Speeches by Coghlan.

“I am proud that this country helps refugees, and I am intensely proud that I spent years building a charity working with Rwandan refugees from the genocide, but in Horley there have been two serious criminal incidents in the past three months relating to the Four Points hotel. My constituents have legitimate safety con…”

“First, I commend the Defence Secretary and Admiral Sir Tony Radakin for their commitment to a just peace in Ukraine. However, I agree with the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) that the most reluctant member of this coalition of the willing appears to be President Trump. Does th…”

“In hearing from the Foreign Secretary that 132,000 children are at risk of dying from hunger, one can only feel utter revulsion. I recognise what the Government have done, but in their public diplomacy with President Trump, their strategy appears to be to pander to him. Again, I understand why the Government have chose…”

“On that, Mr Hughes, a key part of the Government strategy is around defence R&D, which economic forecasts show does increase economic growth. In fact, it is one of the most significant ways of increasing economic growth. Would you agree that if they are spending it on defence R&D, it is a good use of Government money f…”

“Given that, what would you say would be the best use of spending to reduce debt?”

“Given that, how do you see the relationship between debt and growth?”

“Good morning, Mr Hughes. Is there a debt level for the UK that we should worry about?”

“Given all of that—given that growth could reduce debt—does it concern you that the Government are only increasing R&D by 0.7% a year over the next five years?”

“Unless it is funded by debt. Finally from me, do you think it is responsible of the OBR to have a productivity forecast that is two thirds higher than the Bank of England’s, given that that implies an extra £50 billion fiscal black hole for the Chancellor if you are wrong?”

“Mr Walker, the Treasury has threatened mandation as a backstop to the accord. Can you explain what flexibility you would have under the accord that you would not have under mandation?”

“Mr Ward, in terms of you not signing the accord, was part of the consideration due to concerns that you might breach your fiduciary duty to your investors, in that you are not maximising your return?”

“Is part of the issue the attractiveness of inflation-linked gilts to pension funds distracting them from potentially investing in UK assets?”

“Does the very fact that this accord exists send a poor signal about the attractiveness of the UK as an investment destination?”

“Mr Storah, would you like to comment on the mandation point?”

“I hear the heartbreaking stories from Barking and Dagenham about the huge demand for SEND provision and the difficulty in meeting it. In Surrey, we have similarly heartbreaking cases of children with autism who cannot move out of mainstream school because the capacity is not there. As a result, one of my constituents i…”

“In the 2023-24 academic year, more than 1,800 SEND children in Surrey were out of school for more than a third of the time. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that promised schools are delivered? I think in particular of the Betchwood Vale academy SEND school in my constituency.”

“I was moved by the speech just made by the hon. Member for Dagenham and Rainham (Margaret Mullane) and heartened to hear about the effectiveness of SEND provision in Barking and Dagenham. It is so important that we have effective examples of that in the country—particularly at the moment, when the Government are consid…”

“This will be my final question. Nicholas, I am very interested in what you are saying. We heard from Professor Paolo Surico of the London Business School at the Treasury Committee last week. He said that, in theory, if the UK issued £20 billion a year in R&D bonds and invested that all in defence R&D on the DARPA model…”

“I am from the Treasury Committee. Nicholas, on your earlier point, the Treasury Committee has been looking a lot at how to use defence spending to boost economic growth. All the research I am seeing shows that, if you really want to do that, it has to be in the start-up and SME space. You need public R&D for basic rese…”

“Do the Government know if the US Government are still providing technical military intelligence support, such as electronic or imagery intelligence for Ukraine? If that were cut off by President Trump, would the Americans effectively restrict our British military technical intelligence support to Ukraine?”