Speeches by Ballinger.

“How is it an investment in global security? How does investing in preventing climate change improve security in the world?”

“The hon. Member is raising some good points about national security and migration. He is probably well aware that the top three nationalities that come to the UK on small boats are from conflict-affected states: Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. Does the hon. Member share my concern that the UK dismantling the Foreign, Comm…”

“I am really glad that you raised the interaction between climate and security; that is an area that the public do not always think about. They look at the climate negotiations and they generally agree with keeping the world below that 2° target, but they do not realise the knock-on effects that climate change might hav…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd, and a pleasure to join this important debate, called by my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm), which gives me a chance to raise an issue that really matters to my constituents in Halesowen—the rising number of houses in multiple occupation. We al…”

“I welcome the statement of the Chair of the Committee. I think all of us on the Committee are relieved that since our report was published, we have now reached a ceasefire. The UN has been able to re-enter Gaza and the situation it has seen on the ground is devastating. The UN’s humanitarian chief described it as like …”

“Of course. Those are quite catastrophic figures that you are describing—35 office closures and 43% of staff cut. That is an enormous change to the British Council’s footprint. Has there been any recognition by the FCDO of the situation that you are facing? At our last meeting, you talked about the material uncertainty …”

“I think Aphra had some questions on the loan.”

“When we looked at your last corporate plan, it showed a forecasted loss of £22 million, but previously the forecast was a profit of £5 million. You have outlined some of the challenges that you faced, but please could you go into a bit more detail about why the forecast has changed so dramatically?”

“I am incredibly proud of our naval engineering history in the Black Country, including at companies such as Somers Forge in Halesowen and Brooks Forgings in Cradley Heath. I am delighted that this Labour Government are increasing defence spending to levels never seen under the previous Government. Does the Minister agr…”

“4. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the defence industrial strategy on Northern Ireland.”

“I was going to ask the question that you just answered: how can we counter these disinformation narratives? I agree, and the Committee strongly agrees, that the BBC is an excellent way of doing that. Are there any other approaches? Some people have suggested digital literacy or more independent, home-grown African medi…”

“With all these disinformation networks and the various channels that they are using, it is clear that France is a target of a lot of the stuff in west Africa. But how much is it affecting the perceptions of Africans towards France, towards the west more generally, and maybe towards institutions such as the UN and NATO?”

“Is there any polling on this sort of stuff? Is there anything that could help us to get a tangible, evidence-based feel of it?”

“I was going to ask the question that you just answered: how can we counter these disinformation narratives? I agree, and the Committee strongly agrees, that the BBC is an excellent way of doing that. Are there any other approaches? Some people have suggested digital literacy or more independent, home-grown African medi…”

“It was interesting to hear some of the examples you gave of Chinese misinformation around the decadent west, the culture wars, NATO being a big threat to Russia in Ukraine and the like. Those are also the narratives that we hear the Russians are pushing. Is there any evidence that China and Russia, or maybe other actor…”

“And you are saying that is increasing—they are learning from each other in the successes.”

“Is there any polling on this sort of stuff? Is there anything that could help us to get a tangible, evidence-based feel of it?”

“With all these disinformation networks and the various channels that they are using, it is clear that France is a target of a lot of the stuff in west Africa. But how much is it affecting the perceptions of Africans towards France, towards the west more generally, and maybe towards institutions such as the UN and NATO?”

“It was interesting to hear some of the examples you gave of Chinese misinformation around the decadent west, the culture wars, NATO being a big threat to Russia in Ukraine and the like. Those are also the narratives that we hear the Russians are pushing. Is there any evidence that China and Russia, or maybe other actor…”

“And you are saying that is increasing—they are learning from each other in the successes.”