Speeches by Foord.

“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…”

“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…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair today, Mr Twigg. We all recognise the need for genuinely affordable housing, but progress cannot be measured in house numbers alone if it leaves communities worse off. Wing Commander Ian Derbyshire from Payhembury recently contacted me after his wife, who is in her mid-70…”

“I suppose some in the farming community will not be taking up my right hon. Friend’s dating tips, but is he aware that 46% of farms are owned by single farmers and that a single farmer with 200 acres of land would have to pay 136% of their yearly profits to cover this tax bill?”

“Will my right hon. Friend give way?”

“The hon. Gentleman’s characterisation is slightly unfair to those 80 or 90 Labour MPs who represent rural areas, and it is worth paying tribute to the speeches by the hon. Members for Scarborough and Whitby (Alison Hume), and for Penrith and Solway (Markus Campbell-Savours). They have spoken out against this mean, call…”

“The US national security strategy characterises Europe as blocking peace between Ukraine and Russia. How do you and the British Government respond to that characterisation when you engage with the United States Government?”

“Foreign Secretary, you spoke a moment ago about security guarantees for Ukraine. We have heard, overnight, some quite positive words about US security guarantees: they have been described variously as “article 5-like”, “very strong” and “platinum standard”. Chancellor Merz said that US security guarantees are “remarkab…”

“But it would go further than the mere reassurance force that has been discussed until now?”

“I am curious, then, to know about the UK-EU co-operation around arms, and specifically the shortcomings around SAFE that we have seen in recent weeks. Might we see any further re-engagement between the UK and the European Commission on SAFE talks in the new year?”

“On the hon. Gentleman’s point about elite athletes being screened, in September I went to Sidmouth college, which was hosting the very elite Exeter Chiefs rugby team. They were being screened alongside pupils from Sidmouth college because of the great work of Marion Hayman, whose son died aged 27 from a sudden cardiac …”

“When the House debated the conflict in Sudan on 4 November, we heard that some British arms and equipment had been found on battlefields in Sudan, and it was alleged that the RSF has been provided with arms by the UAE, which in turn is supplied by the UK. The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Devel…”

“There is a mismatch between the rhetoric that we are hearing and the funding for defence in this Parliament. The NATO Secretary-General talks about preparing for war on the scale that our grandparents endured, while the US national security strategy states that it is a “core interest” of the United States to “re-establ…”

“Mr Dyer, I am sure you will agree that money spent on international development overseas has so much more purchasing power than it does when spent on hotel bills in the UK. What do you make of the proposal that you—or, at least, your role—could have formal oversight of value for money for ODA across Government?”

“I understand the pressure being exerted by others in Government on the Home Office to reduce spend on asylum hotels. Of course, the Committee is scrutinising the FCDO. Mr Dyer, you were the special envoy for famine prevention and humanitarian affairs from September 2020, and the DG for humanitarian and development from…”

“Given the changes that we saw at the spending review earlier this year, where the FCDO is no longer the ODA spender or saver of last resort, are you pressing for a cap on the proportion of ODA that can be spent by the Home Office on in-donor refugee costs?”

“If I may come in on this, Chair, I would like to dig into this movement of money from one Department to another, and specifically from FCDO to Home Office budgets for in-donor refugee costs. My understanding is that it is expected that the ODA in-donor refugee costs this year are likely to be £2.2 billion, and that tha…”

“Yes, that link was broken at the 2025 spending review, but I want to go back a bit further in history. In-donor refugee costs rose from 3% of ODA in 2016 to 29% of ODA in 2022; I want to explore how that happened.”

“But that will be a board, not a single accountable individual responsible for ODA value for money. What do you make of the idea of having a single individual responsible for this?”

“When the last ID card scheme was cancelled by the Liberal Democrats in coalition in 2010, it had already cost £4.6 billion. Does the hon. Member share my view that the £1.8 billion cost associated with digital IDs could be much better spent?”