubber hits the road, so that is an entirely fair challenge. I met in London the chief exec who co-ordinates activity across London, and was with a chief constable and a deputy mayor for policing in Greater Manchester, specifically to talk about such issues. The Home Office Prevent advisers do incredi…”

“I want to put something very briefly on the record, because I feel very strongly about this. I am the Minister with responsibility for the National Crime Agency, and that is a very comprehensive description of what we are doing. I would stress the importance of the transnational element of all this, and working with ke…”

“The right hon. Gentleman is very experienced from his own time in government, and he will know that difficult decisions have to be made. It is my judgment that, ultimately, this is the right way to proceed and that we have to engage with China for the reasons I have explained. Ultimately, nothing—nothing—will prevent t…”

“In one sense, I can agree with the right hon. Gentleman that there is a pattern of behaviour; he is right about that. The pattern of behaviour is doing the right thing and making sure that we safeguard our national security.”

“I am disappointed that the hon. Gentleman has not asked me about the FIRS—I have a very good response for him that I will not be able to give now. He is not quite right to say that I quoted extensively from the planning document. I did not—I referenced it only very fleetingly and then explained why that was the case. H…”

“The right hon. Lady has seen the letter that has been published today by the director general—”

“I do not agree with the hon. and learned Gentleman’s analysis. I have been crystal clear that people are entitled to their opinions and will have different views. What sensible members of the public will be interested in is what the security professionals—the security agencies, the intelligence services, those people w…”

“It is a fair challenge. There isn’t a kind of formal taskforce, as such, but I can genuinely reassure you of the Prime Minister’s personal interest in this, and the Home Secretary’s.”

“There are still the structures of the National Security Council, which provide the most appropriate forum to discuss these matters with Cabinet members and with—”

“Again, I think that is an entirely fair challenge. I think we made a bit of progress, which is obviously welcome, but clearly these are incredibly influential entities in their own right with massive resource. The more that we can join up our work with our international allies, the better. It is good to see a bit of pr…”

“I always listen carefully to the right hon. Gentleman, not least because I seem to remember that he was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Prime Minister, Lord Cameron, whose Government had quite a different relationship with China from the one we have now. He will remember that very well, as do I. While I…”

“I am casting my mind back to that time. To be fair to David Cameron, he invested a huge amount of time in the processes of the National Security Council. I can say that the Prime Minister is personally invested in these issues; I know that he takes a very keen interest, and I know that there is a regular conversation b…”

“We would be very happy to do that. I just want to emphasise, again, the importance of joining it up across Government. While the Home Office is the departmental lead, my strong view is that, actually, it will only ever be made to work if we have the buy-in of other Departments. Health is a key contributor to that proce…”