"I am sorry that I have come to the debate relatively late. I am sure the point has already been made about nurses, but can the Minister give us some explicit reassurance about nurses? A constituent of mine, Siân Marvelley, is very worried that the threshold is going to affect …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. Like him, I voted against the airstrikes for similar reasons. It is right for us to address the refugee crisis as human beings, and does he agree that a credible proposal to establish, through concerted international action, safe areas within Syria …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing this debate and commend everything she has done by way of her engagement with Iraq over the years, which I greatly respect. I agree with her about the importance of engaging others in the region, but faced with the humanitarian catastrophe that …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman and my near neighbour for giving way, and congratulate him on securing this vital debate. He has experienced those visits and the horrors he is describing so eloquently. Why does he think the international community has proved so ineffective at putting effective …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"I congratulate the hon. Lady on calling this enormously important debate. Does she agree that initiatives such as Oxfam’s water week, which engages children in both education and fundraising for specific projects in specific countries—Mali last year and Niger this year—are an important way of raising awareness and achieving practical …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry), my colleague from Oxfordshire. I agree with everything that speakers on both sides of the House have said so far. It is very heartening, faced with such an appalling situation, that there is this extent of agreement …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"I wholeheartedly agree with my right hon. Friend—that is imperative. When we see these awful experiences of people, we are reminded of the real human consequences of climate change and the necessity of action.
Thirdly, I want to refer to the situation in Sudan. The role of conflict and political …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"I welcome what the Secretary of State says. I am sure that he will take into account the repeated and as yet negated promises for a referendum for the permanent residents of Abyei. Continued political insecurity, even after the displaced people have returned, may lead to a near-permanent reliance on …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate and commend the links with Wales to which he has been referring. I strongly support the remark that he has just made about the value of DFID’s presence in Lesotho. On the overheads involved in aid programmes in relatively small …..." Andrew Smith - View Speech
"We all support the goal of free trade in Africa and elsewhere, but does the Minister accept that, given the high proportion of Lesotho’s income that comes from custom dues, there will have to be a careful process of transition so that those revenues can be made up?..." Andrew Smith - View Speech