Speeches by Hazelgrove.

“This is the last question, we promise, Foreign Secretary, and we will let you go, but this feels important. I completely agree our relationship is incredibly special and important with the US. I have personally lived and worked in the US myself. Part of what makes our relationship so special is that it has been founded…”

“I have one final question on this area. You touched on COP there, and you were there very recently. You talked about the outcome being quite positive. COP has been criticised, however, for perhaps not being able to tackle the challenge at the pace that is needed. I wondered about your reflections on that and whether yo…”

“On that question in terms of the soft power aspect, do you believe that that downgrade in spending has had an impact on Britain’s role in the world and how we are seen in terms of our soft power and influence?”

“Linked to the conversation we had last week with Sir Philip, at the start, Foreign Secretary, you touched on the fact that you inherited this failed merger when you first walked into the Department. I wondered whether you could please elaborate on that for us and set out some of those challenges that you have inherited…”

“Looking ahead to you returning to be in front of this Committee in, say, a year’s time, what would success look like across this period? How do we judge that there has been success and good progress on those measures that you are starting to set out there and bring about?”

“To follow up specifically, you touched there on the fact that you are looking to do more. Obviously, you are doing more with less because of the last Conservative Government’s cut in terms of ODA from 0.7% to 0.5%. I wonder what your view is, Foreign Secretary, on whether that has harmed UK soft power.”

“I declare a deep interest: I am a member of the all-party parliamentary group on political and media literacy, and I believe these issues are very important. Does my hon. Friend agree that this is not just about the education of young people in and of itself, but about how people go on to engage in our democracy later …”

“Following on from that, do you believe the Government currently makes sufficient use of the World Service to reinforce British foreign policy goals in any given conflict, or could it do more?”

“Dr Westcott, to expand on the point you were just making on Sudan, how important would you say the role of the World Service is in providing information during crises and conflict—you were talking about Sudan there, but also with reference to Ukraine and Gaza? It would be useful to hear about any impact of the World Se…”

“Following on from that, do you believe the Government currently makes sufficient use of the World Service to reinforce British foreign policy goals in any given conflict, or could it do more?”

“I have a final question on this. There is some interesting information about the different types of medium that have been used alongside the World Service—for example, using different social media platforms to complement the work done via traditional channels such as radio, particularly in some conflicts, or setting up…”

“Thank you both for your time. This has been very insightful so far. Mr Angus, you earlier shared with the Committee some interesting thoughts on where you felt that Government funding could be better located from, for example from the Cabinet Office. I wanted to touch on the funding specifically of World Service langua…”

“Would you therefore say there is sense in uncoupling, so you have got different sources and different ambitions to some extent? We were looking yesterday at the FDCO’s intended outcomes. Granted, those were formed by the last Government rather than this one, and the work to reshape them is being done at the moment. But…”

“Just to come in on that point, which was really interesting to hear about, would you say that the World Service in India has been able to retain its independence, despite the fact that it has restructured because of the preferences of the Indian Government?”

“Dr Westcott, to expand on the point you were just making on Sudan, how important would you say the role of the World Service is in providing information during crises and conflict—you were talking about Sudan there, but also with reference to Ukraine and Gaza? It would be useful to hear about any impact of the World Se…”

“I have a final question on this. There is some interesting information about the different types of medium that have been used alongside the World Service—for example, using different social media platforms to complement the work done via traditional channels such as radio, particularly in some conflicts, or setting up…”

“Thank you both for your time. This has been very insightful so far. Mr Angus, you earlier shared with the Committee some interesting thoughts on where you felt that Government funding could be better located from, for example from the Cabinet Office. I wanted to touch on the funding specifically of World Service langua…”

“Would you therefore say there is sense in uncoupling, so you have got different sources and different ambitions to some extent? We were looking yesterday at the FDCO’s intended outcomes. Granted, those were formed by the last Government rather than this one, and the work to reshape them is being done at the moment. But…”

“Just to come in on that point, which was really interesting to hear about, would you say that the World Service in India has been able to retain its independence, despite the fact that it has restructured because of the preferences of the Indian Government?”

“This is the last one from me, and then I will hand over to colleagues. The OBR has said that it does not expect fiscal circumstances to allow an increase in ODA from 0.5% to 0.7% within this Parliament. What do you expect the timeline to look like in reality?”