Speeches by Naish.

“A lot of people, when selecting their bank, go to the local town and choose the bank that their parents used; but with the volume of closures taking place we might be getting to the point where banks lose business, as we stop going to the NatWests and the Lloyds, the high street banks of yesteryear, and people start go…”

“On a similar theme, this is a risk that maybe we were expecting. How long has the Department been preparing for the announcement that came from America? Is that something that we have been working on for a period of time? How long will it be until you get to the point where you truly understand the impact?”

“In our notes, it says here that the UN Environment Programme found that the UK scored only 41 out of 80 for policy coherence on SDG governance. You mentioned the word “coherence” earlier and we need things such as nutrition to be cross-cutting. What work is being done to make sure that our scores from an external persp…”

“I was just going to ask this, given the warm words you have used about nutrition. I do not believe there has been an updated strategy since 2017. Is there a commitment to updating our nutrition strategy from the FCDO?”

“As the final word comes back to the east midlands, I thank the Minister for her hard work. Many of my constituents in Rushcliffe work for Rolls-Royce and will wholeheartedly welcome the announcement today. Could the Minister briefly explain how skills development will link to the evolving defence industrial strategy, a…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western, and I thank the Minister—a trained Anglican priest who, I am sure, has our best interests at heart—for tolerating the lamentations of we lay people. I start by thanking the dozen or so constituents who have written to me about the listed places of worship gr…”

“I wholeheartedly welcome the Government’s commitment to introducing a deposit return scheme. The policy is long overdue and will help us to tackle the rising tide of waste and pollution that has blighted our countryside and our environment for too long. It is a source of great pride to represent Rushcliffe in this Hous…”

“I rise to express my full support for the Bill, which would uphold our democratic principles by ensuring that absent voting is more accessible, consistent and secure across Scotland and Wales, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert) for introducing it. We debated the sunshine…”

“Several homes in my constituency were badly flooded, with more than 500 homes flooded internally across the east midlands. I express my sympathy to all those impacted. It was especially concerning to hear about the verbal abuse directed towards flood wardens, who work exceptionally hard to protect their communities. Do…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his very measured statement. I have met dozens of constituents in Rushcliffe who I know will wholeheartedly welcome yesterday’s news. However, I have received a lot of emails specifically about the decimation of medical facilities in the northern part of Gaza. Can I ask the Foreign Secr…”

“As the son of a farmer, I remember only too well waking up in the early morning and going downstairs to listen to Radio 4 in silence with my family as we heard about more and more animals being culled during the crisis in the early 2000s. What steps are being taken to engage the National Farmers Union and other trade b…”

“Would you share the latest compliance data with us?”

“Thank you, Minister. I just want to turn attention to in-donor refugee costs. As you will know, they have increased from £0.6 billion in 2019 to £4.3 billion in 2023. A significant part of your Department’s budget is heading in that direction. We have not seen any specific plans yet about how that is going to be reduce…”

“We spoke to the officials beforehand. The Committee was surprised to hear that they were not really tracking the impact of the changes. They have had that £200 million to £300 million extra uplift in funds, which is a good thing, which is going towards extra projects and programmes. If that was me, and that is my Depar…”

“Finally, what is your overall sense? You have come into the Department. What is your view of the overall impact of the amount of money that is being spent on in-donor refugee costs and the efficacy of your Department now?”

“There was a similar amount in terms of fraud in the 2022‑23 annual accounts related to Sierra Leone.”

“It definitely will not.”

“Does that come from the aid budget, then? Does that mean there is less being spent on other funds?”

“Are we expecting to recover those funds?”

“When will we know more on that?”