Speeches by Naish.

“On behalf of my constituents, I welcome the establishment of the Palestinian embassy in London today. Syria’s long-term stability depends on protecting its long-standing diversity and preventing sectarian violence, as the Minister said. In the light of recent violence and the lack of progress this weekend in integratin…”

“I read this morning that a former Under Secretary of Defence for Personnel and Readiness has said that he is not aware of any plans for how the next few days will be managed by the US. May I ask the Foreign Secretary what specific reassurances she has received from US counterparts that that is not the case and that ins…”

“On behalf of Nottinghamshire county council, I thank the Government for a £234 million—or 30%—increase over the course of this Parliament, which will make a huge difference, and for the 4.6% increase in core spending for my area, Rushcliffe. I previously raised with the Minister in writing the need to avoid cliff edges…”

“I understand the justification for making changes to the salary sacrifice arrangements. The Minister mentions higher earners. Can he explain a bit more about the breakdown of those who are benefiting under the current system as a percentage of the whole? I do not know whether he has that data with him.”

“I saw a good joke earlier—a one-liner—that says, “Lib Dem campaigning works!” I do not think so: it is this Labour Government who have delivered the change today. University of Nottingham staff in my constituency face considerable pressure due to ongoing restructuring. What would the Minister say to those staff, who ar…”

“At a Hanukkah event in Nottingham last night, I spoke to a medical undergraduate who welcomes the Government’s commitment to halving competition, and the offer that was put to the BMA. Lots of medical professionals, be they hospital doctors, GPs or allied health professionals, are struggling to find work. Will the Secr…”

“I wish to present this petition on behalf of my constituents in Rushcliffe, especially those in Radcliffe-on-Trent and Cotgrave, who have signed it to signal their desire to see the public path and cycleway between Radcliffe-on-Trent and Cotgrave reopened. The public greenway linking Radcliffe-on-Trent and Cotgrave pro…”

“The response we received to our displaced people report pointed to equality impact assessments that had been undertaken; I think they were published online, but they were quite vague. I am seeking clarity on what equality impact assessments have been done in and around policy towards displaced people.”

“So it is effectively those three things. You described one or two of them earlier that had finished. Have all those things finished?”

“When she was last here—or the time before that, maybe—the Minister said that there would be no disability, inclusion and rights strategy refresh. How does that sit alongside the amount of change that we have talked about today? How can we be confident that we do not need a refresh in the context of what has been descri…”

“If I am right, there have been three reviews in progress: there was the review of the overseas network; there has been a review of the Department’s directorate structures; and then there has been an assessment of what the cuts mean for the ODA budget.”

“Going back to that quote that “less money does not necessarily mean less action”, the problem is that you say that for education, for women and girls, and for disability, but that cannot be true for everything. Effectively, it comes across as saying, “We are just going to mainstream the things that we are no longer ful…”

“Okay. I guess what we are trying to understand is the direction of travel for the Department. The response we received to that report said that “less money does not necessarily mean less action” on women and girls programming. Can you expand on how those things can be true? Presumably you are saying “We’re just going t…”

“On the fiscal reforms that have taken place in Nigeria, it was the FCDO and the UK that had been leading the World Bank, and the World Bank acknowledged that it was UK leadership that had really driven forward those reforms. I guess there is a risk if you put too much trust in the multilaterals—you trust that they are …”

“Which I think is what the Minister had alluded to, but the response we got from the Department suggested that these things were taking place. Perhaps that is one for a follow-up, for clarity.”

“We did a report on displaced people, which I will assume you have seen—or certainly your teams have—at some point. The Minister twice told us that there had been no equality impact assessment, but the response that we received suggested that there had been. Could you clarify whether an equality impact assessment had be…”

“Moving on to displaced people. Chair, I thought we had a hard stop.”

“Do you think the cart is going before the horse a bit on this issue?”

“Are you saying that there is no risk in the approach to making decisions about directorates and senior staffing numbers and individuals without having a clear understanding of the overall end picture, or would you accept that there is heightened risk?”

“We on the Committee have been struggling to wrap our heads around how things such as the directorates have been determined when, as you have described, there is a series of moving parts and those parts have not landed, including arguably the biggest one, which is ODA and where that is being spent. How are decisions bei…”