Speeches by Taylor.

“Thanks very much, William. You have talked about this a bit in your opening remarks, but can you expand upon what you have said about the ways in which the windmill project has helped change people’s lives in your village?”

“I will.”

“I do not believe that is the case, because I believe the Minister is going to set out the ways in which we are still taking our place on the world stage, but I hear the hon. Member’s concern. Hon. Members in this Chamber have passionately advocated for causes that they care deeply about. I respect that, especially the …”

“I want to add to what the Minister is saying. The point is that, yes, the coalition Government did protect the aid budget, but by cutting public services in this country to the core, they undermined public trust in Government. That meant that lots of people faced need, and it led to increasing calls of, “Charity begins…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) for securing the debate. The International Development Committee is due in a couple of weeks—if our visas are approved—to go to the US and have some of these discussions. It will be interesti…”

“I will not, because I want to make a point; I find the moralising tone of my hon. Friend the Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) a bit much. The reason the last Government were able to do what they did—slashing the aid budget, abolishing the Department for International Development and wrecking the econom…”

“No, I will not, because I find the moralising tone completely infuriating. Having put that on record, I turn to the matter at hand: the horrible situation that we are in. I note with respect that other hon. Members have mentioned causes that they deeply care about, and I care about those causes—”

“I start by acknowledging that this is an extremely sensitive debate. We have heard some really thoughtful contributions, for which I am grateful to Members, and I really hope that the debate continues in that tone. Constituents on all sides of this debate have emailed me; I have heard from the local mosque, but also fr…”

“Q14. The proposed Hemel health campus, a partnership between the NHS and the council, presents a perfect opportunity to deliver on Labour’s commitment to neighbourhood-based care, bringing services closer to where people live, in facilities designed around their needs. It can also help to regenerate our town centre. Do…”

“Does the FCDO have strategies in place to strengthen the private sector within fragile states as a form of stabilisation? In Syria, for example, there has been an urgent need, given the years of oppression under Assad, to rebuild a very broken country and get the economy going again. If you could speak to that, that wo…”

“These funds have been integrated across Government. Could you outline for us the advantages of that approach and perhaps some of the challenges of that approach?”

“On a more positive note, what are the opportunities with the transition to the ISF? Do you see positive innovations coming out of what they are planning to do? It is a question to both of you.”

“Lewis, you sort of answered the next question I had, which was whether or not the process of bidding has become easier to navigate since the transition to the ISF. Do either of you want to comment on that?”

“Eva, is there anything you want to add to that point?”

“Noting what you have said there about the fund’s strength being that it was catalytic money that was short term and noting the point you made about long term, but just on that short-term funding that is there, at the moment it is being delivered through a cross-Government funding mechanism. It is under review at the mo…”

“Mike, can I have a better answer?”

“That is a good point, Mike, and one I think that a number of us on the Committee worry about. Yes, it is good to see that Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan are potentially going to have their funding protected, but as a long-term Syria watcher, that is my worry, too: that not only there but other places as well might flare up an…”

“Mike, is there anything you want to add to that?”

“Thanks for your answer, Mike. I want to specifically talk about the project that you just mentioned in Syria. Where we expected to see sectarian violence with the fall of Assad, we are thankfully so far not seeing that, notwithstanding the incident on the coast a few months ago. By and large, we are seeing relative cal…”

“On a more positive note, what are the opportunities with the transition to the ISF? Do you see positive innovations coming out of what they are planning to do? It is a question to both of you.”