Speeches by Ballinger.

“So there is no scope for us to be involved in some sort of legal framework around European security, you think, at this point.”

“You are saying that everything the EU does is quite legalistic. Is it worth looking through that lens when we are talking about security co-operation, or is that unhelpful?”

“I suppose there is the model of the Joint Expeditionary Force, which has a different set of countries. There might be something similar to that.”

“I have a question on transparency. You mention some of the things that the UK is looking to get out of the reset—SPS, touring artists, a security arrangement—but it is not always clear exactly what we are hoping to achieve. That is certainly the case when we speak to European partners: they are very interested in what …”

“Maybe you could say, “How best could this Committee and Parliament in general scrutinise this as we go through the process?” There is a real role for us, which we are just starting to play.”

“Moving on to security and defence policy, we have been on a few visits to Ukraine and Brussels, and this is an area in which politicians from every Government we have spoken to have been very forward-leaning in asking us to do more. Ahead of the summit on 19 May, what do you think the UK should be prioritising in our s…”

“What do you think the cost of our involvement in that fund might be?”

“The defence industrial piece.”

“I welcome the work that special envoy Sir Michael Barber will be doing in the Palestinian Authority. When I was working in Pakistan as a diplomat, I saw the excellent work they were doing in building the public sector. Does the Minister agree, however, that that work will be futile if Israel continues to undermine the …”

“I recently spoke to one of my Halesowen constituents who faced problems with antisocial behaviour. Somebody frequently smoked cannabis outside her property, and although she reported it to Dudley council and the police, little was done. In fact, it was only after my office became involved that something happened. Does …”

“My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour is delivering an excellent speech. Does she welcome the fact that 150 extra neighbourhood police officers are coming to the west midlands as part of the Labour party’s commitment to providing 13,000 extra neighbourhood police officers? Will that not help us to tackle the antiso…”

“First, I take your claim that the IDF has the highest standards of IHL for any army in history as outrageous. Having served in the British military myself, I think that is a particularly staggering claim. I would like to ask about international humanitarian law again, and aid deliveries: 91% of people in Gaza are facin…”

“Let me just say that I am sure everybody here shares your ambition to have the hostages released as soon as possible.”

“There was a process during the ceasefire whereby many Israeli hostages were released. I wanted to ask about the end of that ceasefire on 18 March, when Israel conducted some airstrikes that ended that process. I think that there are many people in Israel who disagreed with that decision. There are many military people—…”

“The question is about the current blockade.”

“Are there blockades in place at the moment?”

“So your position is that, despite the UN reporting that over 90% of people in Gaza faced food insecurity last week, it is acceptable to conduct the blockade because there was lots of aid delivered in the past?”

“Let me just say that I am sure everybody here shares your ambition to have the hostages released as soon as possible.”

“There was a process during the ceasefire whereby many Israeli hostages were released. I wanted to ask about the end of that ceasefire on 18 March, when Israel conducted some airstrikes that ended that process. I think that there are many people in Israel who disagreed with that decision. There are many military people—…”

“First, I take your claim that the IDF has the highest standards of IHL for any army in history as outrageous. Having served in the British military myself, I think that is a particularly staggering claim. I would like to ask about international humanitarian law again, and aid deliveries: 91% of people in Gaza are facin…”