Speeches by Brandreth.

“Thank you for the information so far. There have been a number of warnings that the escalating crisis might trigger a wider regional conflict. How seriously should we take those warnings?”

“If I could just come in on this question and bring a slightly different perspective in relation to arms exports and Iran, I welcome the Government’s condemning of Iranian malign activity in the region. In relation to a ban on the export of arms to Israel, the Prime Minister was right to utilise our assets in the region…”

“Just to be clear, do you agree, Minister, that Hamas must play no part in the future governance or administration of Gaza?”

“Let me begin by drawing attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. As other Conservative Members have already pointed out, the flaws in this Bill are numerous. It will damage businesses and, ultimately, employment opportunities, and I am deeply concerned about its consequences for our econom…”

“Just as a follow-up to that, at the beginning of last year, we had initially paused funding towards UNRWA because of information that suggested that its officials had been involved in the 7 October attacks. In the middle of last year, that was changed. There are still some of our allies who are continuing to pause aid …”

“There is a saying that has always resonated with me: “When you get to the top, send the lift back down”, and those of us privileged to sit on these Green Benches bear a responsibility to speak up for and support women. I am proud to be an honorary vice-president of the Conservative Women’s Organisation—the oldest women…”

“Let me begin by saying that the decision by the Government to increase defence spending, funded in the short term by a cut in the ODA budget, is the right one given the current global context. It is an immediate solution that was necessary to bolster our defence budget to send a clear message to our allies and our adve…”

“The UK is now the only country in Europe to tax education. Does the hon. Member recognise that this policy is about Labour’s ideology and not about improving education for all children across our country, irrespective of whether they are in the state sector or the independent sector?”

“My hon. Friend makes a critical point. All parts of our Union are important. Our relationship with Wales is one of shared history, shared prosperity and, occasionally, friendly sporting rivalry. Of course, our affection may be briefly set aside for 80 minutes when England travel to Cardiff for the Six Nations in a coup…”

“It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate marking St David’s Day, and to celebrate the rich culture, history and contribution of Wales to our shared Union. My constituency of Chester South and Eddisbury shares part of its western border with north Wales, and the ties between us run deep. Many of my constituents cro…”

“For some family businesses like those in my constituency, their main competitors are international companies. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government have not considered how increasing costs for UK businesses are making some of our family businesses less competitive?”

“Related to that, you have written about conspiracy theories in the aftermath of terror attacks, and we saw the spread of misinformation after the Southport attack, for example. How are states amplifying domestic misinformation, particularly in the context of terror attacks?”

“I want to jump in on this theme. Professor Tolz-Zilitinkevic, you said that the scale of a disinformation campaign might not be reflected in its impact. Thinking back to the discussion we were having about elections that might have been influenced by disinformation, how do you, or any of the panel, think we can measure…”

“Professor Innes, can you come in on that point? I think you might have something to add.”

“I want to pick up on a couple of things that Professor Innes and Dr Roozenbeek were talking about before, to do with social media and some of the information—which could be disinformation or misinformation—that gets put on there. Do you have thoughts about how we enable free speech while addressing misinformation?”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way and for securing this debate. She is making an excellent speech, as always. She and I are both Cheshire MPs, and we are fortunate to work with the Cheshire constabulary, one of the best forces in the country. Like me, however, she will know the challenges that Cheshire police…”

“Professor Innes, we have talked extensively about the main hostile state threat actors that are spreading disinformation. Could you speak about which are the most important non-state threat actors, and what challenges there are in attributing disinformation from those actors to states?”

“12. In which financial year he plans to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. The petition that we debate has been signed by 494 of my constituents. Many of those signatories will be farmers operating on multi-generational farms across Cheshire but, signing alongside those farmers and families, there are many more who are deeply con…”

“It is clear that we face increasingly volatile and dangerous global security challenges, which is why the previous Government set a path to 2.5% of GDP being spent on defence by 2030. What conversations have the Minister and officials at the Ministry of Defence had with NATO counterparts, particularly from the United S…”