Speeches by Smith.

“How much cost does it add on to a tour? I suppose it is different for an orchestra and for a band, but at what point does it become unviable just because of cabotage?”

“Presumably, Naomi, you deal with the European equivalent to the Musicians’ Union; can you get it to come to the table and talk about the mutual benefits of sorting this problem out?”

“I have a number of constituents affected by the infected blood scandal. Justice for them and for the other victims is long overdue, so I am pleased that the Government are making progress on this issue. May I ask how many interim £100,000 payments have been made to date to the estates of people who have sadly passed aw…”

“11. What recent progress he has made on the delivery of the infected blood compensation scheme.”

“I just want to dig into that a little bit. It works in Scotland, clearly, but on a UK level, we are entering even more than ever into an era of devolution. You have talked about the mayoral authorities, which are all very ambitious for their regions and will be competitive against each other. I am from Manchester and A…”

“Sport is a good example of where you have the national co-ordinating body. Who else needs to be involved in developing the UK major events strategy?”

“I am trying to understand how you bring these two things together. All three of you have talked about the ideas coming up from the bottom, but you have also said you need co-ordination from the top. In practical terms, how does that work? You need some sort of governmental body to try to bring all these people together…”

“In terms of that vision, should it be the Government coming in? For example, many years ago in Manchester, we thought, “We need to revitalise east Manchester.” The Commonwealth games was the start of that, and it has been massively successful. That was part of a wider regeneration vision. Should the Government come in …”

“I suspected the answer was going to be no.”

“I just want to dig into that a little bit. It works in Scotland, clearly, but on a UK level, we are entering even more than ever into an era of devolution. You have talked about the mayoral authorities, which are all very ambitious for their regions and will be competitive against each other. I am from Manchester and A…”

“Sport is a good example of where you have the national co-ordinating body. Who else needs to be involved in developing the UK major events strategy?”

“I am trying to understand how you bring these two things together. All three of you have talked about the ideas coming up from the bottom, but you have also said you need co-ordination from the top. In practical terms, how does that work? You need some sort of governmental body to try to bring all these people together…”

“In terms of that vision, should it be the Government coming in? For example, many years ago in Manchester, we thought, “We need to revitalise east Manchester.” The Commonwealth games was the start of that, and it has been massively successful. That was part of a wider regeneration vision. Should the Government come in …”

“I suspected the answer was going to be no.”

“T7. It will be impossible to get the necessary aid into Gaza until the Rafah crossing is fully open. Will the Minister update us on progress in trying to persuade the Netanyahu Government to do the right thing and open the Rafah crossing?”

“Are there any lessons from abroad that we can take? Is anybody else doing it?”

“What about more local partnerships? How can Historic England convene or encourage partnerships with local authorities and social investors to capture those benefits?”

“Andy and Richard, you both talked about your challenge in maintaining heritage assets while you have to maintain operational requirements, particularly security but other kinds of operational requirements as well. Would you like to add anything on that? That leads to my second question, which is about collaboration. Hi…”

“Do you think that convening function is enough? Do you think that swapping notes is enough or do you think that there should be more oversight and control? I am getting the impression that MOD understandably is sort of managing its estate and all the challenges that comes with that but as a kind of separate entity from…”

“Is there an opportunity for more oversight and co-ordination? Mark?”