Speeches by Harding.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for Hyndburn (Sarah Smith) for securing this vital debate. As we have heard, today one in five children live in areas affected by armed conflict, displacement or related violence. Such children face a daily threat to their lives, th…”

“I noticed that the mention of Japan took the Prime Minister one minute—the last minute—of a 10-minute speech on China and Japan. Japan is not only the largest inward investor into the UK, apart from the EU and US, but a vital liberal democracy in the Indo-Pacific and a key security partner in maintaining regional stabi…”

“I asked the Prime Minister in this Chamber, on behalf of my constituents who were asking the same thing, why Peter Mandelson had been appointed our most senior ambassador at all, given the knowledge of his links with Epstein. By September, it was clear just how close that relationship had been, yet the PM did not immed…”

“Tom Duxberry has run Marney’s village inn, a brilliant and much-loved local in Weston Green, for 17 years. Its rateable value is set to rise from £20,000 to £50,000—a 175% increase—and he is facing rent rises; inflation on beer, wine products and energy; and customers with less money in their pocket. Did the Government…”

“In my constituency, managing agents are still imposing excessive service charges with very little transparency. Flats in retirement developments often will not sell, even at well below the market value, and families are left paying deceased relatives’ service charges. Restrictive lease terms ban rentals, trapping those…”

“I agree 100%, and let us not forget that children are left behind in our country too. In my Esher and Walton constituency, we found that 1,800 children were missing school because of special educational needs and disabilities. Pupil referral units do brilliant work in bringing children back into mainstream education, w…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you chairship, Ms Vaz. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Southgate and Wood Green (Bambos Charalambous) for securing this debate to mark the International Day of Education this Saturday. I pay tribute to our hard-working teachers and our schools in the UK, especially in my constituenc…”

“What do you think are the keys to restoring public awareness and confidence in the spending of ODA?”

“Last time you came, you talked about diaspora groups and meeting with them to discuss Sudan. Has that happened?”

“Do the Government have a strategy of their own to increase public perception and awareness of the good that aid and development can do?”

“The best innovative finance factoring tool that I saw was the TFFF, and I know the Committee wrote to you about that. First of all, it is great for public perception because it is not a grant, as we know it. Can you elaborate on what will happen to that, whether there will be funding behind it from the UK?”

“Can I push you a bit further? You talk about your focus on it, which is really welcome. Would that translate to more Foreign Office development staff on the ground in and around Sudan? More than there are at the moment?”

“I have had almost 1,800 emails from constituents urging for something to be done about this. I declare an interest as the mother of four young adults and teenagers. Local headteachers and campaigners tell us repeatedly about the mental health issues and harmful algorithms, but the tech companies must be held to account…”

“There are reports that this morning Israeli security forces arrived at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency compound in Sheikh Jarrah, in occupied East Jerusalem. Security guards were forced out of the premises, bulldozers subsequently entered the compound and began to demolish UNRWA buildings, and the demolition…”

“The ODA budget seems like a bucket that you pinch from to sort out domestic problems—asylum hotels, migration and climate change, which for everyone is the biggest threat coming towards us—but at the same time, the bucket has been emptied and is very stretched. Why is that? Why is it seen as easy pickings? Is it someth…”

“Being there and being able to talk to the various groups, old-style diplomacy, may be the only thing that gets through at the moment.”

“Thank you for coming, Minister. When you talk in that vein to Norway, for example, they will push back and say that they maintain their aid at current levels because of the moral imperative, but also because it is useful for their influence and where they want to be. Although it is not a direct relationship between tra…”

“Sudan in five minutes will not give it any justice at all as I know you are personally committed, as is your team and the team in the Foreign Office. Clearly it is the biggest humanitarian disaster since records began, the scale of the killing in El Fasher. With the UK as penholder on the UN Security Council, it shows …”

“Perhaps the Prime Minister, on his much-heralded cost of living tour, might like to visit the pubs and cafés in my constituency of Esher and Walton, if they let him in. They are being squeezed to breaking point by this Government, while constituents watch their wallets because of tax rises. Hospitality venues are the l…”

“The Iranian Government are massacring civilians, and brave young protesters are risking their lives for freedom and dignity against a violent and corrupt regime. The Minister has spoken about the thousands of people who we fear have lost their lives, and The Times is reporting that up to 16,000 people may have died—and…”