Speeches by Hardy.

“They were right to make those criticisms in the past—absolutely. I hope they would say that they can see we are trying to take a different approach. It has been the case—and it has been the case for a long time—that there has not been a strategic plan. I hope they would recognise we have come in as a new Government and…”

“I love this—this is really exciting. We are as the UK part of the high ambition coalition. We were not internationally able to negotiate the final treaty, so negotiations will be happening again this year, but that was not for the lack of UK passion, involvement and commitment. The DEFRA team—to use a non-ministerial w…”

“I have to apologise if I am slightly mindful about how I talk about negotiations that are going on in the background, so apologies for that. Conversations are happening with other countries where we have allegiances and alliances, and those conversations are going on at the moment. I suppose, as you would ahead of any …”

“If I had not got rid of my Twitter account, I would have retweeted it myself, too. It goes back to the conversation we were having about when we can get the stage 3 byelaws passed. We are committed to not having bottom trawling in areas that damage the MPAs, especially when they are attached to features that we are try…”

“No. The policy has not changed. The delay is on making sure that I am making the right decision and that I have all the evidence required to make the best decision. I would rather spend a bit longer—a few more months—doing that than make a decision that I regret later on.”

“We have some brilliant people working on science and innovation, and looking at our marine environment. In fact, lots of that evidence is partly what will guide the work we do on marine spatial prioritisation. They have also been looking at our MPA review. We need that level of scientific evidence to make sure that we …”

“This is an important point because, where there is a lack of transparency, people may misinterpret how decisions are made. My general rule of thumb is that I will try to be as transparent as possible unless there is a particular reason I am not able to share the data. Quite obviously, we might not share data and inform…”

“The fact that it has come out in the Dan Corry review means that this is an area that needs improvement, so we need to have a look at it. It is highlighted as a potential problem, so we need to look at ways to address it and resolve that. We are working on that now.”

“On the changes that we are looking to prescribe, that goes back to the question on marine spatial prioritisation. I am pleased you have mentioned that because it highlights even within the Committee the different tensions when it comes to managing the oceans. In the marine spatial prioritisation, we have the fishing co…”

“At this moment, no, because we do not know where we will put MPAs in the future and where we have got to at this stage of marine spatial prioritisation. That would be impossible to quantify at this moment. However, even though I sit here as the marine conservationist, if you like, I still talk to—”

“Of course. I still talk to the fishing community as well. We still have those conversations to see how we can best manage it. There is a spatial squeeze. There is no getting around it. That is a challenge and that is why we need to think about it strategically. [Interruption.]”

“In terms of new proposals for HPMAs? So that I have understood, is that about designating new HPMAs?”

“Designating new ones, okay. Under the MPA review, we are looking at all of them and HPMAs are included in that, but at the moment, in that review, we are not considering designating new HPMAs. It is looking at whether the things we have are in the right place. Also, importantly, some of the HPMAs have not had all of th…”

“To be clear, going back to spatial squeeze and all the concerns around that, the fishing community is fully represented in all of those conversations around spatial squeeze by the Minister for fisheries, Minister Zeichner, but part of the—”

“He is a wonderful Minister. We also talk directly to the fishing community as well. Part of the difficulty at the moment is that because we are doing the marine spatial prioritisation, of course we do not know at the moment where the offshore wind will be because that is part of having the strategic plan. However, to o…”

“I know you are, yes.”

“To mention one success story with the marine spatial prioritisation —because who does not like to share success—in the past I was informed that there was regular conflict with the fishing community about the telecommunications cables that go along the bottom of the ground and the types of fishing and how that disrupted…”

“It is devolved, so I was completely respectful of—”

“I am aware of how it went, but I want to say for the record that I respect that it is a devolved decision, and it is a devolved Government. Of course, you are looking at where you are putting things. From my understanding of that situation—and I respect you are closer to it than I am—one important thing is talking to t…”

“One hundred per cent.”