Speeches by Rushworth.

“With other Departments, there is an assumption that budgets will stay more or less the same until the spending review. Are we in a position with Gavi where we will be walking into that meeting in March unable to commit any funding?”

“Where does that leave us in March?”

“I have visited more than a dozen schools in my constituency since being elected, and I am always overwhelmed by the passion of the teachers who have to work in really trying circumstances. They are often very under-resourced to deal with children who are ill-prepared for school and a growing caseload of children with s…”

“People from primary schools in rural areas of my constituency have come to me, and one of the challenges they face is a falling population because of the declining number of jobs. Although they have both fixed and variable costs, they lose per pupil funding as a result, and some of those primary schools are becoming un…”

“I welcome the Government’s tripling of the emergency housing budget, but one of my constituents is about to be made homeless because debt incurred as a teenager means that she is not eligible for social housing. Are the Government willing to look at that? I am sure that they do not think that debt should be a reason fo…”

“I thank the Home Secretary for her answers, which have clarified a number of the questions I would have wanted to raise with her. I am also grateful for her victim-centred approach. One of the challenges is that, when a child is being groomed for sexual exploitation, they do not always know that they are a victim until…”

“I thank everyone who has spoken today. I have been very moved by Members telling quite harrowing accounts of the way that women are affected by conflict around the world, some of which has brought back difficult memories of my previous life before being in this place, when I worked in conflict zones, predominantly with…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that example. Another example comes not from my own life but from Liberia, where women became so fed up of conflict that women on all sides decided to unite behind a woman—Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—for the presidency, while many men in the country voted along factional lines. The experience I…”

“Q6. Feeling safe in our communities is among the most basic of human needs, but after 14 years of Tory cuts to Durham’s frontline police—[Interruption.] After breaking the criminal justice system, too many of my constituents are victims of violence, theft and antisocial behaviour and those crimes too often go unpunishe…”

“Could I ask one more quick question? It is not about debt relief, but about tax base. A lot of developing countries struggle because of capital flight and because tax is not paid that is owed in those countries. Are the UK Government doing anything to show leadership on that?”

“What is the UK doing to support atrocity prevention strategies in Sudan and refugee host countries?”

“Could I ask one more quick question? It is not about debt relief, but about tax base. A lot of developing countries struggle because of capital flight and because tax is not paid that is owed in those countries. Are the UK Government doing anything to show leadership on that?”

“We will move the conversation on to alternative non-ODA financing of development. What are the Government doing to support non-ODA mechanisms for financing international development?”

“Can I press you further on the debt relief? We have had conversations about this in the past. As you know, African countries spend 50 times the entire UK ODA budget every year on debt interest. This is a really important issue. What specifically are the Government going to do to support debt relief? I am particularly t…”

“This is mainly addressed to you, Sir Philip, based on your tenure as the first permanent under-secretary. What do you consider to be the primary benefits and costs of the merger with DFID and the Foreign Office?”

“Before I ask a question on financing, could I just ask one more question on this? I am pleased with the work the Government are doing on covid corruption, for example, to look at overpriced procurement, but I think most taxpayers who look at the eye-watering sums of money spent on asylum hotels would wonder what on ear…”

“There was a follow-up question. It is probably one for a longer answer another day, but the previous Government established that there should be an atrocity prevention strategy. What are the Government doing to make sure that there is an atrocity prevention strategy and that that is being integrated into foreign and se…”

“I appreciate your comment on the cuts. What sort of damage do you think that that did to the UK’s global brand, not only the cuts but also the loss of DFID, which I think it is fair to say was the envy of the world? I have previously worked in international development. I have visited foreign embassies all over the wor…”

“It is an ODA question. It is about the way that we are spending. I will happily ask that if we can bring a Home Office Minister in, because I think it is a really important question to put.”

“Can I press you further on the debt relief? We have had conversations about this in the past. As you know, African countries spend 50 times the entire UK ODA budget every year on debt interest. This is a really important issue. What specifically are the Government going to do to support debt relief? I am particularly t…”