Speeches by Law.

“Dishon, I was wondering about the challenges you face at grassroots when trying to access this funding. You mentioned direct funding from FCDO but how is it in terms of getting access? What barriers do you face in terms of getting access to that funding?”

“To segue this question back to Avinash, it seems that there is some agreement that our very immediate focus and immediate use of resources should be on adaptation and response, as you mentioned earlier, Avinash, just to check that that is agreed on. Are you then saying that actually for that longer-term mitigation work…”

“To both of you: taking stock of what you have said about the UK’s current climate finance approach, how well aligned is it to the needs and priorities of climate-vulnerable countries?”

“I guess that also links to the capacity building needs that we heard about in our earlier session. Avinash, very briefly, do you have anything to add on the barriers to accessing the UK’s climate finance currently?”

“I am delighted that Pondhu primary school in my constituency has been a trailblazer for not just our Government’s free breakfast clubs scheme, but investment in school nurseries, which has been a resounding success. What assessment has the Minister made of the positive impacts of our free breakfast clubs programme on c…”

“12. What steps she has taken to roll out Best Start free breakfast clubs.”

“Can I ask the Minister to engage in a short thought experiment? If senior members of the Labour party, at the time they were in opposition, had gone to lobby a foreign Government against the best interests of the British security services, what would have been the reaction of the right-wing media and Opposition parties…”

“Rosalind, if I am not mistaken, there is a multibillion-dollar gold trade between the UK and the UAE. Would that not be a good place for the UK to start exploring in terms of potential diplomatic pressure to resolve the conflict in Sudan?”

“This is a good point to pick up on that question. It is quite disgusting to hear the recurring point about incentives, amid all the chaos and horrors of this war—the fact that people are ultimately getting rich out of the war, or at the end of it. What steps are being taken, or could be taken, to curtail some of the il…”

“This is a good point to pick up on that question. It is quite disgusting to hear the recurring point about incentives, amid all the chaos and horrors of this war—the fact that people are ultimately getting rich out of the war, or at the end of it. What steps are being taken, or could be taken, to curtail some of the il…”

“Coming to the bigger picture, does the current UN aid architecture, including the UN’s location in Port Sudan, lend itself to efficacy in this situation?”

“Rosalind, if I am not mistaken, there is a multibillion-dollar gold trade between the UK and the UAE. Would that not be a good place for the UK to start exploring in terms of potential diplomatic pressure to resolve the conflict in Sudan?”

“Coming to the bigger picture, does the current UN aid architecture, including the UN’s location in Port Sudan, lend itself to efficacy in this situation?”

“T6. In 2024, my constituent Wendy fractured three vertebrae from osteoporosis after being denied a DEXA scan. She spent three months in hospital and suffered lasting harm. Will the Minister review DEXA eligibility and expand local access to prevent future fractures and save the NHS costs?”

“It would certainly be very interesting to review some of our climate resilience asks from the FCDO side on that industry. How can international partners, such as the FCDO, support Jamaica in effectively addressing a few of those challenges that you mentioned, UnaMay?”

“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?”

“More broadly on staffing, are you saying that we should not be worried about staffing cuts and how that might impact on some of the technical expertise we can bring to the table, some of the convening, some of the capacity building requirements that we have heard so much about?”

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

“And Dr Rodriguez, would you add anything to that?”