Speeches by Morello.

“I am interested in your opinion. You can destroy facilities and set back its plans, but, ultimately, Iran still has the technical know-how, the scientists, the manufacturing ability and the uranium mines to rebuild the enrichment process over some period of time, should it wish to. In terms of what the desired outcome …”

“Thank you, Mr Lapid. I am interested in following on a little bit from the Chair’s point and going back to the five things that you outlined in terms of what Israel is looking for Iran to agree to. I am struck by the fact that having just been bombed by two nuclear powers would not seem to incentivise the Iranian regim…”

“Mr Lapid, I am interested in your view, based on the intelligence that you have seen, on, time-wise, how close Israel believes Iran was to having nuclear capability prior to the strikes by Israel and the US. What is your assessment of how far that has been pushed out as a result of the attacks, or do you believe that i…”

“To the second part of my question, as a result of the strikes, what is your view on where Iran’s capability is now in terms of timeline?”

“In an increasingly unstable world, working with our European allies on defence and weapons production is vital for our security and our economy. If investment is needed, providing it should not stand in the way of the opportunity to support UK defence manufacturers, enable joint research and development and promote Bri…”

“The future of our country is being shaped every day in our classrooms, yet we are failing too many children, too many families and too many schools in places like West Dorset because the Government funding formula relies too heavily on deprivation as a metric, and fails to recognise the very real challenges that rural …”

“On page 39, the “National Security Strategy 2025” states: “Instances of China’s espionage, interference in our democracy and the undermining of our economic security have increased in recent years.” Just three pages later, it talks about the importance of “creating the basis for a reciprocal and balanced economic relat…”

“The national security strategy document outlines an expanded meaning of national security to include areas such as food security. If food security is national security—I certainly agree it is—we need to increase domestic production instead of cutting support for farmers and increasing our reliance on imports from the o…”

“2. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the UK’s involvement in the Security Action for Europe initiative.”

“It’s fine. Does the US pay anything directly to the UK in rent for the base?”

“Sir John has done an exceptionally good job of asking all the questions that I intended to ask.”

“Last week, I think, the Italian Foreign Minister was on record questioning the relevance of the United Nations. I wonder if that is intrinsically tied to the fact that we currently have a Secretary-General who perhaps is not of the activist mould—and is a bit more passive in international events—and whether it is to th…”

“Sir Mark, I am interested in your views on the role of the Secretary-General versus the UN Security Council. The current Secretary-General is coming up to 18 months or a year left on his second and final term. In your mind, is there a benefit to having a more activist Secretary-General who is more willing to impose the…”

“And the £40 million for the Chagos fund is a one-off year 1 cost?”

“I am interested in the weighting of the payments. The £165 million a year for the first three years seems to align with the parliamentary schedule of Mauritius, which suggests that we are effectively benefiting the current Government who are signing this contract, at the disadvantage of future Governments. For the bene…”

“But presumably, that weighting was at the request of the current Mauritian Government.”

“Sure, why not? We are establishing a joint commission with the Mauritian Government for any points of dispute. Could you shine some further light on that? Who will be on it? What kinds of qualifications are you looking for in the individuals? How do we ensure that sensitive information shared through that mechanism is …”

“Are those political appointments or diplomatic ones? Does the Prime Minister retain the right to change membership as they see fit?”

“I guess that, as part of that, we would have the right to object to any appointment that they made, and vice versa.”

“Can the Minister confirm that the US requires prior approval from the UK for operations launched from Diego Garcia?”