Speeches by Foord.

“My hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech. This weekend, the Government announced £5 million for Sudan and £6 million for Gaza. By contrast, the Government are spending £2.2 billion of ODA on hotels to house asylum seekers in this country. Does my hon. Friend share my view that the money would be better spent on prev…”

“I have one question for each of you. First, Peter, you talked about the legacy of COP26 at Glasgow not being fully exploited in the years after November 2021. Could you explain why that was, or why you think that was?”

“Professor Watts, you talked about the important place of science in the UK’s contributions to COP. You were the chief scientific adviser first at DFID and then at the FCDO. Could you talk about how you integrated scientific evidence and understanding into the diplomacy?”

“I have one question for each of you. First, Peter, you talked about the legacy of COP26 at Glasgow not being fully exploited in the years after November 2021. Could you explain why that was, or why you think that was?”

“Professor Watts, you talked about the important place of science in the UK’s contributions to COP. You were the chief scientific adviser first at DFID and then at the FCDO. Could you talk about how you integrated scientific evidence and understanding into the diplomacy?”

“My hon. Friend urges an arms embargo, and for the UK to use its role as penholder at the UN Security Council, but Martin Griffiths has said that peace is likely to come out of the region through powers such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Does my hon. Friend think that the UK should be using its bilateral relations with t…”

“Clause 6 relates to the intelligence agencies, and there is an exemption for those who handle material that falls within the definition of security and intelligence. Our constituents will want to be certain that these organisations have oversight, so would the hon. Gentleman agree that this could be an additional power…”

“At present it is not obvious what public servants should do if relevant material cannot be disclosed because it is of an intelligence or security nature. Does the hon. Lady think that strengthening the reach of the Intelligence and Security Committee might help to bring some oversight of the sort that her constituents,…”

“Well, we have Sir Ed Llewellyn, who is currently undertaking his second diplomatic posting, in Rome, when it says that by rights these things ought to be appointed for a specific term—I think the wording is “the standard posting length...or until the end of the Parliament, whichever is shorter”. Was Sir Ed not subject …”

“Reflecting on lessons learned, and thinking about these direct ministerial appointments, we have reflected today that the Government made changes last month to the process for making direct ministerial appointments, yet we have learned that the new process has actually introduced a so-called fireside chat between the p…”

“To that point about councils not having yet adopted such things as the roads or pavements, I have the example of Pebble Beach in Seaton where I represent, where residents have been charged fees and even threatened with legal action before the estate has been handed from the developer to the property management company.…”

“The hon. Member talks about secondary legislation when suggesting what should happen next. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act provides protections for leaseholders on private managed estates; it enables them to go to a tribunal to challenge management charges. Does he think that that ought to exist for freeholders a…”

“I am grateful to the Chair of the Committee for her statement. In this place, we use the phrase “two-state solution” very readily and often, so much so that it becomes a cliché. Our visit as a Committee to the Knesset revealed just how limited support for a two-state solution is there. I was pleased that the Government…”

“The Israel Defence Forces said this morning that they had “renewed enforcement of the ceasefire”. The strikes are reported to have killed 20 women and 46 children following the death of one IDF soldier. President Trump’s peace plan makes provision for Arab states to commit stabilisation forces. I appreciate the Ministe…”

“The UK is spending a fifth of its official development assistance budget on hotel bills. Some of that money was previously used to prevent conflict and to help refugees find refuge in their own regions. I served with an Army training regiment at Crowborough, one of the two sites, and I consider that if it was good enou…”

“I honestly do not think that we can make this the responsibility of every individual driver; it is our job to come here and legislate on collective problems such as this one. The problem is especially serious in rural areas such as the one I represent, where the population tends to be older than across the country as a…”

“I warmly welcome this Typhoon export deal not only for entailing the strengthening of the NATO alliance, but for the jobs it will bring to the south-west of England. Plainly, these expensive Typhoon platforms will not be subject to re-export and are bound for Türkiye. However, given that UK manufactured arms have been …”

“It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Harris. As the clocks go back and evenings grow darker, drivers in Devon are finding that dazzling headlights are no longer just a nuisance, but a real danger on our roads. This week, for the first time since summer, many of the people I represent are trying to get ar…”

“Mr McDonald, you mentioned earlier that the British Council is present in Ukraine. On 27 August this year, Russia launched 629 missiles at Kyiv, one of which caused severe damage to the British Council offices there. How has your work in Ukraine been affected by that?”

“Given that Russia’s aggression is partly about extinguishing Ukrainian culture and seeking to prevent Ukraine from assimilating western culture, do your people on the ground in Ukraine feel that they were targeted deliberately by Russia?”