Speeches by Kyrke-Smith.

“We are fortunate to have some great apprenticeship providers in Aylesbury, such as the Buckinghamshire College Group and Buckinghamshire New University. When I joined pupils from the Grange school at their careers fair, I saw at first hand their excitement about the apprenticeship options on offer. We know that apprent…”

“14. What steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships.”

“I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement. I have dared to feel some hope that this ceasefire could be the beginning of the end of Israel’s 15 months of pain and suffering since the appalling Hamas attacks, and the end of 15 months in which the entire population of Gaza has wondered day in, day out whether they w…”

“As we have heard, the situation for women and girls is particularly severe in Sudan, with reports of gender-based violence surging, including kidnapping, forced marriage, child marriage and intimate partner violence. In fact, the UN has reported a 288% increase in the number of survivors of gender-based violence seekin…”

“Last month, I worked with Aylesbury town council to convene some of the businesses that are so central to our community. They raised concerns about antisocial behaviour, and the data backs up those concerns: in the past year, more than 750 incidents were recorded in the constituency. Does the Leader of the House agree …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) for securing today’s important debate. Before I go further, I declare an interest, having previously been executive director of the International Rescue Committee in the UK, which is part of…”

“I wish to move away from the distracting, insulting and dangerous politics of some Conservative Members and return to the key principles of the Bill, which will reduce the pervasive inequality in our society. It will drive high standards throughout our education and care systems so that every child can achieve and thri…”

“It is just interesting that you are doing well at that senior level in terms of racial diversity, but in terms of gender and disability the challenge is the other way round and you are doing much better at the junior levels. If that is a fair characterisation, why do you think that is? When you look at race you are doi…”

“I would like to turn to the FCDO workforce briefly—I am conscious of time. You spoke to the Foreign Affairs Committee about this and talked about the fact that men in the FCDO are more likely to receive a bonus payment than women, which I think you had put down to probably some unconscious bias in the system. I would l…”

“To ask beyond gender, if we look at, in particular, race, disability and economic background, what measures are you taking to improve diversity in those areas?”

“Minister, I would like to turn to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which, as you know, remains absolutely dire, and in particular UNRWA. In three weeks’ time, the legislation that has gone through the Knesset is due to come into force, which would effectively ban UNRWA from operating. Almost 6 mil…”

“Are the Israeli Government listening? Do you feel your representations are being taken seriously and considered?”

“What does happen if Israel goes ahead? Are you confident it has looked at alternatives? Does it think there are alternatives that could work? It feels highly unlikely to me. From our perspective, how is that going to play out, the day after this goes into force, if it does?”

“I do agree that the measure ultimately has to be about delivery, in terms of where the aid gets to, but it feels to me like UNWRA is an essential part of that. There is no alternative. I fear that this ban will go ahead and will be implemented. I worry also about the impact on other UN agencies. My final question to yo…”

“I would like to turn to the FCDO workforce briefly—I am conscious of time. You spoke to the Foreign Affairs Committee about this and talked about the fact that men in the FCDO are more likely to receive a bonus payment than women, which I think you had put down to probably some unconscious bias in the system. I would l…”

“To ask beyond gender, if we look at, in particular, race, disability and economic background, what measures are you taking to improve diversity in those areas?”

“It is just interesting that you are doing well at that senior level in terms of racial diversity, but in terms of gender and disability the challenge is the other way round and you are doing much better at the junior levels. If that is a fair characterisation, why do you think that is? When you look at race you are doi…”

“Minister, I would like to turn to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which, as you know, remains absolutely dire, and in particular UNRWA. In three weeks’ time, the legislation that has gone through the Knesset is due to come into force, which would effectively ban UNRWA from operating. Almost 6 mil…”

“Are the Israeli Government listening? Do you feel your representations are being taken seriously and considered?”

“What does happen if Israel goes ahead? Are you confident it has looked at alternatives? Does it think there are alternatives that could work? It feels highly unlikely to me. From our perspective, how is that going to play out, the day after this goes into force, if it does?”