Chris McDonald MP: speeches

Speeches

• 12 Apr 2025 · Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am sorry, but I am not going to give way, simply because of the lack of time. It is important to correct the record on a number of earlier comments. The hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice) and others referred to the coal from the west Cumbria mine, but I must inform the House that the management of British Steel has ruled that coal out on the grounds of quality. The sulphur levels are too high.

• 12 Apr 2025 · Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am sorry; given the shortage of time, I will not. I also believe that we can be at least as good as the steel industry in Belgium, which is now larger than the steel industry in the UK. Clearly, there was a lack of ambition on the part of the previous Government. They did not believe that our steel industry could be as competitive as Belgium’s.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Access to Dentistry: Somerset · Hansard source

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  We have heard about the dental desert in Somerset. Stockton in my constituency has also been branded a dental desert. I welcome the 4,000 new appointments that the Government have granted for Stockton North and the surrounding area. However, given the urgency that he has described, particularly for children’s health, I ask the Minister whether the Government are taking any measures to accelerate the roll-out of those appointments.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Rail Services: East Durham Coastline · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that what he has described not only affects his constituents in Easington, but extends down to my constituents in Billingham in Teesside and prevents our constituents from seeking employment and educational opportunities in the major conurbations of the north-east?

• 1 Apr 2025 · Royal British Legion · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. and gallant Member for giving way. Like his, my constituency has many members of the armed forces—one in 20 of my constituents have served. He talks about the services the RBL offers; does he agree that members of the armed forces develop very valuable skills, and join me in commending the Royal British Legion for the support it provides in helping members of the armed forces to move into employment in civilian life?

• 28 Mar 2025 · Business without Debate · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the House sit in private. Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 163)

• 28 Mar 2025 · Water Bill · Hansard source

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  rose —

• 28 Mar 2025 · Water Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting clause 4(1)(a), in particular. I was quite disappointed by the response from the hon. Member for Bristol Central (Carla Denyer) to my very sincere intervention. I think we have heard that many Members have made their minds up about the form of ownership, and they are determined to have nationalisation. So if the citizens’ assembly came to a conclusion that was not in favour of nationalisation, I would have to ask people whether they agreed with the citizens’ assembly—in which case, what is the point of this House?—or whether they would ignore the citizens’ assembly, in which case, what is the point of the citizens’ assembly?

• 28 Mar 2025 · Water Bill · Hansard source

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  This is a subject on which I value the hon. Lady’s opinion. My greatest concern about this Bill is the people’s commission, and I wonder if she could assuage my concern. I fear that setting up an alternative representative body impinges on the rights of this Chamber, which is the prime expression of democracy in the UK, and that the two could be brought into conflict. It is a big concern for me. Is there anything that she can say to assuage my concern?

• 28 Mar 2025 · Water Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis) for giving us the opportunity to have this debate, which has ranged from fatbergs to Larkin. It really has been a pleasure. I also thank him for his service in Afghanistan and commend him for his oratory, which left my throat dry as he described the conditions in which he served. One thing that my hon. Friend asked us to do—I had not expected this—was to consider what Mrs Thatcher would have done. That is not something I am usually asked, and I have to admit that she is not my usual touchstone when it comes to judgment. However, I am left unconvinced about the need for citizens’ assemblies and I suspect that the late Baroness Thatcher might have thought the same. Among others, my hon. Friends the Members for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier) and for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) and the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Ellie Chowns) talked about the state of our rivers. I would also like to touch on that in relation to the importance of rivers for biodiversity and recreation and our sense of identity. I represent a constituency bordered by a river, the River Tees—this is an opportunity for me to get on the record for Teessiders that the river is called the Tees, and not the Tee, as is often seen, so Teesside has a double E and a double S. The River Tees has indeed shaped the identity of the people of the region. The town of Stockton has a 12th century tithe barn that was at the lower boundary of the palatinate of the diocese of Durham so that taxes could be collected easily from the Tees, but it was the emergence of steel, shipbuilding and chemicals during the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century that saw the growth of population and the formation of “Steel River”, as it was known, with 100 blast furnaces on the river. That led to such a serious level of pollution that by the 1970s the river was considered to be dead, with black spots. We certainly would not have wanted to step into it, never mind drink it. However, we have seen some real change since then, and have seen industry and the environment live side by side. On the south side of the River Tees is the Redcar bulk terminal, one of only two in the country that can handle capesize vessels. The terminal was built during the canalisation of the river in the 19th century. There is a site of special scientific interest there, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley), which was built on the limestone in the slag. It is the perfect environment for seals and birds. In my constituency, RSPB Saltholme is home to bitterns and the largest inland colony of common terns. It was built in an area surrounded by chemical works that extracted the salt from Saltholme, from the brine fields and salt caverns there; the caverns could even be used to support our hydrogen industry in the future. The River Tees, once dead, is now regarded as exceptional for trout. A lot of that is due to the improvements made on the river, including the installation of a barrage in the mid-1990s. That has led to an explosion in recreation as well; there is dragon boat racing and all sorts of other water activities, including rowing. We have three vibrant rowing clubs on the Tees. I have done a little bit of competitive rowing in the past; my crew only ever won one race, and it was when the other team pulled up because they thought they had got past the finish line, and we very slowly pootled past them.

• 28 Mar 2025 · Water Bill · Hansard source

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  Indeed. It was very much a hare and tortoise situation, but I took the win. One thing I learned from rowing is that you get intimately acquainted with the river on which you row, from head to toe. That is why I was quite shocked when a constituent of mine, Robert, told me that boat crews on their way back now often encounter sewage on the River Tees, a river that has been extremely clean. We need to think about the role of the water companies, but also about giving adequate support to the Canal and River Trust, which is frankly underfunded and struggles to afford the capital expenditure that is required to maintain our white water course and the quality of the River Tees. It needs revenue as well as capital support, so I call for that support. Sewage dumping on the Tees has increased by 37% in the past year. That is a real shame, as the town of Stockton is now turning towards the Tees; it has a new riverside park, and there has been investment in the area by local entrepreneurs. The hon. Member for North Herefordshire mentioned that she has in her constituency the only water company in England that is not for profit—I thought that was a prerequisite for water companies nowadays. We need to see big changes in the water industry, but my reservations about citizens’ assemblies mean that I will not support the Bill. However, I would like us all to remember this point about identity and rivers. In the north-east, we have three great rivers: the Tyne, the Wear and the Tees, which define whether a person is a Geordie, a Mackem or a Smoggie. Our rivers have shaped industry and industry has shaped the rivers, but on the Tees at least, both the river and industry have shaped the people.

• 26 Mar 2025 · UK-China Relations · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman is exactly right. We heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer say a few hours ago that economic security was national security. The two cannot be divided. Because of our belief in the free market, we thought that as long as we have a trading partner we can buy goods from, we are left in a secure position. But we must why—why does China choose to dominate these markets? Because it is an extension of Chinese foreign policy. The same is true of trade. The Chinese belt and road initiative seems to me to be a deliberate policy to bypass the traditional trading ports of Goa, Aden and Hong Kong, where the UK has historically had a strong foothold, to ensure that China dominates trade routes. The real question is what we do about this. The mindset we need to have is that China has the first-mover advantage in this new industrial revolution. We had the first-mover advantage in the last industrial revolution. How could a country have competed with us in the late 19th century? That mindset means investing in our own industries, and using our own market to do so. We can learn from China in this sense: we can use our own public procurement and invest in our industries. We have a great nickel producer at Clydach; the Chinese tried to copy that process but were unable to do so. Our Lochaber aluminium plant was set up to serve the nation in the late 1920s, and it still exists and is worthy of further investment. The UK also has one of the six cobalt refineries in Europe. But what of copper? We cannot achieve anything without copper, yet we have no copper-refining capacity in the UK, despite being the fifth largest exporter of copper in the world. These are the issues that we need to take seriously to ensure that we can have an independent economic policy and an independent foreign policy when it comes to China. That is important for our industries and our foreign policy, but it is also important for the communities like the one I represent, where people have relied on good jobs in these industries. We should prize those jobs being in the UK.

• 26 Mar 2025 · UK-China Relations · Hansard source

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  It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford) for securing the debate. It is a pleasure to follow him, because I want to expand on some of the points he made about the dependence of our industry and economy on China. I have worked in China and have friends there. I am certainly no Sinophobe, but I do think we need to be clear-eyed about the fact that we are in economic competition with China. The hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon described it as a relationship of dependency, and I fear that that is the position. An inter-dependent relationship would be fine, but we are in more of a dependent relationship. I remember being in China in 2015, at the launch of the 13th five-year plan. I was shocked at what I saw as a big competitive threat to the UK. At that time, President Xi was in London—we had done a bit of a swap—and was meeting the Prime Minister here. The Prime Minister said he was enthused by President Xi’s plan for the belt and road initiative, and he directed the City of London to fund it. From where I was sitting, that seemed like an extremely bad idea. I was talking to British engineering companies that had been told they would get three contracts in China. In the first contract they would deliver a machine, in the second contract they would deliver the drawing, and in the third contract they would supervise the Chinese company that would do the installation on their behalf. Many of those companies no longer exist because they have been competed out of the market by China. It is the job of the UK Government to make sure that we site jobs in south Wales rather than Wuhan, and in Teesside rather than Tianjin. I fear that over the past couple of decades we have been too keen to pursue lower-cost goods rather than invest in our own industries. The industry that I know best is materials. Some of the critical raw materials we need for our future are gallium, germanium and neodymium—I apologise to Hansard reporters for sounding like a Tom Lehrer song. Those are incredibly serious minerals that are essential for our future. For most of them, China either dominates the mining or has the materials processing capability for about 90% of the global market. It is important for us to consider how we can secure materials processing in future. Just this week Richard Holtum, the chief executive of Trafigura, the world’s biggest private metals trading company, recommended that Governments nationalise their metals-processing industries in order to compete with China.

• 26 Mar 2025 · UK-China Relations · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member mentions Chinese theft of intellectual property. Does he agree that it is also concerning when we give it away, such as when UK universities set up campuses in China to train Chinese technicians to outcompete British industry?

• 26 Mar 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q13. May I commend my right hon. and learned Friend for his leadership on Ukraine, showing that the UK is once again at the forefront of protecting democratic freedoms? Does he agree that as our defence spending increases, we need to support our supply chain companies to increase their capability, creating good jobs and apprenticeships in places such as Stockton North and across the country? Will he meet me and the Teesside defence and innovation cluster that I have established, which is helping to create that new defence capability for the UK?

• 14 Mar 2025 · Rare Cancers Bill · Hansard source

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  Those of us who have lost a friend or a family member to cancer will no doubt have heard them described—often, I think, somewhat unhelpfully—as courageous, but this morning we witnessed the most courageous exposition I have ever heard in my life from my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn). I thank him for the privilege of allowing us to listen to his loving tribute to his brother. We also heard from a number of Members, including the hon. Members for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood), and for Witney (Charlie Maynard), and, most forcefully, my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh), about the pressure of time, and the urgent need to do something to find a cure or treatment for rare cancers. We have heard a number of moving speeches this morning, but I will allow hon. Members to relax and recharge their emotional batteries a little bit, because I will address the issue of time, and the practical considerations of how we can turn drug discovery into treatment as speedily as possible. To do that, I will lift the lid on our drug supply chain and set out the vital role that the NHS can play in it. There are lessons we can learn from the covid pandemic when it comes to the drug supply chain. We very quickly developed a vaccine in the UK, in Oxford, but we saw quite quickly that the vaccine was worth nothing until it was in the arms of the population. Getting that done required a big effort, including in industry. As we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Gravesham (Dr Sullivan), industry is also important. The Fujifilm factory in Billingham in my constituency manufactured one of the covid vaccines, and it will shortly turn Billingham into the largest biopharmaceutical manufacturing centre in the UK. When it was making the vaccine, it found that it had a big problem. This brings into play another town, just up the River Tees from Billingham, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth). Members may have heard of it—it became famous for a particular reason during the pandemic—but they may not be sighted on the reason why I will talk about it, which has more to do with glass than glasses. Barnard Castle is home to GlaxoSmithKline, which bottled the vaccines. There was, at the time, a global shortage of bottles for vaccines, and in the UK we have only one glass manufacturer capable of doing that job, although soon there will be another in St Helens. Hopefully, after that little overview, Members can sense that there is a big industrial supply chain issue that we need to address before we can get treatments to the people who need them most. In fact, there are a number of researchers working on this area. I am sure that when we think of research into rare cancers, we think of people in white coats and laboratories in places like Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial, but I urge us to also think about the process operators in Billingham, the bottle fillers in Barnard Castle and the furnace operators in places like Glass Futures in St Helens, who are also working hard on research projects to deliver those treatments. The second issue that I would like us to consider is the role that the NHS can and must play. I want to see a transformatively different approach from the NHS in this area. A month ago in Parliament, I met representatives of Pancreatic Cancer UK, which I know supports the Bill. They talked to me about pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, which is a treatment for pancreatic cancer, and about the difficulties in sourcing sufficient quantities of treatment. We all know from our constituency surgeries that there is the same issue with common drugs; people suffering with other conditions and people who have children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and so on are struggling to get the drugs that they need. Part of the issue is that we rely so much on imports. We could be manufacturing these products in the UK. The NHS is the single biggest purchaser of drugs in the world; it has the market power to demand that production be centred in the UK. That would bring clear economic benefits to the UK, but it would also shorten cycle times for innovation, because the researchers and the manufacturers would be close to one another, and it would ensure security of supply in the UK. It would mean that we could be proud of manufacturing drugs that help to treat people around the world. It would also fit in with our industrial strategy. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was talking only yesterday about the importance of life sciences to our industrial strategy, and about their creating British jobs in research and in factories. I very much thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) for introducing the Bill. He described his father-in-law as a dignified man; my hon. Friend gave an incredibly dignified speech, and I am sure that his father-in-law will be very proud. We look forward to the days when people who suffer from rare cancers are not offered such treatments as breathing into a brown paper bag, as my hon. Friend described, or taking a paracetamol, as my hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Mrs Lewell-Buck) described. Instead, we should use the power of our NHS and the efficiency of our UK supply chains to turn discoveries into drugs, and trials into lifesaving treatments.

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I am sure that James in Easterside will be pleased to learn that Cleveland police have seized 359 vehicles linked to crime and dangerous driving since January alone, which is already making a big difference. Crime across Cleveland is now at its lowest level in five years following a more than 9% reduction, which means nearly 6,000 fewer victims of crime. This is what a proactive police and crime commissioner, a Labour Member of Parliament and a Labour Government working together looks like. We are putting police back at the heart of our communities, and ensuring that they have the necessary powers and the backing of a justice system that actually works. We are introducing respect orders to tackle the worst antisocial behaviour offenders, and stamping out issues such as public drinking and drug use to ensure that our town centres are free from harm and nuisance. New offences, such as child criminal exploitation and cuckooing, will crack down on drug dealing. We will protect our high streets by ending the effective immunity for anyone caught shoplifting goods worth below £200 and introducing a new criminal offence to better protect retail workers from assault. Stockton, Billingham and Norton deserve safer streets, and we are delivering. It should be clear to my residents that this Government and I, as their MP, are on the side of law and order. Although we are seeing green shoots of progress, there is still much more to do to reclaim our streets and town centres. The job is not done yet, but we are making real progress. Together, we will take back our streets and ensure that our towns are places of pride.

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I promised my constituents more police officers in Stockton, Billingham and Norton, and we are delivering on that. I promised a crackdown on antisocial behaviour on the high streets, and we are delivering on that. I promised a named police officer in every neighbourhood, and we are delivering on that. This is a serious Government rolling up their sleeves and getting on with delivering on the issues that matter most to the people to Teesside. I have visited corner shops picking up the pieces after being attacked by balaclava-clad thugs. I have spoken to unions and retail workers about the devastating impact of shoplifting, theft and assaults on shop workers. Our high streets should be thriving, but too often they are overshadowed by antisocial behaviour that keeps families away. Crime erodes confidence in our communities, leaving people feeling unsafe in their neighbourhoods and making it harder for businesses to thrive, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the illegal use of off-road bikes. For too long, these bikes have been a menace as they maraud through estates, intimidate residents and are used by criminals to evade police. People have had enough. I promised to come down hard on crime, increase police numbers, and make our high streets and communities safe, and that is exactly what we are doing. With £2.4 million invested in neighbourhood policing, Cleveland police, under our Labour police and crime commissioner Matt Storey, are delivering on that promise with 40 new officers on our streets, increasing the visible police presence in our communities. They are using new tactics to stop crime in its tracks, deploying police drones to track off-road bikes in real time. If criminals think they can evade justice, they are wrong. Their bikes will be tracked, seized and taken off our streets.

• 6 Mar 2025 · International Women’s Day · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for moving the motion. We have just heard some extremely powerful testimony from my hon. Friends the Members for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting) and for Knowsley (Anneliese Midgley), but, if the House will forgive me, I intend to shift the tone slightly and talk about a moment of joy that I experienced yesterday. First, however, I want to acknowledge the proud achievements of our Labour party in advancing the cause of women over the last century, and to pay particular tribute to the members of the women’s sections in our labour and trade union movement for the work that they do in their local communities. Yesterday I paid a lovely visit to our marvellous education centre, where I met students from St Joseph’s Catholic primary school in Billingham, in my constituency. As always, I was asked the best and hardest questions by the students. One of those questions was, “What are MPs going to do to help women who play football receive the same pay as men who play football?” What a great question. We have heard a bit about women’s sport today, and we are seeing the rapid growth and transformation of football for women and girls. We have heard about the Lioness effect. The England women’s team have been fantastic role models, and, on the main stage at Wembley under the floodlights, they have laid their critics to rest. However, we should not forget what they have been up against. The Football Association now has ambitious targets to grow the girls’ game, but on 5 December 1921 the FA met at its headquarters in London and announced a ban on the women’s game, stating that “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” Before that, there were about 150 women’s football clubs, attracting 45,000 fans to their games. We have to wonder whether the FA was motivated by the fact that the women’s game was taking fans away from the men’s. I think that if women had been asked about this before the ban, they would have said there was a bright future for the women’s game. There certainly is now, because since the ban was reversed in 1971 it has gone from strength to strength, and I commend the FA for the work that it has done to improve access and opportunities for women and girls. Tomorrow, to celebrate International Women’s Day, I shall be joining pupils at Bewley primary school, also in Billingham, to watch a training session and a football match run by the Hartlepool United Community Sports Foundation. The “Let Girls Play Biggest Ever Football Session” sends the strong message to girls growing up today that they can look forward to the same success and achievements in our national game as boys. Let me end by saying that it is incredibly inspiring for me to work with such brave, talented, dedicated and hard-working women in Parliament, including everyone who is speaking in today’s debate. Our women Members are wonderful role models.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour and Illegal Bikes · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member makes a really interesting point. I was reflecting on my own constituency, where, from leafy Thorpe Thewles to the infinity bridge in the centre of town, we have this issue with off-road bikes as well. Does the hon. Member agree that no community around the country is immune from this scourge?

• 26 Feb 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank my neighbour, the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) for securing the debate and particularly for devoting so much of his speech to outlining some of the achievements of our local Labour council in Stockton in developing our town centres. Stockton is known for having the widest high street in Britain, but it is the breadth of the vision of our Labour council that I would really like to share with colleagues today, because I think there are some opportunities that might be of benefit to other areas. Labour councillor Nigel Cooke said many years ago that the future of the high street is about leisure, culture and recreation as much as it is about shops, and Stockton Council have put everything behind achieving that. The single biggest, most noticeable thing anyone will see on Stockton High Street—or will not see if they go today—is the former Castlegate shopping centre, which was demolished by the council to much local opposition. That resulted in a much higher rate of occupancy, up to 90%, at the other end of the street, but opened up for the first time in hundreds of years a vista across the high street to the river, the Cleveland hills and Roseberry Topping beyond, creating an urban park that will be the centre of events in the future. Stockton has turned itself into an event town, hosting many events on the high street and in the other towns in the borough throughout the year. That has given us the opportunity to attract new businesses into the borough. Contrary to the usual doom and gloom about Stockton we hear from the hon. Member for Stockton West, I took the opportunity to talk to the Stockton business improvement district before coming here today, and it told me that three businesses this week are planning to open up on Stockton high street in the hospitality and leisure area. We have great entrepreneurs such as Nathan Hobday, who has bought the Teesside Princess pleasure cruiser and who is fizzing with ideas for things that he wants to do to bring more footfall to our high street in that area. Remember Me Tearooms were sort of blocked in beside that terrible shopping centre and will now increase capacity so that they can serve people who are visiting the park. It is not only happening in Stockton town centre, but also in Norton, another lovely town in our area, which is a basis not only for the daytime but the night-time economy. That brings me to safety. In our area, under the last Conservative Government, police officer numbers reduced by 550 compared with under the last Labour Government, but I made a commitment to have more officers on the street. With the £2.4 million we are getting from the Government, there will be 40 additional officers on the street.

• 26 Feb 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  I will not give way any more. The hon. Member might want to listen to what I have to say and intervene later. There will be an increase of 40 police officers, including some dedicated to the high street, so that people feel safe. They did not feel safe under the last Government; that was what drove people out of the high street. Civic enforcement patrols and police officers will ensure that people feel safe in Stockton. This Government have also ended the effective decriminalisation of shoplifting for items under £200. Rather than standing with shoplifters, we are standing with shop workers. I think that every child who grows up in Billingham thinks that every town in the country has an ice rink, but they do not. There is one in Billingham, and the council has invested in Billingham Forum, where it is. The last Government left the residents of Billingham in the shameful condition of having been promised £20 million, but with no money there, and I thank the Government for coming forward with that funding, so that we can bring 10 derelict buildings back into use and create new commercial and retail space. What about the future? The council is creating a health and care zone alongside our new diagnostic centre. It is not a hospital—it is a centre. Teesside is hoping to have a medical school there as well, so we will have medical students there. I am supporting and championing these initiatives. Quite shortly, Billingham will be the UK’s largest centre for biomanufacturing. I encourage all colleagues to come to Stockton for the Stockton and Darlington railway 200th anniversary this year, and we will welcome them to our town.

• 26 Feb 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  As the police and crime commissioner for Cleveland said, the increase in national insurance contributions will not have an impact. In fact, overall there will be an increase of 40 police officers in Stockton.

• 25 Feb 2025 · Defence and Security · Hansard source

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  The Prime Minister has delivered a powerful statement today, and I know that his unwavering commitment to the defence of the realm will be greatly appreciated by my constituents in Stockton North. He mentioned the industrial strategy. Does he agree that we need to start immediately to mobilise our steel, chemicals and shipbuilding industries, working with regional groups such as the Teesside defence and innovation cluster to ensure that we build the capability that we need for our defence supply chains at home?

• 24 Feb 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for a strong statement. He said that Ukraine’s security is our security. Does he agree that this is a fight for democracy where we need to tackle misinformation both at home and abroad, and where we need to maintain our steadfast commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty?