Speeches by Foord.

“Finally, you were here for the Moldova session that we had before, so you have had the lead-in with our questions around disinformation. What do you make of the proposal to make a national counter-disinformation centre?”

“How would you do it differently, if you would at all?”

“What do you make of the reporting and accountability arrangements for the NCSC to the Government?”

“I, too, am concerned about the potential loss of jobs in Yeovil and the wider south-west if we do not see a positive decision on the production of the new medium helicopter at Yeovil. Late last year, we learned that the Government had failed to negotiate access to Security Action for Europe, a €150 billion defence fund…”

“Before Christmas, Colyford in Devon was subject to the death of a member of the community who had herself said that someone would be killed on that road. How will the Government’s road safety strategy help to prevent road deaths like the one that happened in Colyford last month?”

“If the Minister will not consider the geographical expansion of the rural fuel duty relief scheme, with a view to the Government’s introduction of the electric vehicle excise duty in April 2018, might he consider a duty relief for the existing areas, but applying to the electric fuel duty?”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Furniss. My constituency of Honiton and Sidmouth is predominantly rural. Residents live in villages, small towns and hamlets, rather than urban centres. It is classified as such by the Office for National Statistics—that is, as a rural or rural town constituency. Of c…”

“In 2019, the amount of fresh beef exported to the European Union was almost 100,000 tonnes, whereas five years later it had dropped to less than 80,000 tonnes. Does the Minister suppose that a revised SPS agreement could get fresh beef exports to the EU back to where they were in 2019?”

“The Secretary of State said in relation to Ukraine: “we will continue to work with the United States towards security guarantees”. I regret that President Trump has continued to undermine NATO this afternoon, writing: “I doubt NATO would be there for us if we really needed them.” That flies in the face of the experienc…”

“The International Renewable Energy Agency reports that in 2024, China installed five times more renewable power than Europe and eight times more renewable power than the United States. In the same year, more than two thirds of our liquid natural gas in the UK came from the United States. In the difficult geopolitical s…”

“1. What steps he is taking to help the transition away from fossil fuels.”

“How is the FCDO combating Russian hostile state activity in the information space?”

“When you are trying to educate people and illustrate to the public some of these TTPs, how do you do that without giving examples? People are most interested in specific cases and being switched on to the fact that a particular item is information manipulation.”

“When we are exposing it, drawing attention to it and illustrating to the world what is going on, how do we avoid inadvertently promoting Russian disinformation?”

“This is about being principled. What if we were to learn from the White House that Greenland had been the source of cocaine or fentanyl flowing to the United States? Even if we do not expect a fabricated pretext on Greenland or imminent US intervention there, will the Government please condemn the unilateral action in …”

“I carried out court martial duty while serving, and it gave me greater confidence in justice for accused serving personnel. Last week we learned that, as Prime Minister, Tony Blair supported the trial of British soldiers by court martial rather than by a civil court. When it was suggested that the case should go to a c…”

“The Minister said that this reversal of plans to introduce inheritance tax on many farming families has happened “after listening carefully to feedback from the farming community”. This news just before Christmas was indeed a massive relief, but given that the farming community did not say anything in December that it …”

“I welcome what the Minister said about introducing a maritime services ban on Russian liquefied natural gas; I was a little less welcoming of what he said about it being phased in over the next year. It was reported this week that UK-insured ships have transported almost half the Russian diesel exports since the full-s…”

“A recent Ofsted inspection of children’s services in Devon found that they “share a determination to improve services to care leavers”. How will the new strategy to end violence against women and girls pay particular attention to preventing harms to care leavers and care-experienced people? How will it build on the imp…”

“The Australia and New Zealand trade deals signed by Boris Johnson’s Conservative Government undercut the standards that are demanded of British farmers, including on animal welfare. Will the Government seek to renegotiate the trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, and will they ban the import of food produced with…”