Speeches by Hardy.

“Absolutely. They were designated on the basis of the feature that was currently there and some of those are for marine birds. As Mike has kindly said, he will let you know exactly how many there are. Some are designated for special areas of conservation. Those are the ones that came from the EU. They were EU-derived MP…”

“I hope, if nothing else comes out of me coming here today, that I can offer some reassurance and calm any nerves that people might have on this. This Government are utterly committed to 30 by 30. We are utterly committed to enforcing responsibilities under the Environment Act. This is not a regressive Government. We ar…”

“You are absolutely right to point out that more needs to be done in terms of protecting MPAs. I completely and utterly agree with you. We are taking more action on this. I am not sure if the MMO mentioned some of the enforcement action that is going on at the moment. We have issued 28 notices on five investigations tha…”

“Yes. Were you DEFRA Minister at the time, Barry? It must have been around that time. Some protected migratory fish, seals and harbour porpoise. Some protected migratory species. It is important, recognising that the climate is changing, that we look at where some of these species are and we check that the designation f…”

“Thanks so much for your question. As I have mentioned, one thing that the MMO is looking at is licensing. One other thing we are looking at, which is quite exciting, is different technology—looking at drones and how we can investigate and protect what we already have. There have been consultations done on future byelaw…”

“I am more than happy to get you the figure. Mike, would you like to add?”

“As I mentioned, different MPAs are designated feature by feature. The action being taken depends on the feature that they are protecting. If it is an MPA that is designated for protecting seabirds, the enforcement would be different from if it is protecting the seabed. It will depend on the type of feature that is unde…”

“No. The policy has not changed. The delay is on making sure that I am making the right decision and that I have all the evidence required to make the best decision. I would rather spend a bit longer—a few more months—doing that than make a decision that I regret later on.”

“If I had not got rid of my Twitter account, I would have retweeted it myself, too. It goes back to the conversation we were having about when we can get the stage 3 byelaws passed. We are committed to not having bottom trawling in areas that damage the MPAs, especially when they are attached to features that we are try…”

“I have to apologise if I am slightly mindful about how I talk about negotiations that are going on in the background, so apologies for that. Conversations are happening with other countries where we have allegiances and alliances, and those conversations are going on at the moment. I suppose, as you would ahead of any …”

“I love this—this is really exciting. We are as the UK part of the high ambition coalition. We were not internationally able to negotiate the final treaty, so negotiations will be happening again this year, but that was not for the lack of UK passion, involvement and commitment. The DEFRA team—to use a non-ministerial w…”

“They were right to make those criticisms in the past—absolutely. I hope they would say that they can see we are trying to take a different approach. It has been the case—and it has been the case for a long time—that there has not been a strategic plan. I hope they would recognise we have come in as a new Government and…”

“As I say, our priority is to go through, looking at MSP, marine spatial prioritisation, and then, as I announced in my written statement around the Marine Recovery Fund, we want to help unlock growth. It is a priority for the Government. It is one of the five priorities for the Government so, clearly, it is a priority …”

“Absolutely. They were designated on the basis of the feature that was currently there and some of those are for marine birds. As Mike has kindly said, he will let you know exactly how many there are. Some are designated for special areas of conservation. Those are the ones that came from the EU. They were EU-derived MP…”

“Yes. Were you DEFRA Minister at the time, Barry? It must have been around that time. Some protected migratory fish, seals and harbour porpoise. Some protected migratory species. It is important, recognising that the climate is changing, that we look at where some of these species are and we check that the designation f…”

“I know you are, yes.”

“On marine spatial planning and what we are trying to put where, I hope I have tried to explain the need for a strategic plan on what is going where in our ocean. As we have said, where we put offshore wind, where the MOD is, where cables are, where we dig for aggregates and all these things have evolved over time witho…”

“I work closely with Minister Shanks. The Government’s mission is green energy power. To deliver on that green energy power, he needs offshore wind and that means he needs to put that in the seas and the oceans, which come under my responsibility. We work closely together. We have regular meetings. However, to be clear,…”

“The conversations I tend to have with Minister Shanks are more about how we can ensure the best use of our seas. As I say, I am here talking about the environment. Daniel would be here talking about—”

“If it is an MPA, it is based on features. If it is based on a whole-site approach, it would come under what we would call the highly protected marine areas instead. There are three HPMAs at the moment that are banning pretty much everything that takes place within that area. That is one thing we are looking at. I menti…”