Speeches by Naish.

“At a Hanukkah event in Nottingham last night, I spoke to a medical undergraduate who welcomes the Government’s commitment to halving competition, and the offer that was put to the BMA. Lots of medical professionals, be they hospital doctors, GPs or allied health professionals, are struggling to find work. Will the Secr…”

“I wish to present this petition on behalf of my constituents in Rushcliffe, especially those in Radcliffe-on-Trent and Cotgrave, who have signed it to signal their desire to see the public path and cycleway between Radcliffe-on-Trent and Cotgrave reopened. The public greenway linking Radcliffe-on-Trent and Cotgrave pro…”

“Moving on to displaced people. Chair, I thought we had a hard stop.”

“Do you think the cart is going before the horse a bit on this issue?”

“On the fiscal reforms that have taken place in Nigeria, it was the FCDO and the UK that had been leading the World Bank, and the World Bank acknowledged that it was UK leadership that had really driven forward those reforms. I guess there is a risk if you put too much trust in the multilaterals—you trust that they are …”

“When she was last here—or the time before that, maybe—the Minister said that there would be no disability, inclusion and rights strategy refresh. How does that sit alongside the amount of change that we have talked about today? How can we be confident that we do not need a refresh in the context of what has been descri…”

“Going back to that quote that “less money does not necessarily mean less action”, the problem is that you say that for education, for women and girls, and for disability, but that cannot be true for everything. Effectively, it comes across as saying, “We are just going to mainstream the things that we are no longer ful…”

“Okay. I guess what we are trying to understand is the direction of travel for the Department. The response we received to that report said that “less money does not necessarily mean less action” on women and girls programming. Can you expand on how those things can be true? Presumably you are saying “We’re just going t…”

“Which I think is what the Minister had alluded to, but the response we got from the Department suggested that these things were taking place. Perhaps that is one for a follow-up, for clarity.”

“We did a report on displaced people, which I will assume you have seen—or certainly your teams have—at some point. The Minister twice told us that there had been no equality impact assessment, but the response that we received suggested that there had been. Could you clarify whether an equality impact assessment had be…”

“The response we received to our displaced people report pointed to equality impact assessments that had been undertaken; I think they were published online, but they were quite vague. I am seeking clarity on what equality impact assessments have been done in and around policy towards displaced people.”

“Are you saying that there is no risk in the approach to making decisions about directorates and senior staffing numbers and individuals without having a clear understanding of the overall end picture, or would you accept that there is heightened risk?”

“I do too.”

“We on the Committee have been struggling to wrap our heads around how things such as the directorates have been determined when, as you have described, there is a series of moving parts and those parts have not landed, including arguably the biggest one, which is ODA and where that is being spent. How are decisions bei…”

“I declare an interest: I worked on RIIO-ED2 for the Northern Powergrid and on its business plan for the current price period. The hon. Lady mentioned the pace and speed of flexibility, and the whole concept behind that plan was flexibility-first. Flexibility has been talked about for a long time in the industry. Does s…”

“So it is effectively those three things. You described one or two of them earlier that had finished. Have all those things finished?”

“The hon. Gentleman is outlining a range of issues that make it difficult for people to reduce their bills. Does that not highlight the benefit of flexibility, because it would give people greater control, empower them and give them information, so that they can control their bill as best as possible? That is why we hav…”

“If I am right, there have been three reviews in progress: there was the review of the overseas network; there has been a review of the Department’s directorate structures; and then there has been an assessment of what the cuts mean for the ODA budget.”

“The Nigerians told us that the UK was there with them in a way that the World Bank initially was not, and actually it was through the UK’s leadership that additional support came.”

“In the light of the important issues being discussed today about the concerning activities of China in the UK, can I ask the Minister what additional steps he is taking or planning to take to protect Hongkongers, Tibetans and Uyghurs from any form of transnational repression?”