Speeches by Bloore.

“I am not really sure I can follow that, but I am going to go on to forced labour. I am going to put the pretext that I know, Minister Bryant, that you were quite strong about forced labour issues in the Chamber prior to taking on your current role. In 2021, you co-signed a letter calling for a Uyghur slave labour gover…”

“Would you say that your biggest challenge is not potentially people breaking the laws or regulations but an awareness of what the laws and regulations are in the first place?”

“13. What support is available for bereaved families through the benefits system.”

“As the Minister probably knows, a petition calling for reform of the bereavement support payment has now passed 100,000 signatures and is backed by Widowed and Young, Gingerbread, and Cruse. Many families in Redditch are among those affected. Before the parliamentary debate on that petition, will the Minister engage wi…”

“Thank you, Sir Declan. I will push this question to Peter. What impact has investigations being paused due to financial issues had on the victims?”

“Finally, Holly, obviously the report was pretty damning on financial management. Moving forward, do you feel that the organisation is in a better place and can start to fulfil its duties?”

“Thank you to everyone for being here today. My question is to the ICRIR team first and is centred on financial stewardship, which featured heavily in the report. It is clear that there has been quite a high turnover in finance director posts as well as other finance-related roles. Sir Declan, could you give us a reason…”

“Thank you, Peter. Finally, Josephine, I will come to you; I think the first two questions are slightly unfair to put to you. How are you ensuring that staffing levels are where they need to be to meet demand? We have heard from Peter that that is a real challenge, but are all positions filled right now across the organ…”

“Thank you, Peter. Finally, Josephine, I will come to you; I think the first two questions are slightly unfair to put to you. How are you ensuring that staffing levels are where they need to be to meet demand? We have heard from Peter that that is a real challenge, but are all positions filled right now across the organ…”

“Thank you, Sir Declan. I will push this question to Peter. What impact has investigations being paused due to financial issues had on the victims?”

“Thank you to everyone for being here today. My question is to the ICRIR team first and is centred on financial stewardship, which featured heavily in the report. It is clear that there has been quite a high turnover in finance director posts as well as other finance-related roles. Sir Declan, could you give us a reason…”

“Finally, Holly, obviously the report was pretty damning on financial management. Moving forward, do you feel that the organisation is in a better place and can start to fulfil its duties?”

“I presume you are confirming today that you will definitely put in an appeal.”

“My question was going to be about what the Government should be doing, but you have pretty much laid that out in terms of legislative changes. We saw the EU hand out a pretty substantial fine to T-Mobile, which we are going to talk about a little later. Do you think that is the only language that some online marketplac…”

“But if it is so wrong, surely you would put in an appeal?”

“With respect, Mr Klenner, I do not have a huge amount of time. If you think that the European Commission decision was, prima facie, wrong because it was based on practices that do not exist in your company anymore, why has a strong appeal not yet been made?”

“That is a good answer.”

“That worries me, Mr Klenner. If you are not prepared to defend this in court and say that the decision was incorrect, that implies some of the findings were true. Would you therefore admit that in 2024—when the investigation was taking place—your procedures and your safeguards were not up to much if they failed so dras…”

“Mr Klenner, you have recently been fined €200 million for selling illegal goods to EU consumers, breaking the record €120 million for Mr Musk’s X. How likely is it that you are doing the same thing in the UK?”

“To follow-up on that question, why do you think so many vendors selling counterfeit and dangerous products choose to use Temu to sell those products? Are you unlucky, or do you think those vendors have decided that your safeguards are not fit for purpose?”