Oral Answers to Questions

David Reed Excerpts
Wednesday 12th February 2025

(1 week ago)

Commons Chamber
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Chris Bryant Portrait The Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms (Chris Bryant)
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My hon. Friend makes a good point. We need to look at that specifically at the Committee stage of the Data (Use and Access) Bill. Perhaps he will sit on the Bill Committee.

David Reed Portrait David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)
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T3. The Prime Minister has just held talks for a UK-EU defence and security partnership, in which the development of artificial intelligence will have been a key theme. However, last night, the UK chose not to join EU countries in signing the international agreement on AI. Will the Secretary of State please explain the dissonance in the Government’s approach?

Peter Kyle Portrait Peter Kyle
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First, let me congratulate President Macron on laying on an incredible summit in Paris which brought together Governments, tech companies and investors. Britain’s voice was heard loud and clear, which is why we are delivering such extraordinary investment into this country. The Labour Government signed up to and fully engaged with most of the aspects that were negotiated. In a few areas, we will put Britain’s interests first. A couple of other countries did not sign, either, but I did not hear the hon. Gentleman criticising them.

--- Later in debate ---
Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister
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Yes, and let me remind Reform and the Tories what they voted against earlier this week in our borders Bill. They voted against making it an offence to organise the buying, selling and transport of small boats, against making it an offence to endanger lives at sea, and against powers to arrest suspected people smugglers before the smuggling takes place. They voted against. They voted for open borders—both of them.

David Reed Portrait David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)
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Q5. Last week, the Prime Minister gave yet another threadbare excuse for why he and his north London lawyer friends are giving away the Chagos islands. This is his decision, and he must own it. More importantly, he cannot tell us, British taxpayers, how much this is going to cost. Is it £9 billion? Is it £18 billion? Is it £52 billion? The Times has called this botched deal “insane”, members of his own Cabinet reportedly think it is impossible to understand, and one of his own MPs thinks it is the worst thing that the Labour party has ever done. Can the Prime Minister tell us which word he thinks best describes this deal?

Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister
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I set out the position in relation to the Chagos islands last week. I also offered the Leader of the Opposition a high-level briefing on this matter. She still has not taken me up on the offer of that briefing. The Conservatives are asking questions without wanting to know the facts. It is extraordinary that someone who wants to be Prime Minister does not want to know the facts, even when she is offered a high-level briefing. The hon. Gentleman would be better informed if she took me up on the offer of a briefing.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Reed Excerpts
Wednesday 22nd January 2025

(4 weeks ago)

Commons Chamber
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The Prime Minister was asked—
David Reed Portrait David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)
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Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 22 January.

Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)
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The senseless, barbaric murder of three young girls in Southport was devastating. A measure of justice has been done, but for the victims, the injured and the affected, we must see a fundamental change in how Britain protects its citizens and its children. As part of the public inquiry, we will not let any institution deflect from its failures.

Next Monday marks Holocaust Memorial Day. Visiting Auschwitz last week only strengthened my resolve to build a national Holocaust memorial and learning centre beside this Parliament.

The whole House will welcome the release of Emily Damari and other hostages from Gaza. We must now see the ceasefire deal implemented in full, the release of the remaining hostages and a surge in aid into Gaza for citizens.

May I also welcome Cheryl Korbel, whose young daughter Olivia was murdered in awful circumstances, and her sister Antonia to the Chamber? I have met them twice, and we will change the law so that the most serious offenders attend their sentencing hearings.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

David Reed Portrait David Reed
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Before Christmas, I received nearly 1,000 handwritten letters from pupils at St Peter’s secondary school in Exeter. Each letter strongly advocated for greater support to tackle the mental health challenges faced by young people, with many sharing deeply unsettling personal stories. I am committed to improving local mental health services to help young people build the resilience they need to live happy and healthy lives. However, I know these challenges are not unique to my constituency and are being faced by children across our country. So can the Prime Minister please outline what steps his Government are taking to enhance mental health support for our children nationwide?

Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister
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I thank the hon. Member for raising an issue of huge concern in his constituency and in all constituencies. Far too many young people are not receiving the care that they need, so we will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, recruit an additional 8,500 staff to deal with children’s and adult mental health services, and roll out our Young Futures hubs in every community.