Speeches by Foord.

“Natural England proposed that overall livestock grazing limits should be reduced to reduce overgrazing, and it was not specific to ponies—it was about overgrazing by sheep and cattle. Ponies can help to graze invasive grasses and promote biodiversity. The people who developed the Change.org petition were doing the righ…”

“In recognising the challenge of planting enough trees on the land, I wonder whether my hon. Friend has thought more about capturing carbon in the ocean. He and I share the Lyme Bay marine protected area in our constituencies. The Vision Group for Sidmouth was telling me that despite covering less than 1% of the ocean f…”

“The shadow Minister is exactly right. Of course, those people’s parents fought in the first world war. They were a generation who really did not want to meet war, but war came to them none the less. Clausewitz, the philosopher of war, talked about government, military and people being the remarkable trinity concerned w…”

“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) for making this debate happen. I have been to see his bookshelves and, trust me, the books on strategy and military affairs in his library are well thumbed. He knows what he is talking about, and he has done well to corral us all into talking …”

“Forgive me, but I understood that Grangemouth was a crude oil refinery. We need only look to Eurasia—we need only look at what has been happening in Ukraine and Russia—to see that war comes to those who do not really want it to come to them at all. Yes, that is a failure of diplomacy, but it is also a failure of prepar…”

“I am asking you, as a Minister of HMG.”

“With UK aid cuts, we have seen a ringfence to preserve for conflict areas in the world. Palestine is one of those. I wonder if that ringfence—that preservation of UK aid—pertains to Gaza in particular, or whether that is Palestine in the round. Is it specifically about maintaining UK aid to Gaza?”

“What was it about the Board of Peace that made you come to that conclusion?”

“In October last year, US CENTCOM—Central Command—set up a Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre, and there were some reports at the beginning of May that that might close. I just wondered what you know about the potential closure of the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre. If it were to close, what might follow in its pl…”

“Thinking about the Gaza peace plan, what aspects of it do you consider to have been successful?”

“In May, you talked in the House of Commons Chamber about the humanitarian restrictions on aid being imposed by Israel and that they really must end. What has the FCDO—what have you—been doing to bring about an end to those restrictions?”

“What is the UK Government's position on the Gaza peace plan?”

“You mentioned the Board of Peace. In what circumstances would the British Government join the Board of Peace?”

“When you compare the situation now to that 18 months ago, and you describe it as being so much less violent now than then, it is all relative, isn’t it? I mean, 738 Palestinian civilians were killed between 10 October 2025 and 10 April 2026, according to the UN. I wonder what you consider to have been the shortcomings …”

“Much of the commentary on the defence investment plan is on the threat to the UK mainland, our interests and our assets. First, does the Secretary of State think that it is more useful to think about the Russian threat to NATO in general terms? Secondly, now we have the DIP, is the UK still 31st out of 32 NATO members,…”

“It is barbaric that 185,000 babies were taken from young mothers across a quarter of a century until just 50 years ago, and the Prime Minister is right to say how wrong that was. In apologising on behalf of the state, he acknowledged that, of the children who were taken, some were raised in loving homes by adoptive fam…”

“For coastguard rescue officers, remuneration provides recognition of the sacrifices that they and their families make: the nights away from home, the cancelled plans, the annual leave taken for training and the loss of income as a result of having to go out and answer calls. These coastguard teams are not built overnig…”

“A Government consultation on changes to the planning system closed on 10 March. It included consulting on weakening flood protection in planning guidance, which could lead to greater house building on land prone to flooding. To avoid the need for new insurance schemes such as Flood Re, which supports people after their…”

“In June last year, the UK sanctioned Israeli far-right Minister Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinian communities. In recent weeks, Smotrich has issued an order to displace the Palestinian Bedouin community. The UK position on sanctions against Smotrich was part of a joint statement last year with …”

“Q14. Tony Blair suggested that at the beginning of his premiership he was at his most popular and least capable, and talked about ending his time in office at his least popular and most capable. For the sake of people in the south-west and across the country, what tips can the Prime Minister offer his successor?”