Barry addressed the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy in the Commons today, reminding him that food is the means of life and musn’t be used as a weapon of war.
He agreed the Foreign Secretary was right to call the blockade of aid getting into Gaza as “morally wrong” and if it was to continue, the Foreign Secretary would have to use another word, that word being genocide.
Barry also called for sanctions against Israeli Government Ministers calling for displacement in Gaza and to ‘cleanse’ it.
Barry guested on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee this morning and took the bosses of Thames Water to task over the service (or lack thereof) they have been providing to people.
You can view his grilling of them in the videos below.
Barry urged the Leader of the House and the government to take leadership on the Global Ocean Treaty. He reiterated that the United Nations ocean conference will take place next month, and the importance that the treaty gets ratification and that “the world is looking at us, and if we want to take leadership on this issue, we need to act.”
Barry congratulated the government today on striking a trade deal with India. He also asked the Minister to recognise the doubling of India’s service and IT exports over the last decade and the benefits that we can gain from engagement and co-operation in respect of the service and knowledge economy, and thought it important for him to outline further what the benefits of the double contribution convention on national insurance will be, and how they will facilitate that engagement and co-operation for our workers in India.
During a statement on counter terrorism arrests, Barry said a number of Iranian citizens in this country still have relatives in Iran, and it is not beyond the wit of the Iranian Government to use that pressure on them. In requiring the citizens of Iran in this country to report to our Government if they are in any way connected to the Iranian Government, has he taken measures to protect them from exposing their family to the pressure that the Iranian Government may put on them
Barry raised energy resilience in the chamber, outlining that Energy resilience comes from a secure supply of clean and cheap energy and that the major cause of the financial crises that the world has experienced over the last 40 years is the insecurity of supply of the fossil fuel markets, with Ukraine being just the latest case.
He laid out the facts for government, as for cheap, the last Government in answer to a parliamentary question admitted that the levelised cost of gas was £114 per megawatt-hour, whereas offshore wind was £44 per megawatt-hour. As for clean, the House may be aware that wind and solar are not known as great emitters of greenhouse gases. So renewables are clean, cheap and secure. Renewables and resilience go together.
Barry led a debate on global deforestation this morning in Westminster Hall.
In his speech he reminded those present forests may be home to 80% of land species, but they are also vital to the survival of our own. They produce 40% of the oxygen we breathe, support 1.6 billion livelihoods and play a crucial role in holding back a climate disaster on a massive scale.
He added: The drivers of deforestation are well known. Agricultural expansion remains the single largest cause, and according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, is responsible for 88% of global deforestation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that it contributes 11% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Similarly, in its report on deforestation in January last year, the Environmental Audit Committee identified what we might call the seven deadly sins of deforestation—the seven commodities that are driving 90% of global deforestation: beef and leather, soy, timber, palm oil, paper, rubber and cocoa
Ending with a flourish, Barry said “We sometimes hear the environment and the economy pitted against each other, as if nature is a subset of the economy. Of course the truth is the other way round, because without nature and the ecosystem services that it provides, there is no economy, and the most vital part of that nature is our amazing forests.”
During a statement from the government on the increasing tensions in Kashmir, Barry asked the government to consider making Pakistan’s aid from the U.K conditional on its finally dealing with and closing down the terrorist training camps that it harbours.
Barry was in Westminster Hall today to talk about North Sea oil and gas workers and the transitional support that will be needed as the U.K shifts towards renewable energy.
Barry acknowledged this by saying that it is a simple truth that the North sea basin is in terminal decline. That is not a political choice; it is a geological reality. For too long, the previous Government buried their head in the sand and watched as jobs supported by the UK’s oil and gas industry more than halved over the past decade. That is why this Government are right to finally draw a line under new licensing and the illusion of endless new oil and gas.
He added that Great British Energy and the National Wealth Fund must be laser-focused on building up a thriving manufacturing sector. A properly resourced clean industry bonus is not just good policy; it has the potential to create 10,000 permanent, direct jobs and 13,000 indirect ones in areas that need it,
Barry raised trade negotiations with the US with Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Johnny Reynolds asking him What measures he was taking to combat trade leakage and the diversion of goods produced in countries hit by high US tariffs, which may dump their products in the UK, undercutting our domestic producers and what steps is he taking to encourage manufacturers based in those countries and, indeed, in the EU, to relocate to the UK and export from here to the US to take advantage of our lower 10% tariff?
During the government’s statement today on cuts to international aid, Barry rose in the House of Commons to ask the Prime Minister to think again.
Raising the issue of international aid cuts today, Barry spoke of his pride of Labour increasing aid last time they were in government compared to the recent cuts announced now to the aid budget.
With this in mind, he asked the Leader of the House of Commons today for a debate on the government’s lost moral compass.
Today, Barry raised the serious issue of Thames Water receiving money that was supposed to be used for environmental services, such as stopping sewage being pumped into our rivers and waterways being used instead for dividends and bonuses.
Barry raised to issue of the British Steel industry in Parliament today to Trade Minister, Douglas Alexander, reminding him that Under WTO rules, any country can impose tariffs when it believes there is unfair subsidy of the exports presented by the other country, but he had not heard America put forward any argument that there is unfair subsidy of our steel industry.
He asked the Minister therefore, what discussions is the Minister having with the WTO about this?
On the 1st of January 2025 Barry called for a debate on the future of oil and gas liscensing in the Rosebank.
On the 30th of January 2025 Barry stressed the important of combatting pre-eclampsia in the Government’s women’s health plan.
On the 24th of January 2025 Barry spoke in a debate on the Climate and Nature Bill, criticising specific details of it and making it clear that we must end subsidies to Drax.
Barry asked a question in the House on why the Building Safety Regulator is unncessarily stalling on new homes in Wembley.
On the 16th of January 2025 Barry welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza and asked the foreign secretary if the arms embargo on Israel would be maintained until it is proven to the House that these arms won’t be abused.
Barry on the repair and reuse economy
Barry on the Nurse (Use of Title) Bill
Barry on the Rare Cancers Bill
Barry on the proposed convention for the rights of older people
Barry on naming genocide conference
Barry on religious hate crimes
Barry on the pension tax threshold