Speeches by Harding.

“Do not you feel that if two issues are of such critical importance, they should have their own Ministers?”

“Turning to money, Minister, were you satisfied with the ODA settlement in the autumn Budget?”

“It is not a question on the circumstances; it is a question on the fiscal conditions that the Government have chosen to use to set the 0.5% and not yet get to the 0.7%. How did you arrive at that 0.56% that we are at currently and where is the ambition to get to the 0.7%?”

“That is right.”

“They are rules that you vigorously opposed, as did the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.”

“I want to talk about the ambition. This is something that we spoke to the officials about. The rhetoric does not seem to match the fiscal rules adoption, but we will leave fiscal rules to one side for a moment. Given that there has been a UK aid cut, how will you meet your ambitions to reset the UK in the development s…”

“I wanted to come back to your point. If I may push it, have the UK laid out any consequences or planned any consequences to UNWRA being unable to operate anymore in three weeks’ time? Similarly, is the Minister or are the Government having any bilateral conversations with other countries about this?”

“I am pleased that the Prime Minister recently met UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Lazzarini and pledged further funding, but in three weeks legislation to ban UNRWA will come into force. Lazzarini has said that “dismantling UNRWA will collapse the United Nations’ humanitarian response” in Gaza and that the “entire populat…”

“Thank you for your forbearance, Madam Deputy Speaker. I apologise for my hasty entry into the Chamber, which does not detract from the high importance that the Liberal Democrats and I attach to this Bill. I am pleased to welcome the Bill back to the House on Third Reading and, having listened to hon. Members over the p…”

“Collaboratively, then, the value of the World Service to humanitarian aid in the world is valued by the FCDO.”

“More than 24,000 homes in my constituency have an energy performance certificate banding of D or worse, which means 50,000 tonnes of avoidable carbon dioxide emissions and higher energy bills for my constituents. However, the rate of insulation upgrades is too slow for us to meet the Government’s goal of universal band…”

“Collaboratively, then, the value of the World Service to humanitarian aid in the world is valued by the FCDO.”

“Have the cuts to the World Service language services impacted its ability to reach those in crisis in countries such as those that we have talked of?”

“Does the World Service collaborate with other international organisations and NGOs to support humanitarian efforts?”

“Baroness Chapman, on the contribution of the World Service to humanitarian impact, does the World Service’s reporting on conflict zones affect the local population’s access to lifesaving information and aid, such as in Gaza and Sudan?”

“While I understand that tension, do you not think that not having the BBC at the table in these soft power summits means that they lose their voice in a way in which they can promote UK soft power? Given what you have rightly said—that investment into that by other countries means that they have influence—do we not und…”

“Can I ask a follow-up question? Diving into the detail of you moving money to Syria, as you said, where did that money come from? Also, as you are seeing more and more conflicts—there are 120 armed conflicts in the world at the moment—are you finding that you are putting more money into that space?”

“Have the cuts to the World Service language services impacted its ability to reach those in crisis in countries such as those that we have talked of?”

“Does the World Service collaborate with other international organisations and NGOs to support humanitarian efforts?”

“Baroness Chapman, on the contribution of the World Service to humanitarian impact, does the World Service’s reporting on conflict zones affect the local population’s access to lifesaving information and aid, such as in Gaza and Sudan?”