Speeches by Reed.

“But it will be this year.”

“That is what I am looking for at the moment, Minister.”

“I will push back very slightly on that. I am sure, as I have said before, that many, many MPs here will have those same conversations with their constituents. That narrative is changing very rapidly. When you look at things that are happening in the UK, such as the cost of living crisis where people are worried about t…”

“I will ask a similar question to the ones I asked the FCDO officials. Development has become quite contentious now in the UK. The issue is that we dive straight into the priorities without outlining the high-level view of why we are doing this in the first place. It is very difficult to then communicate to the UK publi…”

“Linked very closely to that, and one for Corin, what will your priorities be going into the spending review negotiations?”

“If I am being completely honest, I think that this is part of the problem. I completely understand all the arguments you are making, and I agree with many of them, but I am sure that many people on the Committee have had the same problem knocking on doors. Because there is not that short, snappy answer of why we are sp…”

“Nick, Sir Philip and Corin, thank you very much for being with us today. I join the Chair in congratulating you and thanking you for your many decades of service to our country. I would like to start high level and then dive into detail. It is fair to say that, in recent years, the UK doing international development ha…”

“Broadly, will it be this half or the next half of the year?”

“Can I push you on a date?”

“Minister, thank you for being so generous with your time. The last wave of questions will focus on the oceans. The Government have committed to ratifying the global ocean treaty, but when do they plan to do this?”

“But it will be this year.”

“That is what I am looking for at the moment, Minister.”

“I will push back very slightly on that. I am sure, as I have said before, that many, many MPs here will have those same conversations with their constituents. That narrative is changing very rapidly. When you look at things that are happening in the UK, such as the cost of living crisis where people are worried about t…”

“Moving on from the last Government to the new Government, are those priorities quite different? Are there quite significant changes that you are going to have to make to put those points across?”

“I will ask a similar question to the ones I asked the FCDO officials. Development has become quite contentious now in the UK. The issue is that we dive straight into the priorities without outlining the high-level view of why we are doing this in the first place. It is very difficult to then communicate to the UK publi…”

“Linked very closely to that, and one for Corin, what will your priorities be going into the spending review negotiations?”

“If I am being completely honest, I think that this is part of the problem. I completely understand all the arguments you are making, and I agree with many of them, but I am sure that many people on the Committee have had the same problem knocking on doors. Because there is not that short, snappy answer of why we are sp…”

“The key theme set out by hon. Members from across Wales and the south-west is that we are all being kept in the dark. What will the Minister do to engage with MPs from across the region and tell us what plans for mitigation are being put in place in our constituencies for the planned works at Old Oak Common?”

“This is a major issue. We are talking about the sewage network for an entire country. The last Government pushed for storm overflows to be looked at, and I am glad that the Bill, which has been brought forward by this Government, will look at emergency overflows. As we know, the landmark Environment Act 2021 gave regul…”

“I thank the Government for introducing this Bill and the Minister for Water for meeting me last week. This is a vital issue, not least for my constituents in Exmouth and Exeter East. Across my constituency, from Cranbrook to Exmouth, we have felt the full force of South West Water’s neglectful and harmful behaviours. T…”