Speeches by Morello.

“Labour Members have made much of the fact that, upon a family farm being inherited, the inheritance tax will be payable over 10 years. They completely ignore the fact that 30% of family farms made no profit at all last year. Invariably, those who inherit will have to sell land to pay the bill. That will feed exactly th…”

“I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this debate. The points she makes are extremely accurate and relevant. She talks about the ease with which people can fall into homelessness. It is incredibly sad that at this time of year my inbox is seeing an explosion in homelessness cases, including hidden homelessness and p…”

“Foreign Secretary, I want to ask about the US national security strategy published earlier this month. The document talks about “restoring Europe’s” civilisation “and Western identity”. It talks of Europe facing the “prospect of civilizational erasure” and “loss of national identities” and becoming “majority non-Europe…”

“On the US approach to Europe, the strategy talks about European “governments’ subversion of democratic processes.” It says that the US will “promote…the…influence of patriotic European parties” and cultivate “resistance to Europe’s current trajectory”. Do you think it is acceptable for the US to meddle in the democrati…”

“Respectfully, I suggest that they don’t respect our democracy if they are willing to meddle in it.”

“Finally, do you foresee any situation in which the McGrail inquiry report will delay the completion of the negotiations over the UK-EU treaty?”

“Frankly, Foreign Secretary, the “normal process” at the moment is that we have weekly urgent questions on Chagos in order to be able to discuss this, because proper time has not been allowed for scrutinising the treaty. I am wondering whether the Government want to commit to allowing time to scrutinise the EU-UK-Gibral…”

“As in, the Government will commit to allowing time in the Chamber to debate the treaty?”

“When can this Committee expect to see the text of the EU-UK-Gibraltar treaty?”

“Do the Government have any view on the First Minister potentially using the powers that were passed last year to provide only a redacted version of that report to the public?”

“Do you know whether it was the full report or a redacted version of it?”

“Have the Government received a copy of the McGrail inquiry report?”

“What I am driving at are the policies and the worldview outlined in the US national security strategy document, and that, on its publication, the Kremlin spokesperson welcomed it as “largely consistent” with their view of the world. How reliable a partner is the US to the UK, given how different our worldviews are?”

“I agree with you on the need for Europe to spend more and do more on defence. I am wondering about when you talk to the US about NATO, given that the US national security strategy says that the US “stand ready to help—potentially through more favorable treatment on commercial matters, technology sharing, and defense pr…”

“As the Minister said, the UK is the penholder on Sudan at the UN. There clearly need to be comprehensive arms embargos and sanctions against those actors who are fuelling the violence in Sudan. Given that one of those is Russia, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will the Minister ensure that the G…”

“The Minister says that rural schools receive more funding per pupil than urban schools, but one of my local headmasters, who previously taught in London, tells me that he received £10,000 per pupil in London but only £5,000 in West Dorset. That suggests that the Treasury funding model simply does not reflect the increa…”

“Tourism is vital to the economy of West Dorset and hospitality is one of the largest employers. Our population soars by 40% during the summer months and those businesses require seasonal workers. Given all the headwinds my hon. Friend outlines that face the high street and UK hospitality, does she agree that the Govern…”

“When one of your predecessors was in front of the Foreign Affairs Committee speaking to the sale of the Bangkok embassy, they said that that the £400 million would be used to clear the backlog of maintenance. We are now in 2025 and the backlog is £450 million. The refurbishment of the Washington embassy ran 12 months o…”

“I agree 100%. I very much hope that the Bill will give us the opportunity to improve that level of service. End-of-the-line stopping services should not be defined by graffiti, broken heating, limited seating and high fares. What we want are modern trains with reliable wi-fi, working toilets, clear visual and audio inf…”

“I am looking forward to serving on the Public Bill Committee, because this Bill is a long-awaited opportunity to reshape our rail network for the better. It is an opportunity to deliver real value, reliability and affordability for passengers across the whole of the country, but especially in underserved rural communit…”