Speeches by Mundell.

“Let us do that, please.”

“The last time that you were here, Sir Philip, I found you a little bit evasive around the issue of Abercrombie House, which we were discussing. It then turned out that within about 24 hours, the FCDO made an announcement that it was leaving Abercrombie House to go to other premises in Glasgow. I wonder, given that thos…”

“It was very professional of you.”

“Within that—just going back to what you were saying, Sir Philip—one of the issues that previously emerged was that the pattern of grades of the work available was not a balanced one, so it was therefore not possible to progress. If you wanted to progress, you would have to leave Scotland.”

“Welcome, Minister. What are your overall priorities for the UK’s development programme during your term of office?”

“Does the hon. Gentleman agree, however, that the petition allows the public to express their anger and disappointment at the failure of the Labour Government to deliver on so many pledges, particularly—appositely, given the sub-zero temperatures across Scotland in the last few days—on the withdrawal of the winter fuel …”

“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Given the Secretary of State for Defence’s previous remarks, can he set out for the House exactly what discussions there have been between Ministers and the incoming Trump Administration on the future of the Diego Garcia base?”

“I call Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrat spokesman, for five minutes.”

“I call the shadow Minister to speak; you have five minutes.”

“Minister, I would grateful if you left a few moments at the end so that Jess Brown-Fuller can respond to the debate.”

“I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Surely the Minister must accept, though, that the timing of this announcement was one of the biggest diplomatic gaffes of modern times. It came literally hours before a general election was called. There was a widespread perception in Mauritiu…”

“I should declare that I am the treasurer and international representative of the CPA UK branch. The scale of the resentment, and indeed anger, among Commonwealth countries at the previous structure of the CPA is sometimes not clear in this House. A body had been set up to consider alternative structures, in particular …”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that and for his wider comments. The CPA UK in particular is a good way of bringing together colleagues from across the House. I know that Mr Speaker fully endorses and supports that. It has been a pleasure to attend many events over the years, both overseas and here, with colleagues from…”

“I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called. I do not intend to set a time limit, but if Members could stick to five or six minutes, everybody should get to speak.”

“I will regard that as your speech, Mr Bloore.”

“I am surprised that nobody has mentioned BBC Parliament, on which this debate will appear. I understand that it is available over Christmas, when it shows highlights from parliamentary proceedings—of which I am sure this debate will be part. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the futur…”

“I will call Nick Timothy to move the motion and, later, the Minister to respond. I think it has been agreed that a number of other Members will make short contributions to the debate.”

“Order. I am “you” and she is the hon. Lady.”

“Last, but definitely not least, I call Jim Shannon. I intend to call the Front-Bench spokespeople at 5.10 pm.”

“Order. This debate is for a fixed 30-minute period. I will call each of the three Members who have asked to speak, but I will apply a time limit of three minutes to their contributions. I call Richard Tice.”