Speeches by Dodds.

“I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for her remarks and, above all, for her work with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Indeed, I commend all Members across the House who are engaged with that very important organisation, which brings parliamentarians together. The Prime Minister’s resolution to support the C…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his important question. I have stated this before, but I will state it again. He may not wish to spend a huge amount of time reading the Labour manifesto from the last general election, but if he did so, he would see that the new Government are committed to returning to 0.7% of G…”

“I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue. IDA is a critical part of the World Bank’s architecture. It is the fund that is focused on the very poorest countries that are most in need of support, but also those which can grow very quickly when they receive that support economically. It is extremely goo…”

“I suspect that the hon. Lady has many things to do with her time, and the Labour manifesto for the general election may not be her first priority as bedtime reading, but let me gently encourage her to look at it, because she would see that it does refer to the sustainable development goals. I certainly agree with her t…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his important question and the considered way in which he articulated it. I have been disturbed, as I know the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Dame Harriett Baldwin), who speaks for the Opposition, will have been, to see that we are not making as speedy progress on many of t…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue, in which she has considerable experience. Globally, by 2030, 60% of people in extreme poverty will live in fragile and conflict-affected states. We need to see much more action: less than 5% of climate finance, for example, goes into adaptation, with only a tiny f…”

“There are already many strong economic relationships between Commonwealth states. The new Government are very proud of that, and we want to ensure that even faster progress is made. A number of countries within the Commonwealth are currently subject to trade deals with the UK or have trade deals under discussion. We wa…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that subject, which is of much concern to many Members across the House. Unfortunately, the freedom of religion and belief is a value that is being challenged across the world, and we are seeing too many countries slipping backwards. The new UK Government are determined to do…”

“When the hon. Gentleman’s constituents take part in that activity, they are joining a global movement in which the Foreign Secretary himself was engaged with young people in Samoa. It is about ensuring that we all play our part in removing plastic pollution. The hon. Gentleman asks about the prospects for a global agre…”

“I absolutely will confirm that. I am so pleased that my hon. Friend has raised this issue. I think that people up and down the whole country are delighted that we will see the return of the Commonwealth games to Glasgow in 2026. I know that my right hon. Friend the Scotland Secretary is very pleased to be engaging on t…”

“I have to say that I find the right hon. Gentleman’s question rather surprising. I do not believe that Heads of Government are in any doubt about the new UK Government’s approach to these questions. Indeed, the new Government, the Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister and the ministerial team have had more engagement w…”

“I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue, and for his passion in doing so. He is absolutely right: many countries have to pay substantial amounts on servicing debt at the same time as having to deal with repeated crises—not least the nature and climate crisis, but also crises deriving from conflict—s…”

“The hon. Gentleman asks a number of questions, and I will try to cover them as quickly as I can. The new Government are very clear that the slave trade was abhorrent. We condemn it, just as previous Labour Governments did. It is important that we start from there, but it is also important that we are just as clear that…”

“I did state earlier, but will restate for the hon. Member’s benefit, that we have been very clear about the fact that UK does not pay reparations. He referred to a specific element in the communiqué about reparatory justice. It does two things: as he mentioned, it notes calls for discussion, and it agrees that this is …”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising such an important issue. There are indeed many small island developing states among the Commonwealth states, and for them the climate crisis is an existential issue. We have seen severe impacts on a number of small island developing states, with extreme weather and erosion ha…”

“The Government’s view is that we have to focus on the future, and that is the approach that we took at the CHOGM meeting. We think it is important to listen carefully to our Commonwealth partners, and we have heard their calls for more action to deliver the jobs that are needed, particularly for young people, and for m…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue. He is right: it is an issue of which not only UK farmers and agriculture experts in our universities but the British public are deeply supportive, and the Government are determined to do what we can to support sustainable agriculture. We see, for example, very lit…”

“I am very grateful for that important question, and I am pleased to report that relations between the UK and the Republic of Korea are at their closest ever at the moment. The Downing Street accord between the UK and the Republic of Korea elevates our relationship to a global strategic partnership, placing the UK as se…”

“My hon. Friend has considerable expertise in this area, as do many Members among the new intake, as well as those who were here before. It is important for the UK to exercise leadership on these issues, just as we did under past Labour Governments. My hon. Friend should be aware that we are working very hard to make su…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important subject. Globally, an enormous amount of growth could be unlocked by increasing women’s economic opportunities. The World Bank has estimated that about 20% could be added to global GDP if women were able to work more and their pay was more reflective of men’s p…”