Speeches by Reed.

“There has been some recent confusion from Defence Ministers surrounding the purchase of 12 F-35A nuclear-capable fast jets. Can the Prime Minister please inform the House of the proposed in-service date for this important capability?”

“A blind resident in my constituency, Marilyn, relies on her guide dog and the local bus network to live independently. However, changes under the Government’s £1.7 million active travel grant, including floating bus stops on Rifford Road in my constituency, force her to cross fast, bidirectional cycle lanes just to boa…”

“It is both a pleasure and a privilege to close today’s excellent debate on Armed Forces Day. I pay tribute to colleagues across the House for their thoughtful and passionate contributions. I rise on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition to express our sincere thanks to all those who serve and have served in our arme…”

“14. How much and what proportion of the funding due to be allocated to Mauritius as part of the agreement concerning the Chagos archipelago will come from his Department.”

“I had hoped for a more precise answer to my question. Rather than pressing again for exact figures or a departmental breakdown, let me proceed down a related line of inquiry. Is there any mechanism, legal or otherwise, that the Mauritian Government could use to reopen the Chagos negotiations or to request further finan…”

“Labour has repeatedly stated that food security is national security—a point with which I and many of my constituents wholeheartedly agree—yet there remains a clear disconnect between that rhetoric and the substance of current policy. Beyond the announced biosecurity measures, does the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancas…”

“On the one hand, the Defence Secretary has told the world that the UK will increase offensive cyber operations against China. On the other hand, the Deputy Prime Minister is pushing for a Chinese super-embassy in London, which will be furnished with secret data cabling. Does the Foreign Secretary see any inconsistencie…”

“I was glad to hear defence running through the Business Secretary’s statement. Will he tell us how much equity the authors of the strategic defence review had in the compilation of the UK modern industrial strategy?”

“If Iran chooses to close the straits of Hormuz, which the Iranian Parliament has now voted to do, what contingency options has the Foreign Secretary worked up to protect UK national interests?”

“Does our closest ally, the United States, agree with this position on the situation? If not, what do we differ on?”

“The Prime Minister states that a new security and defence partnership will pave the way for British defence firms to access the new European defence fund, which I am sure we can collectively agree will allow our continent to defend ourselves against Putin’s autocratic regime. How long does the Prime Minister think acce…”

“Can the Home Secretary explain why the British envoy in Tehran was summoned by the Iranian authorities at the weekend? More importantly, does this not signal a complete disconnect from reality on the part of the Iranian state?”

“In recent months, the UK has experienced a number of very high-profile cyber-attacks right across the public and private sectors. Does the Minister agree that now is the time to update the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to enhance cyber-resilience through strengthened legal protections for cyber-security researchers? If her …”

“Thank you.”

“Moving on to BII and going back to a few of your opening comments around leveraging more money from the market, first, will the Government continue to provide capital injections into BII, despite the cuts in ODA? The follow-on from that is, would you be allowing BII or considering allowing BII to borrow from financial …”

“From your perspective, was it incorrect for the Prime Minister to say that the money would be going from aid into defence by 2027?”

“Is BII aware of the points that you have just raised or has it been waiting for a decision to come out from the FCDO?”

“I would like to go into the mechanics of how the money flows out from the FCDO and into defence. The way in which it was pitched by the Prime Minister in late February was that it would go down from 0.5% GNI to 0.3% by 2027 for ODA, and then that would go from 2.3% to 2.5% for defence. It was pitched that it would be g…”

“On that final point, about leveraging money from the markets, is that an ambition for BII?”

“10. What discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the policy of the US Administration on Iran.”