Speeches by Harding.

“11. What steps she is taking to support flood preparedness projects in the Esher and Walton constituency.”

“May I start by asking the Foreign Secretary why this extremely important statement on Britain’s commitments overseas is being announced on a Thursday, when most MPs are not here? Is it perhaps because the Government are ashamed of these cuts and want them to slip out unnoticed? Something has gone badly wrong when a Lab…”

“The Thames runs the length of my constituency, making flooding a significant issue. The Thames Ditton flood group has brilliantly secured funding for temporary flood barriers but cannot deploy them because, despite its efforts, it is unable to obtain public liability insurance. It has contacted Flood Re, the British In…”

“Can I come back to the £5 million? Is that earmarked for north-east Syria?”

“My understanding is that education programmes and services to women and girls were scaled back as a result of those cuts in bilateral aid.”

“But programmes have been cut as a result?”

“What is the assessment of the cuts between 2024 and 2025? What impact assessment has there been of that reduced funding within Syria?”

“Thank you, Minister, for coming to us. I know the middle east, other than Syria, is taking up a lot of time at the moment. In November 2025, you said, “humanitarian support overall has not been adequate to address the scale of the crisis in Syria”. Why, then, has the FCDO reduced bilateral aid funding by 36%, from £151…”

“I think there is a strong feeling that they resisted the ISIS threat for so long that they need to be supported as far as possible from the west, for want of a better term. Is it likely that that money, the £5 million, will increase over time, or is that it for now?”

“It is for north-east Syria. There is a security risk around the ISIS prisoners in north-east Syria. Are there 12,000 of them, in what is a quite fragile security situation? What is being done about that? What are we doing to secure that risk?”

“Can I come back to the £5 million? Is that earmarked for north-east Syria?”

“My understanding is that education programmes and services to women and girls were scaled back as a result of those cuts in bilateral aid.”

“But programmes have been cut as a result?”

“What is the assessment of the cuts between 2024 and 2025? What impact assessment has there been of that reduced funding within Syria?”

“Thank you, Minister, for coming to us. I know the middle east, other than Syria, is taking up a lot of time at the moment. In November 2025, you said, “humanitarian support overall has not been adequate to address the scale of the crisis in Syria”. Why, then, has the FCDO reduced bilateral aid funding by 36%, from £151…”

“I think there is a strong feeling that they resisted the ISIS threat for so long that they need to be supported as far as possible from the west, for want of a better term. Is it likely that that money, the £5 million, will increase over time, or is that it for now?”

“It is for north-east Syria. There is a security risk around the ISIS prisoners in north-east Syria. Are there 12,000 of them, in what is a quite fragile security situation? What is being done about that? What are we doing to secure that risk?”

“Can I come back to the £5 million? Is that earmarked for north-east Syria?”

“My understanding is that education programmes and services to women and girls were scaled back as a result of those cuts in bilateral aid.”

“But programmes have been cut as a result?”