Speeches by Reed.

“I too want to hear from the Minister what plans he has to make sure that infrastructure keeps pace with development. The community infrastructure levy is another funding mechanism, but CIL revenue is stretched across multiple infrastructure needs, and not all funds go towards water and the sewerage system. The local pl…”

“Credit where credit is due: I commend the Prime Minister for the leadership that he has shown over the past week. Many Members across the House will understand the range of emotions that are felt before a deployment on global operations. Will the Prime Minister send a message to the brave men and women across our armed…”

“Does the hon. and gallant Member not think that her constituents have a right to know how much this deal is going to cost them before it is negotiated and finished?”

“Q5. Last week, the Prime Minister gave yet another threadbare excuse for why he and his north London lawyer friends are giving away the Chagos islands. This is his decision, and he must own it. More importantly, he cannot tell us, British taxpayers, how much this is going to cost. Is it £9 billion? Is it £18 billion? I…”

“T3. The Prime Minister has just held talks for a UK-EU defence and security partnership, in which the development of artificial intelligence will have been a key theme. However, last night, the UK chose not to join EU countries in signing the international agreement on AI. Will the Secretary of State please explain the…”

“From the other side have you seen when those mechanisms have not been strong enough and they have not worked well?”

“Thank you, Dianne, Jennifer and Abdou for being with us today. Let us flip it to the other side and look at the role of the UK within multilateral organisations. I will go to Jennifer. From your perspective, what mechanisms do the FCDO have to ensure that value for money is being achieved through its contributions to m…”

“In a formal way?”

“To add one very small point.”

“Very small; on that side, but this is an area that I want to dig into. We had the Minister in front of us recently, and also the Permanent Secretary. I have asked the same questions. I still do not think that conversation has firmed up in any meaningful way.”

“Thanks to both of you for being here. Shamik, going back to that point about those conversations happening when the merger happened. I would expect by now that foreign policy should be part of the assessment for any development work that is going out. Would it be possible to talk through how those conversations went, w…”

“High level though from the other side, so you have obviously seen it, you have seen the politics play out now and this department is going to be looking into government efficiency and how that money is spent. Is there no understanding of where that might go and where the gaps might be?”

“Quickly, and building on Laura’s question about USAID, I would imagine that the FCDO’s approach to scrutiny over how money is spent in multilateral organisations is similar to how USAID would do it. We have just seen a new Department of Government Efficiency open up in America and it is currently heavily looking into t…”

“Okay. That is very good. Jennifer?”

“Just one question to all three of you if possible and just short answers, please. From your perspective does the FCDO apply enough scrutiny over how money is put into these multilateral organisations?”

“Farmers across Devon are rightly concerned about Labour’s planned changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief, particularly the serious impact on family farms and on the sustainability of rural communities. In early December I wrote to the Secretary of State to invite him to meet Devon’s farmin…”

“9. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the autumn Budget 2024 on business confidence among farmers.”

“Will the FCDO team please confirm who is the lead Minister in these negotiations?”

“I thank the Secretary of State for finally confirming that elections will go ahead in Devon. However, we had been told that, if we were not selected this time round, devolution would be imposed on us. Will the Secretary of State please give an explanation to my constituents in Exmouth and Exeter East of what that impos…”

“To confirm, it will not be shared with us.”