Speeches by Law.

“Sorry, it was a bit of rhetorical question, I suppose.”

“Minister, do the ongoing restructurings within FCDO throw a spanner in the works of delivering on the goals of the strategy at all?”

“Thank you. High Commissioner, are you confident that the funding will be sufficient to fund the bilateral elements of your programmes and give you sufficient visibility of multiyear spending decisions?”

“Okay, but would you say you are concerned, given some of the mood music around it?”

“I welcome the news this morning of Imerys’s success in auction round 7. What steps is the Minister taking as part of the local power plan to ensure that local communities share the spoils of Cornwall’s great renewable energy potential?”

“Okay, but would you say you are concerned, given some of the mood music around it?”

“Sorry, it was a bit of rhetorical question, I suppose.”

“If we are taking a local growth approach, which I know is so important to our Government, surely a deal for the Tamar must be a crucial part of any devolution arrangement.”

“The hon. Member makes an important point about the lack of National Highways funding for the bridge, but does he share my delight at the £220 million investment coming into Cornwall’s roads from national Government? We are seeing record-breaking investment in our roads, but that is not to detract from the point he make…”

“I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I thank my hon. Friend for giving way on Cornwall’s economic potential and particularly the role of critical minerals. Does she agree that in an ideal but not unimaginable world, we would have electric ferries, ideally powered by Cornish lithium batte…”

“I, too, put on record my thanks to the emergency services for their work over this long and difficult weekend. In particular, I thank National Grid for its swift work, at least in my part of Cornwall, in reconnecting people to the grid. However, other infrastructure has been unacceptably slow to come back online. With …”

“Given that what is proposed today is a peacekeeping force, does the Secretary of State wonder, as I do, when the leader of Reform will cease his adulation of Putin, ensure that there are no further traitors among his ranks, support the peace process in Ukraine and stand up for British interests?”

“I greatly welcome these cuts to forthcoming bills. Notwithstanding those potential improvements, many of my constituents in Roche, for example, live in areas not connected to the mains gas grid, and the initial outlay associated with implementing renewable technologies can be prohibitively expensive for people. Can the…”

“9. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of extending the warm home discount on levels of fuel poverty.”

“I thank the Minister for his considered engagement with rural Labour MPs such as myself on this issue from the get-go. I also thank farmers—at least in my part of Cornwall—for their dignified engagement at what I know has been a difficult time. Does the Minister agree that where we have landed now strikes a much better…”

“War and Russian brutality first came to Ukraine in 2014. While Ukrainians knew that it never left, I think it fair to say that we did forget that our friends in Ukraine were at war—that is, until 2022. Since then, we have witnessed the heroism of the Ukrainian people, and the savagery of Putin’s regime. In case it was …”

“Cosmetic.”

“Perhaps you can fully rebut some of these points on the record. What has been lost in these challenging times in terms of what we have been able to do to support women and girls in Afghanistan?”

“The UK has been criticised for not leading specifically on accountability mechanisms—for example, for Afghan women, not recognising the concept of gender apartheid within international courts. Why is this? Why has the UK not done more to support women and girls in Afghanistan, for example?”

“I have a further question on accountability. The UK has faced criticism for not taking stronger stances across multilateral platforms like the ICJ. How would you respond to some of those criticisms, particularly in the context of women, peace and security?”