Speeches by Mathew.

“To follow on from that, to what extent are Nigerian stability and security compromised by instability in the wider region, including in Sudan?”

“On behalf of the family farmers of Melksham and Devizes, can I point out that farm prices differ across the UK and that raising the level of APR to a flat £6 million, say, whether a farm belongs to a couple or to an individual farmer, would be a great help in assuring the farmers about the future, freeing them from wor…”

“I welcome the Minister’s statement and the good news about the establishment of the Palestinian embassy in London today. However, my question concerns Sudan. As a member of the International Development Committee, I know that the latest assessment we have of the number of killings in El Fasher is now 75,000 people. The…”

“Earlier in the conversation, the word epiphany was used. I might throw another epiphany at you, which I saw myself while working in Guinea-Bissau. It was not just the women. We talk about women and girls, but also children can have the most profound voice in terms of their vision. It is their future and sometimes if th…”

“May I throw an example at you from when I was working in Darfur a few years ago? It shows exactly what you are saying. We were working with both men and women on WASH, setting up water committees and so on. We specifically asked that we had women’s meetings as well as men’s meetings. At the men’s meetings we found a lo…”

“On cross-departmental working—or lateral management, as I like to call it—civil society organisations have criticised the Government for a siloed approach to women, peace and security implementation. How specifically are you working together to ensure a whole-of-Government approach?”

“There have already been cuts, so I would like to ask about the impacts of high staff turnover and staffing cuts on the programme and policy delivery.”

“Minister Carns, you have the benefit of a rising budget, and I am interested in hearing more.”

“That is right—in Wiltshire. Presumably that has helped to expedite what you are talking about?”

“You mentioned the Budget earlier. Presumably the two come together without having your cake and eating it.”

“There was that tragic case that came to court recently with the suicide of a girl.”

“Okay, but other than us holding your feet to the fire, how will the Government ensure that they can still measure evidence and report on women, peace and security delivery, domestically and internationally, if gender expertise within Government is lost?”

“Emily, would you like to comment?”

“Witnesses highlighted Canada’s example of appointing a women, peace and security envoy to improve oversight and promote cohesion and accountability. Will the UK appoint a WPS envoy?”

“Clearly, the No.1 priority is to achieve a ceasefire in Sudan, but peace needs to be secured. Will the UK Government, as the UN penholder, organise and host a Lancaster House-style peace conference for all the parties to the conflict, with civilians represented by the head of the previous civilian Government, Abdalla H…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Member for Bradford East (Imran Hussain) for securing this debate, and I thank all Members who have spoken so far with such eloquence, passion and knowledge. The Liberal Democrats are deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict between India an…”

“Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, as the UN penholder for Sudan, the UK has the moral responsibility to ensure the ongoing human rights travesty there does not continue, most importantly by ending all arms trade to the United Arab Emirates?”

“The Rwanda-like situation in Sudan is something that we should all take cognisance of. It is pressing, and we should all be thinking about it.”

“Finally, amid rising humanitarian needs, which were alluded to at the beginning, and worsening global crises and conflicts, is the remaining £33 million of the crisis fund, after commitments to Sudan and the OPTs are met, enough to cover the rest of the world?”

“I rather suspect your answer will have covered my second question: why is the remaining 18% for Sudan to match last year’s funding dependent on the crisis fund, and not allocated at the time of preparing the annual report and accounts?”