Speeches by Harding.

“How many countries will the British Council remain open in after the second restructuring? That is without the debt.”

“Have the cuts to the ISF meant you have had to cut back on the work in the Baltic countries specifically?”

“I have a final question. You talked about a lack of political leadership. Why do you think there is a lack of political leadership on this?”

“I want to drill down on the accountability, if I may, and what practical steps we can take, but first I want to return to what you were saying about the blackout and why there is no public consciousness of this. We are receiving information about human rights atrocities; the American Administration under Biden called i…”

“Can you talk to us about the failure of the international and domestic accountability mechanisms to prevent atrocities in Sudan? How are the current efforts to protect civilians and pursue justice evolving on the ground?”

“I did not really understand the point about political feasibility. What does that mean?”

“Very quickly, the British Council tells us, in its second round of restructuring, that its offices will go down to 65, and that is even without it paying off the loan. They will go further down after that. Part of the problem is that it is not winning any development work, because there is no ODA budget for it to win a…”

“Can the Foreign Office and the Government do anything to prepare the public? In that situation, things will go wrong. There needs to be a high risk appetite for projects that are going awry, simply because the checks and balances that go through a multilateral organisation might not be there in a smaller NGO that is wo…”

“I just want to pick up on your comment on migration. My understanding is that the largest number of unaccompanied minors who came to the UK on small boats were from Sudan. These are basically boys under 18 years old. However, and I think this is right, the Integrated Security Fund was not funding Sudan because it was n…”

“The article goes on to say that the UN—”

“That is according to documents seen by the UN Security Council, according to The Guardian.”

“British military equipment.”

“Can we turn to El Fasher and the terrible situation developing there now, which poses risks to civilians left in the city and those trying to flee the city and access essential support? We have heard from organisations on the ground that those able to flee towards Tawila are adding to approximately 600,000 displaced pe…”

“Minister, there are obviously human rights atrocities and violations of international humanitarian law happening in Sudan right now. Today, a report in The Guardian says that British military equipment has been found on the battlefields in Sudan. Even after the UN Security Council first received materials alleging that…”

“The total ODA budget, not just for Sudan.”

“In terms of the protection of budgets, it is your indication that we need to go further into crisis, because the humanitarian situation is getting far worse, so can you commit that the ODA budget will not be further cut from where it is at the moment?”

“Thank you for joining us, Minister. Last time we saw you, you confirmed that funding for Sudan would not be cut, yet in the annual report and accounts we see an 18% reduction for Sudan and a 23% reduction for South Sudan. Can you explain those cuts in light of your previous comments?”

“I have a final question. You talked about a lack of political leadership. Why do you think there is a lack of political leadership on this?”

“I want to drill down on the accountability, if I may, and what practical steps we can take, but first I want to return to what you were saying about the blackout and why there is no public consciousness of this. We are receiving information about human rights atrocities; the American Administration under Biden called i…”

“I did not really understand the point about political feasibility. What does that mean?”