Speeches by Harding.

“There was a report by ICAI in March 2024 which said that, as a result of the reduction of ODA from 0.7% to 0.5%, less programme budget was given over to MEL. That would suggest that there was a drop in MEL because there was a lack of programme budget, but you seem to say otherwise.”

“That is interesting.”

“Do you think that the new cut will have any impact on MEL?”

“Finally, how does the UK compare to other major donor countries in terms of MEL?”

“Brendan, in your opinion, do private contractors conform to the same standards of transparency as the rest of the development community?”

“Are the current levels of salaries, profits and dividends in the sector appropriate for an international development context?”

“Sinead, is that something you worry about in your subcontractors?”

“But in your opinion at the moment, it is about right?”

“Are there any significant outliers or any times when there have been significant outliers?”

“We have talked about this before. What level of profit is about right, then?”

“Finally, do you believe that the sector is resilient enough to withstand these shocks, particularly the shocks that we had at the beginning of the year?”

“Thank you. Alex has answered these questions, so I am going to propose them to Mark. What would be your assessment of the FCDO’s current MEL processes across its programming?”

“Thank you, those are really illuminating examples. How does this compare with the situation before the merger, when it was DFID?”

“There was a report by ICAI in March 2024 which said that, as a result of the reduction of ODA from 0.7% to 0.5%, less programme budget was given over to MEL. That would suggest that there was a drop in MEL because there was a lack of programme budget, but you seem to say otherwise.”

“That is interesting.”

“Do you think that the new cut will have any impact on MEL?”

“Finally, how does the UK compare to other major donor countries in terms of MEL?”

“The mandate, which we welcome, calls for only 22% sustainable jet fuel usage by 2040, while the Chancellor has said that she wants a third runway in use at Heathrow by 2035. That would mean more aviation-related health hazards to my constituents. Does the Minister agree that we should not pursue Heathrow expansion unti…”

“The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross has said that in Gaza, “humanity is failing”. What is happening in Gaza surpasses any acceptable legal, moral or humane standard. Palestinians are being stripped of their dignity. When will the Minister pronounce that they have a state, and given that Israel…”

“It is indeed an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) for securing this important debate. Since the new US Administration took office in January, President Trump and Elon Musk have gutted USAID—the world’s foremost dispenser of …”