Speeches by Foord.

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning economic and social opportunities. I too have been contacted by constituents about how they think a station in their town would provide those. Neil Perry, a resident of Cullompton who commutes daily to Exeter for his job as a teacher, told me that he spends nearly 10 full …”

“After the Government conduct that review of the national funding formula in 2026-27, will the Minister set out what additional funding she expects to have to put into the formula that urban councils such as Westminster might attract to cover their costs?”

“There are over 100 battery energy storage system—BESS—facilities operating in the UK, and another one is planned for Hawkchurch in East Devon. Residents there are very worried about fire risk. South Korea is a global leader in BESS, yet the safety issues are plain. There were 38 fire incidents linked to BESS in South K…”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament any trade agreement between the UK and the USA which the Government proposes to implement; to prohibit the implementation of such an agreement without the approval by resolution of each House; to make provis…”

“On 17 March, I asked the Foreign Secretary why the UK had taken a kinetic role in strikes against the Houthis under the previous US Government, but have not taken an active role in those carried out by this US Government. We have since seen those leaked Signal messages in which the US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth…”

“T5. The pay review bodies have recommended a 4% pay rise for school staff. Will the Department for Education pay 4%, and will that really be expected to come from existing school budgets?”

“I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman could add to his thanks list Lorna Harries, the professor of molecular genetics at the University of Exeter, who has pioneered alternative approaches that can replace some of the experimental techniques that have been used on dogs.”

“My hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart) asked whether pensioners might be given more control over where their pension funds are invested. That issue has also arisen recently in terms of whether pension funds can be invested in defence companies in the UK. Will the Minister comment on that?”

“The hon. Lady has mentioned Ofwat. Last August, it recommended penalties for four water companies amounting to £168 million, but so far it has not collected one penny. Does she agree that Ofwat needs to be scrapped?”

“Perhaps we can take an example: the sort of precaution you are talking about is tapping on the roof before ordnance—”

“We have somebody else who will ask about the business of proportionality being about the military objective, rather than somehow being about equivalent deaths on both sides—of course, that is a very misrepresented principle of international humanitarian law. I want to focus on distinction. If there are civilians in the…”

“Let us say there are terrorist operatives and civilians in a building. In that instance, would the IDF be entitled to target that building?”

“I would like to move on to international humanitarian law and ask you some questions on jus in bello. If we can agree, first, that there is consensus that a single fighter suspected of being a terrorist operative for Hamas or Islamic Jihad is a legitimate target, and a civilian is not a legitimate target—I think we can…”

“Let us say there are terrorist operatives and civilians in a building. In that instance, would the IDF be entitled to target that building?”

“We have somebody else who will ask about the business of proportionality being about the military objective, rather than somehow being about equivalent deaths on both sides—of course, that is a very misrepresented principle of international humanitarian law. I want to focus on distinction. If there are civilians in the…”

“Perhaps we can take an example: the sort of precaution you are talking about is tapping on the roof before ordnance—”

“One of the distinctive elements of this particular conflict. Could we use the example of the destruction of a 12-storey residential building in the al-Yarmouk neighbourhood in October 2023? The target of the strike was a Hamas terrorist tunnel underneath the building. The building was 12-storeys tall, and the strike re…”

“When you appeared before the Business and Trade Committee this time last year, you were talking prior to the UK’s arms embargo on Israel, when the UK was still supplying those arms. At that time, you were having to defend Israel’s action around distinction and proportionality, by talking about Hamas-run health ministry…”

“I would like to move on to international humanitarian law and ask you some questions on jus in bello. If we can agree, first, that there is consensus that a single fighter suspected of being a terrorist operative for Hamas or Islamic Jihad is a legitimate target, and a civilian is not a legitimate target—I think we can…”

“Let us say there are terrorist operatives and civilians in a building. In that instance, would the IDF be entitled to target that building?”