Speeches by Reed.

“The Minister expresses deep regret that this case has not gone to trial. I want to believe him on that, but the case did not go to trial. With the power of hindsight, if he was to go back and do this all again, what would the Minister have done differently to ensure that this case did go to trial?”

“Does the Minister agree that the Government have now set a perverse incentive for British officials, in that admitting to espionage problems with China is seen as rocking the boat?”

“It is a great pleasure to close the Sir David Amess Adjournment debate on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition. Although I did not have the privilege of knowing Sir David personally, I have heard time and again from colleagues across the House about the warmth, generosity and conviction that defined him. He is reme…”

“As the Secretary of State and the Minister for Water and Flooding will know, sewage is a major issue in my constituency. As we have heard, the Government plan to build 1.5 million new homes, tens of thousands of which will be in my area. Lots of people are understandably concerned that South West Water will not keep pa…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz, and to speak on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition on the important subject of the contribution of the Royal Air Force Photographic Reconnaissance Unit during the second world war. I begin by thanking the hon. Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) for securing toda…”

“So where will the people go?”

“But the people who come here illegally are coming from international countries, so how does the FCDO not have equity in that process?”

“It is a big ODA spend, so I think it is very fair to ask these questions.”

“I would disagree heavily with—”

“I don’t think it is. This is a very serious issue.”

“Final question on that. The number will go down to zero per cent in asylum hotels; the approach that you have just laid out will make sure that no one comes here illegally any more, and that no one will be housed here. Are those your points—purely return deals and working upstream? Is that going to be enough?”

“Thank you for being with us today, Foreign Secretary. You had 14 years in opposition, and you have been in post for a year now. What we have seen throughout the year is that you reduced ODA spend from 0.5% to 0.3%, but I am still not hearing any cohesive vision for where you want to go. You said that you will do line-b…”

“But it is split equity, across the FCDO—”

“At the moment, if people come here illegally, they are put in hotels, and that is paid for through the ODA budget; it goes to the Home Office. If you are saying, and the Government are saying, that that will be reduced to zero by the end of this Parliament—2029—where do you envision that people who come here illegally …”

“To follow on from that, this will be split equity, across the FCDO and the Home Office. Where will people who do come here illegally go?”

“So how is it going to happen? How will you, as FCDO Secretary, monitor that with the Home Office?”

“Of course.”

“You have said that it is going to go down to zero per cent by 2029, so what is that process?”

“Foreign Secretary, can you understand how difficult that is to communicate to the UK public about how their taxpayer money is being spent?”

“The point I am making, Foreign Secretary, is that you have had a year to come up with a vision, and you had 14 years in opposition to come up with this vision. All we have seen is reduction. Going to my question about asylum hotels, a large chunk of what is left is going to the Home Office.”