Speeches by Dhesi.

“I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement updating the House, but let us be under no illusions: President Trump’s originally proposed peace plan is humiliating and unpalatable to the Ukrainians, would be detrimental to our own European security and would reward the invading, annexing aggressor. That is why yesterday the…”

“I have spoken to hundreds of my Slough constituents who are tired of having a high street where they do not feel safe, that lacks essential local amenities and that is devoid of community spaces, so I am delighted that this Labour Government have given our town, which has been neglected for too long, that £1.5 million …”

“8. What mechanisms his Department has put in place to ensure that communities are consulted on the use of Pride in Place funding in the Slough constituency.”

“As Chair of the Defence Committee and on behalf of the whole Committee, I want to express our deepest gratitude to all those who have served our country to keep us safe. On this day, we remember and honour those whose bravery and sacrifice secured for us the freedoms that we value so dearly, and pay tribute to those wh…”

“Given the multitude of security threats that we face, especially in the grey zone of cyber-attacks, it is abundantly clear that we need to accelerate investment in defence, but the Government are just not able to move fast enough. Our German friends, renowned for their fiscal prudence, have relaxed their fiscal rules j…”

“As we mark the 75th anniversary of the Korean war and the colossal loss of life—2.5 million lives were sadly lost—we must appreciate the huge strides that South Korea has made as a democracy and a close and trusted ally, which the right hon. Gentleman has remarked on. Does he agree that while we commemorate the contrib…”

“It is abundantly clear that air travel is here to stay; in fact, the amount of it has risen over recent years. We of course need to take mitigation measures to tackle the noise and environmental impacts, but while we have for decades been debating ad nauseam building a third runway, dozens of runways and, indeed, airpo…”

“2. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to eligibility criteria for free school meals on levels of children in poverty.”

“Labour’s expansion of free school meals will reach 8,750 children in Slough, saving parents in Slough up to £500, as well as maintaining attendance and attainment and improving behaviour. I know that this will be welcomed by families across my Slough constituency and ensure the very best for their children’s future. Ca…”

“I rise to speak on the Bill and proposed agreement, with particular focus on its defence implications. Given substantial other ongoing work and the fact that other Committees have looked into it, this is not an issue that our Defence Committee has investigated thus far. Let us not be under any illusion, however: this i…”

“The right hon. Member makes a strong point. Indeed, I hope that in the Minister’s winding-up speech, just as we have had clarification that we do not need to give advance warning about the operations of the US and our forces, he can give clarification about construction as well. On the matter of cost, which is a concer…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that clarification and for setting the record straight. I did not want to say anything on the Floor of the House that could inadvertently have misled the House, but my understanding was that all our operations regarding the Diego Garcia military base would be unfettered, so I am glad that…”

“I have already stated, on two occasions, the various reasons why our Committee has not looked into this particular aspect. The matter has been given extensive airing in various other contexts, and we have been given assurances that there will be no fettering of our ability to operate from the base in the defence and se…”

“I thank the Minister for intervening and for that clarification. When I read the words “expeditiously inform”, I was left in a somewhat uncertain state as to what that actually meant. There must be no fettering of our ability to operate from the base.”

“As I mentioned in my introductory remarks, given that various other Committees have been looking into this and that it has been extensively debated on the Floor of the House, and considering the other work that the Committee is undertaking, including an inquiry launched this week into the Afghan data breach, that is wh…”

“I welcome the Minister’s announcement and advance sight of the Government’s defence industrial strategy, which rightly seeks to strengthen our sovereign capabilities and to bolster British defence businesses. One element of the strategy is offsetting, as set out on page 7 of the document, whereby contracts with oversea…”

“The Minister has commented that he and the Government are considering using military barracks to house asylum seekers. While I thank him for his efforts to help address the small boats crisis by providing logistical planning support, I personally do not feel that operational responsibility for that should fall to our a…”

“We all want to see an end to grooming gangs, and justice for victims and survivors, because exploiting the most vulnerable is about as despicable and heinous as it gets. We all know that perpetrators come from different backgrounds and communities, but certain politically motivated individuals are trying to blame parti…”

“I thank the Defence Secretary for advance sight of his statement. I wholeheartedly welcome the historic frigate exports deal with Norway, and join him in paying tribute to Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Radakin for his distinguished decades-long service to our country. Recent Russian attacks across 14 different reg…”

“Happy birthday, Madam Deputy Speaker. Benjamin Netanyahu’s blockade and weaponisation of starvation has plunged Gaza into famine. That is why the UN Secretary-General has described this man-made catastrophe as a “failure of humanity”. While children die of hunger, the Israeli Government continue to deny the existence o…”