Speeches by Harding.

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for bringing this critical debate to the House. Next month, the eyes of the world will turn to the Amazon and Brazil for the COP30 climate conference. The choices made there will define…”

“I thank the hon. and right hon. Members for bringing this debate to the Chamber today. I thank other speakers for their moving remarks, and it is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson). I thank her for sharing her story, on behalf of all those untold stories. I speak for …”

“The Government have now delayed their decision on local government reorganisation in Surrey. Can the Minister assure me that the Government are using this delay to protect my constituents in Esher and Walton from the Tory debt of neighbouring councils with which they might be grouped? Will the planned elections in May …”

“I associate myself with the tributes paid to those who were killed in Manchester and to the invaluable work of the Community Security Trust, whose headquarters I have visited. I pay tribute to my constituents, who have sent a wall of love and support in messages to our local synagogue, showing how they absolutely rejec…”

“This really is not hard. Is it not enough to know that Lord Mandelson enjoyed the patronage of a convicted child sex offender by staying in his houses? Was that not enough to prevent his appointment as our most senior ambassador?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I am sorry to stop the hon. Lady’s very well delivered speech mid-stream. Does she agree that we need to hear from not only families but educators? Teachers in schools are up against the system, and families come into our surgeries in tears because they cannot get provision. Some 1,800 children in Surrey are missing ed…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) for securing this important debate. I am pleased that each time Liberal Democrat MPs raise this issue, the Government back the fund. I want the Government to hear what the ASGSF means for one family in my Esher and Walton constituency. Two of my constitu…”

“I thank my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire), for securing this debate. I recently met the Walton-on-Thames macular degeneration support group in Esher and Walton to discuss some of the challenges faced by my constituents with sight loss, including pavement parking. I…”

“The Minister has talked about social mobility. Does my hon. Friend agree that when a company cuts hours, it is those who work part time—some of the most disadvantaged members of society—who lose out, and lose their jobs?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I congratulate the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) on securing this important debate and on putting Sudan in the spotlight, where it needs to be. This war is the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since the advent of the modern age, with 25 million pe…”

“At last week’s Business and Trade Sub-Committee meeting I had an exchange with the Minister for Trade Policy about export licences and arms licences, particularly with regard to the UAE. Since Sudan’s war broke out in 2023, The New York Times has repeatedly reported on the UAE arming the RSF, including by funnelling ar…”

“Foreign Secretary, further to what you just said, ICAI has pointed out that the commitment by the British Government to ODA spent overseas in ’27-28, is 0.24%, not 0.3%. That is the projection.”

“Foreign Secretary, what has concerned you most about the very significant cut in US development spending?”

“The cuts were huge and, as you say, they will disrupt the provision of aid. Given that you are at pains to point out that your position on the cuts to UK aid is not ideological, are you doing anything to persuade the US to change course on, for example, the end of funding for WHO and Gavi? The US has rejected the susta…”

“Foreign Secretary, of course I do not need to remind you that Sudan is suffering the worst humanitarian crisis since aid began, and there are war crimes being committed, it seems, on almost a daily basis. There has been one statement from you on Sudan in seven months; are the Government treating it as a priority?”

“Foreign Secretary, you say you are absolutely committed to development, and that the poorest people in the world should not be at the mercy of political decisions, yet your Government have cut the aid budget by 40%—much further than any other Government—to the lowest level for 50 years. Can you see how those two things…”

“Can I just finish? I just have one last point. This comes back to your point about recognition of a Palestinian state. You talked about other countries doing so and nothing happening. Britain is not other countries. As you know—as you have been proud of and said in the past—we have a key role on the world stage in our …”

“Thank you for your efforts, Foreign Secretary. What momentum has there been since the London conference? Its results were disappointing.”

“I have already laid out what we could do in Israel, but my question is to you, Foreign Secretary. What do you think we should do? Otherwise, as you said, it is a race to the bottom.”