Speeches by Dollimore.

“Is that households or restaurants?”

“There is a reference in the summary of the National Food Crime Unit’s report to where these products are going. It says, “The servicing of consumer demand for culturally preferred products through the slaughter, unlawful processing or importation of lamb and pork”. I just wondered whether Helen or Lucy could comment on…”

“Can I just start by saying a big thank you to all of your teams, both at Border Force and at the port, for all the work that you do? Lucy, you have talked about how the conditions at Sevington are not designed for examining meat products. I wondered if you could just talk a bit more about that and the risks that it ent…”

“Is there no testing done of the products? Do they just get destroyed?”

“Moving on to organised crime, David, I am interested in your perspective on what the reasons are behind this organised crime that we are seeing. Where do you think the markets for these meat products is? Where are they going?”

“As the man responsible for Border Force in the south‑east, you could not tell me if there is any organised crime going on or not.”

“Is that because you do not know or because it is classified?”

“Helen, I will bring you in shortly. David, just to press on this point, what do you think the motivation is behind instances that have been reported by Lucy and are extensively detailed in the written submissions? Who do you think is behind these crimes?”

“You have no idea where the goods were destined to go.”

“Do you notice any trend in terms of, for example, the vehicles that you are stopping? Do they have similar number plates destination‑wise or origin‑wise, or are they just a whole range of different number plates with different origins?”

“Such as?”

“You are seeing a high level of vehicles stopped that have illegal meat from eastern Europe.”

“Yes.”

“When you are opening a van, say, and you come across a meat product that is looking suspicious or packaged in a suspicious way, presumably there is a risk to the staff opening that vehicle. What kind of process do you go through if you do uncover something that is found to be problematic? What kind of process is gone t…”

“Do your staff wear PPE?”

“I thank the Minister for her statement and her commitment to driving up standards in all our schools—and I gently invite those on the Conservative Benches who seem to think that multi-academy trusts are a panacea for everything to take a look at the experience of my constituents in Hastings and Rye, where we have been …”

“rose—”

“I welcome the Labour Government’s confirmation of funding, which will help the Conquest hospital in Hastings, part of the East Sussex Healthcare trust, and other hospitals that my constituents use. It comes alongside the Chancellor’s announcement of a big package of support in the Budget, with record investment in our …”

“I thank the hon. Member, my constituency neighbour, for giving way and I congratulate him on securing this debate. We both care deeply about our three local hospitals and I, too, pay tribute to the work of our amazing NHS staff. Recently, I was at one of those local hospitals with a family member and I will be there ag…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”