Speeches by Reed.

“Thank you, Dianne, Jennifer and Abdou for being with us today. Let us flip it to the other side and look at the role of the UK within multilateral organisations. I will go to Jennifer. From your perspective, what mechanisms do the FCDO have to ensure that value for money is being achieved through its contributions to m…”

“Farmers across Devon are rightly concerned about Labour’s planned changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief, particularly the serious impact on family farms and on the sustainability of rural communities. In early December I wrote to the Secretary of State to invite him to meet Devon’s farmin…”

“9. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the autumn Budget 2024 on business confidence among farmers.”

“Will the FCDO team please confirm who is the lead Minister in these negotiations?”

“I thank the Secretary of State for finally confirming that elections will go ahead in Devon. However, we had been told that, if we were not selected this time round, devolution would be imposed on us. Will the Secretary of State please give an explanation to my constituents in Exmouth and Exeter East of what that impos…”

“The last Government informed the Committee that there would be a recruitment round for technical specialists in this area in 2024. Has this taken place yet?”

“Thank you, Minister. I am conscious of time, so I will just do a few quickfire questions on FCDO internal capacity. Having the right specialists in the Department will be important. How is the FCDO attracting and retaining the specialists it needs to contribute meaningfully to SDG2?”

“On the point of the Minouche Shafik report, can we have an update please? Will it be shared with the Committee?”

“To confirm, it will not be shared with us.”

“The report itself will not be shared with us.”

“A pattern is forming around this not so new Government’s ability to negotiate effectively, from their disastrous approach to Chagos to the terrible deal with train unions and this latest debacle with AstraZeneca. Is it fair to say that when this Labour Government negotiate, Britain loses out?”

“Before Christmas, I received nearly 1,000 handwritten letters from pupils at St Peter’s secondary school in Exeter. Each letter strongly advocated for greater support to tackle the mental health challenges faced by young people, with many sharing deeply unsettling personal stories. I am committed to improving local men…”

“Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 22 January.”

“This is an active issue across many of our constituencies, and we have heard many personal stories. In my constituency of Exmouth and Exeter East, we have had a new town built called Cranbrook. A sewage treatment works was promised but has not been delivered. That has put pressure on systems elsewhere, and we have seen…”

“I thank my right hon. and gallant Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) for bringing this important debate to the Chamber. From the discussions the Minister had at the E5 conference, does he think our allies are confident that we are playing our part in air defence?”

“I agree with many of the points raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest on debt. He raised the serious question of how much debt is too much. Does Ofwat have a firm number on how much companies should be borrowing, and at what point it should intervene?”

“There is a lot of additional work being pushed towards Ofwat. Could the Minister confirm whether Ofwat has the internal capacity to meet that workload? If not, is there a ringfenced budget in DEFRA to allow Ofwat to employ more people?”

“I agree with many of the hon. Lady’s points. Many of our constituents are feeling the same effects, but does she not agree that the reason why the Bill has been introduced so quickly in this Parliament with so few new ideas in it is that most of the work was done by the previous Government?”

“We have heard repeatedly that this is just the start of the legislative process to bring our water companies back to heel. Will the Minister please explain what she thinks the Bill lacks and what she hopes to do in the future to strengthen and add to it?”

“I want to raise one minor point. Public confidence in us restoring our water systems is the reason we are here, scrutinising this Bill. Feargal Sharkey—a main campaigner who many people up and down the country listen to—recently wrote an article saying that no water boss would ever go to prison as a result of this legi…”