"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Efford. I am grateful to the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) for securing this debate. I thank all Members who have contributed and will do my best to respond to the points raised.
"I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. I have to say, it is in complete contrast to my conversations with foreign Ministers. Some of them are exhausted by the idea that we dictate the terms of aid funding, and exhausted by the fact that we put a project in …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"The right hon. Gentleman is right to raise that matter, and I will come to it later in my speech, particularly when I discuss the multilateral development bank system, which other Members have raised.
We will prioritise multilateral organisations in the ODA budget, where the international system is required to …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"I understand the hon. Lady has significant experience in this field. I am talking about meetings that I have had with Ministers while serving as a Minister in the FCDO. They are clear that they want a different approach in how overseas aid is funded. They want a different approach …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"On the wider work on Syria, I agree. The Minister for the Middle East, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), is working hard to bring about more support for the new Syrian regime, and we continue to prioritise that. My hon. Friend’s wider point about expertise is …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"I will not give way. The hon. Lady posed the question and I will answer it. When I have had conversations with Ministers globally—[Interruption.]..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"I am writing to update the House on the impact of the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, and on the action that the Government are taking in response.
On 24 June, two major earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, caused widespread destruction across several states, including the capital, Caracas, and …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"My right hon. Friend is a passionate advocate on this issue, and a former Minister for Development and for Africa. As I said in my statement, the Foreign Secretary has raised the matter directly with the UAE and a number of other countries. My right hon. Friend will know that …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are significant pressures on near neighbours, particularly Chad. We have offered funding over the past year to bring about more support for refugees travelling into Chad. We continue that dialogue; the Foreign Secretary has visited the region—as have many colleagues—fairly recently and seen …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech
"The right hon. Gentleman knows how much I care about this place and the Members who serve in it. I always listen to and take seriously what Members say, regardless of politics or party. The current Prime Minister has led from the front with the Foreign Secretary and the previous …..." Chris Elmore - View Speech