Edward Morello MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. She managed to make a detailed speech sound like a backhanded compliment. I do not disagree with her point that we have several reporting standards, and my only counter-argument would be that I do not believe there can be too much transparency. If that results in information being presented in a way that gives the public further clarity and puts greater pressure on any Government to speed up the transition, that can only be a good thing. Those figures must be presented clearly in a format that is accessible and easy to find on websites and in public material. That matters, because whether it is demonstrating that solar and wind power lower bills, that carbon removal technology will provide jobs or that sustainable aviation fuel can cut emissions, we must be transparent to build public trust and belief in what we are doing. The powers in this Bill to fund the strike price mechanism to levy fines on fuel suppliers who fail to pay are all welcome, but they must be matched by equally strong accountability to this House and the general public. The amendments I have proposed would ensure that the Government are required to review progress every year, to explain how targets will be strengthened, and to make transparent the actual use of sustainable fuel across the aviation industry.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  Sustainable aviation fuel offers us a route to decarbonise one of the most carbon-intensive industries and to secure the future of our aviation sector in a way that is compatible with our net zero goals. Climate change remains the greatest challenge of our time. It is an existential threat to us, our children and our grandchildren, and every decision made in this House must be measured against the scale and the urgency of the crisis. Aviation, while connecting people and driving our economy, is a contributor to the problem. In 2022, it was responsible for almost 30 million tonnes of CO 2 , equivalent to about 7% of the UK’s total emissions. Even as emissions from other sectors decline, aviation’s share is projected to rise to 16% by 2035. That is not compatible with our net zero targets, nor with our moral obligation to keep global temperature rises below 1.5°. Sustainable aviation fuel is not a silver bullet, but it is a step towards addressing the challenge. As someone who spent almost a decade working in renewable energy, I have seen how technology, innovation and the public trust must work hand in hand if we are to make lasting progress in addressing climate change. However, with innovation must come accountability, which is why I have tabled new clauses 4 and 5. These new clauses would strengthen this Bill and aim to make the transition to clean flight more accountable, more transparent and, yes, more ambitious. New clause 4 would support the Secretary of State to raise sustainable fuel targets in any given year and introduce a duty to consider annually whether the target should be increased. The Secretary of State would also be required to set out what steps the Government will take to make any increase possible. In short, to ensure that the Government cannot forget the targets, it would require them to revisit, review and, wherever possible, raise their ambitions for cleaner flight. New clause 4 would strengthen the parliamentary scrutiny. It would require the Government to lay a copy of each annual report before Parliament and share it with the relevant Select Committees in both Houses, meaning proper oversight and public accountability. Progress must not just be made; it must be seen to be made if we are going to take the public with us. New clause 5 would build on that principle of transparency and public engagement, requiring air travel providers to report annually on their sustainable aviation fuel in a way that passengers and the public can actually understand. Too often, data about emissions and fuel use is buried in complex technical reports that mean little to consumers. Under this proposal, airlines would publish both the total amount of SAF used and the proportion it represents of their overall fuel consumption.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Community Helipads: Rural Access · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and I want to use this opportunity to beg a favour of him, although I appreciate that the issue I want to address might not be the responsibility of this Minister. My hon. Friend has rightly highlighted the issue of the collection of patients. However, there is also the issue of the delivery of patients. Far too many hospital helipads do not operate 24 hours a day, especially at children’s specialist trauma hospitals, which results in helicopters having to land elsewhere before the patient is moved by ambulance. If he meets the Minister, can he also press the Department of Health to properly fund 24-hour helipads at specialist children’s hospitals?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Housing Development Statutory Consultees: Water Companies · Hansard source

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  Outdated sewer systems mix clean rainwater with sewage, polluting rivers and placing strains on outdated infrastructure. If the Government are intent on not making water companies statutory consultees, a national rainwater management strategy mandating rainwater harvesting on new homes and major renovations would ease the pressure on infrastructure and reduce the likelihood of sewage overflows. What recent conversations has the Minister had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about introducing a national rainwater management strategy? Will he consider making rainwater harvesting a mandatory requirement on new housing developments?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Housing Development Statutory Consultees: Water Companies · Hansard source

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  5. What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring water companies to be statutory consultees for new housing developments.

• 13 Oct 2025 · Bovine Tuberculosis Control and Badger Culling · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising one of the most important points that is often lost in this debate: the enormous toll that this process takes on our farming community. That toll may be the constant culling or, more accurately, the constant cycle of testing, which is hugely expensive for farmers. Many of the those who signed the petition in West Dorset said, “I would forgo the ability to sell my livestock if it meant I no longer had to keep going through the cost of repeated cycles of testing.” We need to find a solution, whether it be through vaccination or anything else, that preserves the rights of farmers to make a living.

• 16 Sept 2025 · Ambassador to the United States · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the Committee’s repeated requests to meet Lord Mandelson before his appointment. He also raises the various responses that we got from the Foreign Secretary. The important fact that there were questions about the suitability of the appointment means that there must also be questions about the Prime Minister’s judgment. Did he ask to read the propriety and ethics and security vetting reports before making the appointment, and did he go ahead despite their content?

• 16 Sept 2025 · Ambassador to the United States · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman mentioned that the Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team produced a report that was presumably handed to the Prime Minister, and that was certainly done prior to the announcement. Does he agree that the Minister must tell us whether the Prime Minister read that report, and whether it contained anything that Parliament should have been aware of before he made the appointment?

• 16 Sept 2025 · Ambassador to the United States · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

• 16 Sept 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  I cannot deny that clause 4 of the sentencing Bill is a step forward for victims, but I believe it can go further by specifically mentioning physical and psychological harm. Clause 4 amends the statutory purposes of sentencing to specifically include the protection of victims of crime, a measure recommended by the independent sentencing review. By adding an explicit reference to protecting victims into the statutory purposes of sentencing, it makes clear that justice is not just about deterring future crime or punishing offenders, but about safeguarding those who have already suffered. It is about recognising not only the harm that has been done, but the very real need to shield victims from ongoing and future harm. Four months ago in my constituency of West Dorset, 14-year-old Isabella was lured to a cemetery by another girl she knew. As she arrived, somebody already had their phone out, recording—they knew what was about to happen. Moments later, Isabella was savagely attacked. She was stamped on and kicked in the face repeatedly, and her head was smashed on a concrete step. The physical attack was horrific, but so was what followed: the video of Isabella’s attack was deliberately circulated almost immediately, shared on social media and in private WhatsApp groups across schools in Beaminster, Bridport and Lyme Regis. Children who did not even know Isabella watched her brutal assault play out on their phones. What might have been one terrible moment has instead become a lasting trauma. This is exactly why strengthening clause 4 matters, because sentencing must reflect not only the physical harm caused to the victims, but the lasting psychological harm, the humiliation, the distress and the ongoing trauma that follows them for months and even years after the attack. The bruises may have faded, but Isabella’s pain has not. I cite Isabella’s case as an example of a wider problem. According to the Youth Endowment Fund, 70% of young people report having seen real-world violence online in the past year. That means that countless children across the country are being victimised twice: first in the violence itself and then in the endless replaying of that violence on phones and on social media. Clause 4 gives us an opportunity to send a clear message that the law will stand with victims. However, we should go further and expressly include physical and psychological harm. That would mean that when judges and magistrates pass sentence, they treat cases such as Isabella’s not as a single moment of violence, but as an ongoing and deliberate act of cruelty that continues long after the assault ends. I hope that the Government will use the opportunity as this legislation moves forward to strengthen the provision.

• 4 Sept 2025 · Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and for the passion with which she speaks about this subject. I wanted to raise the case of my constituent, Jean, an adoptive mother who cared for a son who has foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and developmental trauma. I wanted to raise her case because, very sadly, Jean has died. Before she died, she had managed to arrange long-term support for her son. She obviously does not know it, but her son will lose that support in a year’s time. My question, on behalf of Jean and others in a similar situation, is this: what happens to her son, and to children in a similar situation, now?

• 4 Sept 2025 · International Law: Compliance · Hansard source

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  12. What steps she is taking to help ensure that the UK upholds international law.

• 4 Sept 2025 · International Law: Compliance · Hansard source

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  By the end of September, more than 640,000 Gazans are projected to face catastrophic food insecurity, while the integrated food security phase classification predicts that a further 43,000 Palestinian children will be at severe risk of death from malnutrition by next year. The Government will have received legal advice regarding the famine in Gaza and Israel’s role in it. Will the Solicitor General commit to publishing any advice that the Government have received on whether breaches of international law have occurred in the conflict in Gaza?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Property Taxes · Hansard source

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  Over half of UK farms have a net value of over £1.5 million. Farmers are already worried about the family farm tax and are now looking at the potential tax rises that the Government are floating for the upcoming Budget, including increased rates of inheritance tax and other forms of property taxes. These are our food producers, and they are writing to me to ask why they should continue to sow the seeds. Does the hon. Lady agree that farmers need a break?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Use of Drones in Defence · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is right to point out the rapid change in drone technology in the field in Ukraine. We have also seen the deployment of artificial intelligence such that where drones are being jammed, the AI can take over and continue to lock on and have something in the region of a 70% success rate even after jamming. Obviously, there is an understandable shift in UK military thinking towards drones, but that needs to be supported by UK innovation in the AI space. We need to get greater ownership of that, especially in our technology sector and our universities, to support development. Does the hon. Member have any views on that?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Use of Drones in Defence · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. Yesterday afternoon, we were in this Chamber discussing the battle of Britain, and we spoke at length about the reforms made prior to the second world war to the British military—especially to the Royal Air Force, including the use of radar. In fact, I am currently reading a book on the pre-world war one Haldane reforms to the British armed forces. In the light of the defence review and the changing nature of warfare, does the hon. Gentleman believe that the current structure and make-up of the British military reflect the urgent, pressing reality that we will be facing war close to our borders in the next five years? Does he have any recommendations to the British military for the changes that are needed?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Official Development Assistance Budget · Hansard source

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  Natural disasters like the earthquake in Jalalabad, recent wildfires and floods are becoming more and more frequent as a result of climate change. Support for Ukraine and for Gaza have survived the disastrous cuts to ODA, but what assessments has the Department made of the impact of ODA reductions on countries facing humanitarian and natural disasters, and can the UK still provide the amount of aid needed to prevent displacement and migration as a result of those crises?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Official Development Assistance Budget · Hansard source

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  1. What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to the official development assistance budget on UK-supported humanitarian and development programmes overseas.

• 2 Sept 2025 · The Battle of Britain · Hansard source

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  In a similar vein, I pay tribute to the brave radio operators around the country, one of whom, in my constituency, was awarded the George Medal for staying at her post in the Sherborne post office, even after it was hit. It was thanks to the bravery of civilians such as Maude Steele that we were able to succeed in the battle.

• 1 Sept 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  The Foreign Secretary, in his statement, outlined all the steps that this Government have taken against the Netanyahu Government. He has also repeatedly said that the UK has done everything it can. In my mind, both are tacit admittances of defeat, as we have seen the Netanyahu Government increase their activity in Gaza, and increase their prosecution and persecution of the Gazan people. If we have done so much and had no effect, and if there is nothing left to do, what does he expect to change before the UN General Assembly meeting and why should we not immediately recognise a Palestinian state?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Remote PIP Assessments · Hansard source

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  15. If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the number of remote personal independence payment assessments on claimants in West Dorset constituency.

• 1 Sept 2025 · Remote PIP Assessments · Hansard source

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  Many West Dorset constituents have written to me with deep anxiety about the assessment for personal independence payments, and especially the use of remote assessments. One constituent, despite previously being awarded enhanced PIP, has endured months of repeated phone assessments, which have triggered severe panic attacks and high blood pressure, and caused lasting psychological harm. The Secretary of State has given me a commitment to moving away from phone-based assessments, so what additional resources will be made available to support the roll-out of more face-to-face assessments in West Dorset?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Electronic Patient Record Systems · Hansard source

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  Many GPs say that their buildings are not fit for purpose and lack digital infrastructure. Without fully integrated electronic patient records and better systems, including the electronic prescription service across all hospitals and community trusts, we risk wasting time and money while increasing pressure on frontline staff. Will the Minister outline the steps being taken to full integrate the electronic prescription service across all settings in Dorset?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery · Hansard source

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  The closure of Prax Lindsey oil refinery is deeply troubling, with up to 1,000 jobs at risk across the supply chain. It is a devastating blow to workers, their families and the communities that rely on the refinery. We need a clear strategy to support those whose livelihood is in jeopardy. That means practical help with reskilling and retraining. This is also an opportunity for targeted green investment in industries that can offer decent, secure jobs for the future. This crisis speaks to a wider failure. The UK still lacks a proper plan for a just transition that gives oil and gas workers real confidence about what comes next. We need to wind down fossil fuels in a way that provides genuine opportunities—well-paid green jobs, clean energy infrastructure, and proper support for the communities that have long powered this country. As other parties embrace climate denialism and internet conspiracy theories, the Liberal Democrats call on the Government to ensure that we do not backtrack on our climate targets, undermine green investor confidence, and abandon our leadership on the world stage when it comes to climate change. First, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that contingency plans are in place, so that those whose jobs are at risk are guaranteed support and opportunities to redeploy their skills? Secondly, how are the Government ensuring that investment in skills and regeneration is targeted, so that it has the greatest impact where it is needed most? Finally, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that the transition to renewable energy makes the best use of the skills and experience of oil and gas workers in the places affected, such as the Humber estuary?

• 22 Jul 2025 · Humanitarian Situation in Sudan · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is right to highlight the 25 million Sudanese people living in food insecurity. As she knows, Sudan is protected from the cuts to overseas development aid, but a further 600,000 Sudanese people live displaced in places such as Chad; those other countries in the region are not protected from the cuts to ODA. Is the Government’s decision to cut ODA seriously impacting our ability to help the Sudanese people?