Speeches by Harding.

“Sorry—you say that you are not in a position now, but Minister, you say that you think it is ready to be.”

“Thank you for being frank. The ICF is in the Government’s national security assessment in January 2026—well, it does not say that there should be a sub-pledge, but it is in the security assessment—but then, as you suggest, to gamble on it does not fill me with confidence.”

“Sorry—you say that you are not in a position now, but Minister, you say that you think it is ready to be.”

“It is recoupable, so it therefore could be an asset. Saying that is very different from saying, “There’s a cash transfer of a billion pounds going over here to this fund”. This is a loan that we will recoup so it therefore could be seen as an asset. TFFF aside, that seems a much better way of measuring and accounting f…”

“It is a loan facility—just to be clear. Also, Norway, France, Germany, Brazil, Luxembourg and Indonesia thought it was good enough to invest in, and yet, even though we were the architects—”

“The International Development Committee heard from a war crimes investigator that the UK Government failed to act on repeated warnings of the looming genocidal massacre in El Fasher because their foreign policy had been captured by the United Arab Emirates. He claimed that the FCDO prioritised its economic security and…”

“Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Princess Alice hospice in my constituency on celebrating its 40th anniversary this year? Over the past 40 years, it has cared for tens of thousands of people and has been a staple for local families at their most vulnerable. Only 20% of its funding comes from statu…”

“Matthew, can I ask—and I think this will become a theme throughout this afternoon—about the supporting actors in this: the countries that surround Myanmar geographically or that are interested in Myanmar, and where you expect that push for accountability to come from? Is it from the usual suspects and, in that, is Amer…”

“Can I just return to focus on the UK itself? Has there been enough focus from the UK in the last decade on Myanmar particularly? Often when we ask the Government whether they can sort this country out, they say, “We cannot be everywhere all at once. We do not have the budget to do all this.” What would be your response…”

“You speak about two incidents. One was in May 2024 and the next was in October 2024. During that time, there was a change of Government. Is it your understanding that that attitude towards the UAE, or the pressure that was being put on the Government, was the same and that Ministers were acting in the same way despite …”

“I am very keen to hear about the ISF too. Minister, I was in Adré, as I know you have been. I was told there that they expected after the fall of El Fasher, 90,000 people to cross the border and only 45,000 arrived. There are many missing and the estimates put the number who were killed in the fall of El Fasher at 60,0…”

“Looking at Sudan today and what seems to be a threat in El Obeid happening right now, what would be your advice now to the Foreign Secretary?”

“Just to be clear, had the UK Government called out the UAE, there would have been lives saved?”

“I want to come back to the gap. I think we can accept, while we do not approve, that the gap between general elections may structurally produce the results that you have talked about. It is still true to say that at the point at which the new Government came in, atrocity prevention was not a priority. Push back at me i…”

“I understand that it is not straightforward, but we have heard evidence in the session before this that the British UK Government’s reluctance to name and shame led to a loss of lives in El Fasher. How do we make sure that that is not the case now, when it is looming in El Obeid?”

“Looking at Sudan today and what seems to be a threat in El Obeid happening right now, what would be your advice now to the Foreign Secretary?”

“Has there been an internal review process since the fall of El Fasher on what the FCDO’s response to it was?”

“Just to be clear, had the UK Government called out the UAE, there would have been lives saved?”

“Do you have any evidence, or can you give us any understanding, of the pressure that the UAE was putting on the UK Government?”

“I am very keen to hear about the ISF too. Minister, I was in Adré, as I know you have been. I was told there that they expected after the fall of El Fasher, 90,000 people to cross the border and only 45,000 arrived. There are many missing and the estimates put the number who were killed in the fall of El Fasher at 60,0…”