Emily Darlington MP: speeches

Speeches

• 5 Jan 2026 · Middle East and North Africa · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for taking over an hour’s-worth of questions on the updates he has provided on the situation right across the region. He has a very difficult job to do, particularly given the decimation of the United States Agency for International Development, and the cuts in our aid. What are we doing to open the borders for those people who have family in, and connections to, the UK, so that they can escape the horror that they are in in Gaza, and can get a visa to visit family in the UK? Can he update the House on any progress in getting those borders open, or any discussions that he has had with the Home Office to stop biometrics-related restrictions, and to help people apply for visas from Gaza?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Official Development Assistance Reductions · Hansard source

  More

  Thank you, Sir Desmond, for chairing the debate, which I thank the hon. Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) for securing. The huge amount of consensus from all parties shows that this is not a big-P political issue; it is about how we make the world, and the UK, more secure. Development is about UK security. I agree that the new global reality means that we have to increase our defence spending, but we should be looking at how to increase our development spending at the same time, because the two serve each other. China and Russia have their own agenda, which is in conflict with our values of democracy and human rights. Their agenda is to destabilise the international rules-based system; they want to exploit, not support. I saw that with my own eyes when I lived in Kenya, where they promised roads in exchange for minerals, and also seemed to kill a bunch of elephants for their ivory on their way out. The BBC World Service is being picked up at every opportunity, every time we step back. For so many around the world, it has been their only link to the outside world and to free and fair reporting. When we withdraw, desperate countries that need the infrastructure spend have only Russia and China to turn to, and that comes with a very heavy cost. It is destabilising our Commonwealth, which the King leads and for which we have a huge moral responsibility. Countries’ economies are collapsing and famine is returning. That drives migration, as people flee war looking for work and safety, and millions are dying. We have an opportunity to change that. Malaria has been eradicated from many countries, HIV treatment is on the cusp, based on UK science, and polio has almost been eradicated. We could protect millions across the world, as well as in the UK—because we know that viruses know no borders. We are co-hosting the Global Fund replenishment, yet last time, under the Conservatives, the UK was the only country to cut its commitment. We risk global embarrassment by cutting it further at a time when the world needs global leadership again from the UK. Even the US is not cutting its commitment. There is a huge job ahead to rebuild Gaza and, now, Jamaica. We could demonstrate our generosity by using aid match—I should declare that I am the chair of the APPG for aid match—to show the public that, for every pound they contribute, the Government contribute too in helping to rebuild Jamaica and Gaza. This is the time not for short-termism just to make the balance sheet work, but for long-term thinking—it is in our Labour values and our Labour history. The world needs the UK to lead. The Prime Minister said that this was one of the hardest cuts that he had to make and that it would be temporary, so what is the route out of the cut and how will we rebuild over the coming years to ensure that development spending is seen as spending on UK security, alongside our defence spend?

• 8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source

  More

  Does my hon. Friend agree we should be clear that when we say BNO, it stands for British national overseas? We are not talking about Hongkongers or Chinese people; we are talking about people we literally recognise as British nationals overseas, because of our historical relationship. Does he think we should be much clearer about that when it comes to how we treat them in our immigration system?