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Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Foreign and | :00:15. | :00:27. | |
Commonwealth Affairs. We oppose the use of the death penalty in all | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
circumstances and advocate global abolition. The Government supports | :00:33. | :00:35. | |
programmes around the world to promote abolition and Eamonn Tory on | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
executions in those countries where the death penalty is still on the | :00:41. | :00:48. | |
statute book. Can I ask if he will resent a new strategy for the | :00:49. | :00:51. | |
abolition of the death penalty following on from the 2010, 2015 | :00:52. | :00:59. | |
strategy and will it include Saudi Arabia? We oppose the death penalty | :01:00. | :01:06. | |
in every country including Saudi Arabia and other states where that | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
is still part of the criminal law. The abolition of the death penalty | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
remains integral to all human rights work that this department does. I | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
welcome the fact that the trend is for reducing the number of | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
executions and the number of states carrying out executions. When he | :01:26. | :01:28. | |
joined me in expressing concern in areas where that is not the case and | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
does he agree that if it is wrong to take a life, it is wrong for the | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
state to take a life in revenge? That is certainly my view and it is | :01:39. | :01:45. | |
the Government's position to oppose capital punishment. We need to | :01:46. | :01:49. | |
bearing in mind that while capital punishment exists, it means it is | :01:50. | :01:53. | |
potentially a risk for a British citizen anywhere in the world who | :01:54. | :01:56. | |
might be found guilty of a criminal offence. Does he share my horror | :01:57. | :02:06. | |
that on the top five countries which execute people come remains the | :02:07. | :02:08. | |
United States of America, despite a reduction in the number of | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
executions last year? Where did the last speak to his American | :02:13. | :02:18. | |
counterpart about their record in executing people? As I am sure she | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
knows, in the US, this is largely a matter for state legislature 's and | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
state governments rather than the ferret -- Federal Government. We to | :02:30. | :02:38. | |
take up, when appropriate, the particular cases with the relevant | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
authorities. Belarus is the only country still executing its | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
citizens. Does my right honourable friend share my concern that in the | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
last three months, two Belarus citizens have been sentenced to | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
death? If they want to become a full member of the Council of Europe, | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
they should abide by international laws and the European ledgers -- | :03:01. | :03:11. | |
European legislation is? We, in all our dealings with the Government | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
there, we make clear the need for them to move to international and | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
European standards on capital punishment, but also to take action | :03:23. | :03:29. | |
to improve what is frankly still a dismal human rights record in that | :03:30. | :03:32. | |
country. Further to the answer from the honourable member from Slough, | :03:33. | :03:40. | |
is he aware of the organisation that drugs companies exported to the | :03:41. | :03:48. | |
state of Arkansas for use in lethal injections? They say they don't | :03:49. | :03:55. | |
export for this purpose but go on to say any sales usually occur through | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
the use of distributors. It seems an obvious loophole. Why is nobody | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
closing it? I will look into the particular case at -- that he | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
describes and try to him in due course. -- and write to him in due | :04:10. | :04:21. | |
course. Humanitarian assistance was sent to besieged communities in | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
Syria. The first deliveries of aid have now been made and yesterday | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
there was an announcement of agreement between Russia and the | :04:33. | :04:35. | |
United States on the detailed arrangements for the sentenced -- | :04:36. | :04:40. | |
for the hostilities which will come into force on midnight on Saturday. | :04:41. | :04:46. | |
If that is implemented by all the parties, this could be an important | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
step towards a lasting political settlement in Syria. The bombing of | :04:52. | :04:58. | |
two hospitals and other health facilities in northern Syria is | :04:59. | :05:03. | |
completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international humanitarian | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
law. Does the Minister agree that those responsible must be brought to | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
justice and that this reinforces the need for United Nations Security | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court? | :05:17. | :05:23. | |
The Honourable Lynne de -- Lady raises an incident that has caused | :05:24. | :05:31. | |
widespread outrage. It requires a resolution of the United Nations | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
Security Council, one veto holding member of whom is the Russian | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
Federation. It is unlike -- it is unlikely that we will succeed going | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
down that route. Turkish policy towards Syrian Kurdish forces seems | :05:47. | :05:50. | |
inconsistent with our own, inconsistent with the prospect of | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
supporting Syrian peace talks and inconsistent with the opportunity to | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
form a united front against die -ish. This Syrian Kurds are an | :06:00. | :06:07. | |
important part of the equation and have to be brought into any enduring | :06:08. | :06:16. | |
solution. Turkey has a problem with links with the PKK and other Syrian | :06:17. | :06:23. | |
groups. PKK is a terrorist group designated in Turkey and indeed in | :06:24. | :06:27. | |
the UK. There are overlaying conflicts here. It is a major | :06:28. | :06:36. | |
complicating factor. What we have seen is very disturbing evidence of | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
coordination between Syrian Kurdish forces, the Syrian regime and the | :06:42. | :06:44. | |
Russian air force which are making us distinctly uneasy about the | :06:45. | :06:48. | |
Kurds's role in this. The bombings are driving the refugee | :06:49. | :07:02. | |
crisis and destabilising and weakening Europe. Now is not the | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
time to even talk about weakening the EU sanctions against the Putin | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
regime. I agree with the honourable gentleman that now is not the time | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
to send Russia any signals of compromise or pulling back. The only | :07:19. | :07:25. | |
language Putin accepts is that of confrontation. We have to stand up | :07:26. | :07:32. | |
and be counted, how ever inconvenient that might be for some | :07:33. | :07:39. | |
that have to be counted. Whether we like it or not, Russia is a | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
prerequisite to the successful talks if they are going to be successful. | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
The American Secretary of State has a close working relationship with | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
the Russian Foreign Minister, talking to him nearly every week. | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
Whether the Foreign Secretary will speak to the Russian Foreign | :07:57. | :07:59. | |
Secretary and what is he doing to improve his personal relationship | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
with him? Our relationships are difficult. I spoke to Sergei Lavrov | :08:04. | :08:11. | |
on the 11th of February in Munich where he and I had some prolonged | :08:12. | :08:17. | |
and robust exchanges around the table during that evening. I do | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
speak regularly to the US Secretary of State and am aware of the | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
discussions he is having with our mutual Russian counterpart. The | :08:29. | :08:31. | |
problem is that Russian policy on Syria is not made in the Russian | :08:32. | :08:38. | |
Foreign Ministry comment is made inside a tiny cabal around President | :08:39. | :08:41. | |
Putin around the heart of the Kremlin. What dialogue has the | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
minister had with French counterparts as a result of the | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
Syrian crisis regarding the safety and protection arrangements for | :08:52. | :08:55. | |
unaccompanied children refugees that are at grave risk and due to be | :08:56. | :09:01. | |
disbursed from the jungle camp? I have had discussions with my former | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
French counterpart who retired the week before last and indeed my new | :09:06. | :09:13. | |
French counterparts. The issues relating to would-be migrants | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
accumulated around Calais after the Home Secretary and she has very | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
regular discussions with her counterpart. The Russians are a key | :09:23. | :09:32. | |
part to establishing a meaningful political settlement in Syria. Would | :09:33. | :09:36. | |
he agree that it doesn't mean we give in to the Russians across the | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
rest of Europe and that the Nato commitment in the Baltic states is | :09:41. | :09:43. | |
just as important a counterbalance whatever partnerships we use the | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
Russians for in Syria? We are dealing with a raised level of | :09:50. | :09:57. | |
Russian assertiveness in many areas. In the Baltic, in Ukraine and now in | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
the Middle East. We have to be robust in all areas. He is right | :10:02. | :10:08. | |
that Russia holds the key to the situation in Syria. I have said in | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
this house before that there is one person in the world who has the | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
power to bring the misery in Syria to an end by picking up the phone | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
and making one phone call and that person is Vladimir Putin. The whole | :10:21. | :10:27. | |
house will welcome the ceasefire agreement which is so badly needed. | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
However, there have been promises from Russia before. They have been | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
claiming to be attacking terrorist groups when they have been attacked | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
in moderate opposition forces and civilians. Can the Foreign Secretary | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
set out how breaches of the ceasefire agreement will actually be | :10:45. | :10:45. | |
assessed? She has put her finger on the | :10:46. | :10:52. | |
problem. The ceasefire agreement will allow continued operations | :10:53. | :10:58. | |
against Daesh and associated terrorist groups submitted by the UN | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
Security Council, and nobody would disagree with that. The problem is, | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
the Russians claim that the date, all of their action has been against | :11:09. | :11:13. | |
those groups. So on the face of it, the Russians could be entering onto | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
this arrangement on the basis of not changing their behaviour. This | :11:18. | :11:22. | |
cessation of hostilities will fail before it has got off the ground if | :11:23. | :11:31. | |
that is their intention. Can the Foreign Secretary explain what | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
consideration has been given to a UN resolution to strengthen the | :11:35. | :11:37. | |
ceasefire agreement and support the peace talks? Yes, first of all, | :11:38. | :11:44. | |
there is an arrangement agreed between the Russians and Americans | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
for investigating alleged breaches of the ceasefire, and there is a | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
commitment on both sides to working out a coordination cell between US | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
and Russian sides to try to identify legitimate targets that can be | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
structuring the ceasefire. In terms of UN dimensions to this, we are | :12:05. | :12:10. | |
looking at that, we would welcome a UN resolution behind the ceasefire, | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
we already have the resolution 2254 which we did on the 18th of December | :12:17. | :12:22. | |
in New York, but that can only happen if the Russians are prepared | :12:23. | :12:32. | |
to work with us. Number three. Mr Speaker, Daesh is presently being | :12:33. | :12:40. | |
defeated in Iraq, as the competence of Iraqi security forces improves, | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
specifically writing to Kurdistan, we are providing the peshmerga with | :12:46. | :12:48. | |
air power, logistical support and training. I thank him for that | :12:49. | :12:56. | |
answer. Report suggest that 45% of Kurdish forces are composed of | :12:57. | :13:03. | |
women. A commander recently said, we do this not to protect ourselves but | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
to change the way of thinking of the army, not only to gain power but to | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
change society and develop it. What steps is the government taking to | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
ensure their participation in regional diplomatic talks, post | :13:16. | :13:21. | |
Daesh? Can I just paid should be to be quite she has given and the work | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
she has done in pioneering the role that women can play. This is | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
something of the UN envoy recognises and is trying to include the bosses | :13:31. | :13:38. | |
of women. We have British training taking place in northern Iraq and we | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
have training teams that will be training female units in the | :13:45. | :13:52. | |
peshmerga itself. What is the minister's current assessment of the | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
relations between the government of Turkey and the Kurdistan regional | :13:56. | :14:02. | |
government? It is important Russian ship that they are developing, not | :14:03. | :14:10. | |
just for economic reasons, but as he has just outlined, the there are | :14:11. | :14:16. | |
concerns by Turkey because of the role and involvement and influence | :14:17. | :14:19. | |
of the PKK, we will be monitoring that carefully. Since the breakdown | :14:20. | :14:26. | |
of the peace process in summer last year, they have been reports of an | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
escalation of violence and reports of a breach of human rights in | :14:31. | :14:35. | |
south-eastern Turkey, in the Kurdish areas. There have been the deaths of | :14:36. | :14:42. | |
hundreds of innocent civilians, curfews, imprisonment of democratic | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
re-elected politicians who would be key interlocutors in future | :14:47. | :14:54. | |
negotiations. Can he assure me that it will form part of the peace | :14:55. | :15:02. | |
process talks in Syria? I'm grateful for her question, it is something I | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
was able to raise during my visit to the north of Iraq, at the end of | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
last year. We are concerned about the reports of human rights abuses | :15:14. | :15:16. | |
and it's something we need to make sure is not overlooked. Question | :15:17. | :15:28. | |
number four. Mr Speaker... The pleasure is entirely mutual! Let me | :15:29. | :15:38. | |
say to the Minister of State, I much appreciate his courtesy in notifying | :15:39. | :15:42. | |
me of his travel plans, I know he has only recently got off a plane so | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
we're delighted to have him here, especially in view of the fact of | :15:47. | :15:52. | |
which he has previously informed the house, that he is responsible for | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
three quarters of the world! You have just stolen my first line | :15:59. | :16:05. | |
again. On this important subject, I would repeat, for India and | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
Pakistan, they need to find a lasting resolution to the situation | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
not for the UK to prescribe a solution. And tragically, this house | :16:20. | :16:26. | |
has a great deal of respect for UN resolutions, and I'm sure that the | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
Minister will be aware that in 1948 the UN Security Council passed | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
resolution 47, instructing the government of India and Pakistan to | :16:36. | :16:40. | |
prepare for a plebiscite to decide the future of Kashmir. Now almost 70 | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
years have passed, thousands of Kashmiri men, women and children | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
have been slaughtered and atrocities are committed on a daily basis and | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
there is still no sign of any action to allow these people to vote on | :16:54. | :16:57. | |
this most important issue. Does he agree with me that the people of | :16:58. | :17:02. | |
Kashmir should have the right of self-determination and will he give | :17:03. | :17:04. | |
an assurance that the British government... I hope she is near the | :17:05. | :17:14. | |
end of the sentence? Finish the sentence. That the British | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
government will do everything in its power to make this happen. We don't | :17:20. | :17:26. | |
intend to support an international conference or put the site on | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
Kashmir, our long-standing position is this is a matter for India and | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
Pakistan to find a resolution. We are acutely aware of the human | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
rights allegations in Kashmir, this was discussed when Prime Minister | :17:40. | :17:47. | |
Modi was here in 2015, and we continue to monitor the situation | :17:48. | :17:56. | |
closely. Many of my constituents, who are of Kashmiri origin and | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
heritage, take the view that this entire problem was left behind by | :18:01. | :18:07. | |
the UK will be ruled in that area. Does not the Minister feel that | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
there is a real obligation on the UK to actually take a more proactive | :18:13. | :18:15. | |
role in this, and do something positive to bring about a resolution | :18:16. | :18:25. | |
to this long-running problem? We are talking about two sovereign | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
countries, India and Pakistan, it is not for the UK to come between them | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
other than to urge them to talk and to ask them, good moves and | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
communications between the leaders, they are discussing the subject | :18:41. | :18:42. | |
among other things and that we very much welcome. I would say that this | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
has been going on for decades and decades and the UK does have some | :18:49. | :18:54. | |
expertise in building more peaceful settlements. Isn't there a bit more | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
that the UK could do to promote confidence building measures between | :18:59. | :19:01. | |
India and Pakistan and are very least raise this as a priority with | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
the youth special representative so that our allies know it's more of a | :19:07. | :19:13. | |
priority? I just said to the Right Honourable gentleman, we do things | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
as best we can without getting directly involved and we welcome the | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
fact that on the 25th of November they visited each other, the | :19:22. | :19:28. | |
leaders, but I would repeat again, he knows full well the long-standing | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
position of the government and when he was in government, it was no | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
different, this is a matter for the Indians and Pakistanis to resolve. | :19:39. | :19:47. | |
Number five. The UK is committed to strengthening engagement with the | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
Commonwealth, the Prime Minister, the member for Whitney, led a strong | :19:52. | :19:55. | |
delegation to the Commonwealth summit in November where Lord Maud | :19:56. | :20:01. | |
and I promoted trade opportunities within the Commonwealth. The | :20:02. | :20:09. | |
reticence in British manufacturing and engineering is not only a | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
testament to this government's determination to rebalance the | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
economy but has also contributed to 62% employment in my constituency. | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
Does he agree with me that our historic links, especially trade | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
links with other Commonwealth countries, are vital to the | :20:30. | :20:31. | |
continued success of these sectors and the jobs they support? I'm | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
pleased to hear the figures coming in from my honourable friend's | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
constituency, they can be echoed around the country, I would say we | :20:40. | :20:48. | |
are an open, free trading state, we trade around the world and trade | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
within the Commonwealth is extremely important and we need to do more to | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
promote it to stop it clear that trading between two Commonwealth | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
countries is 19, 20% cheaper than trading outside the Commonwealth, it | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
is something we need to do. We need to engage trading ministers more | :21:06. | :21:13. | |
formally. Last year, Prime Minister Modi and our Prime Minister | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
designated next year as the year of culture between India and the United | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
Kingdom. Will they join me in welcoming the British Curry | :21:24. | :21:26. | |
Festival, taking place in New Delhi in March of this year, when British | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
chefs from Leicester, London and Reading, will be going to Delhi to | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
make curry there? That he not agree this is a real example of good | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
relations between Commonwealth countries? At the risk of seeking to | :21:40. | :21:46. | |
curry favour with the right honourable gentleman... We must all | :21:47. | :21:54. | |
wish our curry chefs every successfully travelled to India and | :21:55. | :21:58. | |
hope that they have a speedy return, because we would all miss our curry | :21:59. | :22:05. | |
wedding at home. -- -- were they not at home. It was this point, as well | :22:06. | :22:13. | |
as talking about trade between the UK and Commonwealth countries, the | :22:14. | :22:18. | |
functioning of the Commonwealth will surely be enhanced if there is more | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
trade between Commonwealth countries, and to what extent can | :22:24. | :22:26. | |
the UK play a role in trying to enhance that ensure trade, | :22:27. | :22:33. | |
particularly in areas where we have substantial representation? It's as | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
well to remember that we are an equal partner within the | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
Commonwealth, we don't run it, and we wish Baroness Scotland every | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
success in so doing, and we want... She has the universal support of | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
this house, clearly! We want her to refocus the Commonwealth, we want to | :22:55. | :23:00. | |
spend more time... There are similar issues going on elsewhere in the | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
world but we want to spend more time boosting trade, and getting rid of | :23:04. | :23:10. | |
tariffs and promoting intra- Commonwealth trade, and that we can | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
do. I know the business and investment Council is doing a great | :23:16. | :23:24. | |
job, business will play a large role in the Commonwealth conference in | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
2018. Can I ask is serious question about the Commonwealth and the | :23:31. | :23:33. | |
dramatic relations. How may members of the Commonwealth don't have an | :23:34. | :23:42. | |
extradition agreement with this country? Increasingly be find people | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
commit ghastly crimes, they need to Pakistan and we can't get them back | :23:47. | :23:50. | |
to face justice. What is he doing about that? I say that is a very | :23:51. | :23:57. | |
wide-ranging accusation and if he will write to me or come and see me | :23:58. | :24:00. | |
on a specific case, I will be happy to look at this, we deal with these | :24:01. | :24:10. | |
things on a case-by-case basis. Mr Speaker, with permission I will | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
answer this question together with question 14. The conduct regulations | :24:15. | :24:18. | |
which said that the detailed framework of how the referendum poll | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
will be administered have now been agreed by both Houses of Parliament. | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
The date of the referendum must now be agreed by Parliament in the | :24:28. | :24:30. | |
further statutory instrument, laid before both houses in draft | :24:31. | :24:38. | |
yesterday. A record number of people registered to vote in the Scottish | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
independence referendum, 97% of the adult population. What efforts as | :24:44. | :24:46. | |
the UK Government taking the match that success? This, as he will know, | :24:47. | :24:54. | |
is the responsibility of the electoral commission, and they are | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
planning a campaign to raise awareness of the need to register in | :25:01. | :25:01. | |
good time for the referendum. Can the Minister give comfort to | :25:02. | :25:13. | |
those Scottish students who are studying across Europe and can he | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
provide the House with details of what contingency plans are in place | :25:18. | :25:23. | |
should there be a no vote in the EU Referendum Bill? My advice to | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
Scottish students studying in universities elsewhere is to ensure | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
that they are registered to vote so that their votes to count along with | :25:34. | :25:37. | |
everybody else in the referendum. You put your finger on one of the | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
uncertainties about eight potential access from the EU because it is, | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
after all, treaties that give British citizens the right to live, | :25:48. | :25:52. | |
study and work in other EU countries. The Minister may recall | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
that in response to my amendments to the Finance Bill, the Government | :25:58. | :25:59. | |
promised to negotiate with the European Commission for zero VAT for | :26:00. | :26:11. | |
sanitary products. As the Prime Minister used his recent | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
negotiations to raise this issue and what progress has been made? The | :26:15. | :26:21. | |
question of value added tax was already part of the EU system before | :26:22. | :26:28. | |
the United Kingdom ever joined the European communities in the 1970s. | :26:29. | :26:36. | |
There is a review of the current EU directives on value added tax that | :26:37. | :26:40. | |
is due to take place this year and that is the appropriate forum in | :26:41. | :26:44. | |
which to raise this issue and it is something the Government hopes to | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
secure the reforms about which she is speaking. A successful UK | :26:50. | :26:53. | |
Government has signed up to a range of agreements with regards to | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
protecting our environment, and ensuring EU wide energy markets. The | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
removal of environmental controls would be a backward step. I am sure | :27:06. | :27:10. | |
the Minister for Europe will agree with me that a membership of the EU | :27:11. | :27:14. | |
is vital in promoting the interests of people in Scotland and across the | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
UK. However, the Minister will be aware that the Justice Secretary | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
said last week, that our membership of the European Union prevents us to | :27:26. | :27:33. | |
change law and stops us from choosing critical decisions which | :27:34. | :27:40. | |
affect all of our lives. Can he confirm... Finish the sentence, very | :27:41. | :27:46. | |
quickly. Can he confirm how his Government's plans have been | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
constrained by European legislation or regulations? Like every member | :27:52. | :28:02. | |
state of the EU, there will be particular issues that come up, | :28:03. | :28:08. | |
particular measures where we find some of the ruling irksome. On | :28:09. | :28:14. | |
balance, as the Prime Minister set out clearly yesterday, the | :28:15. | :28:17. | |
Government is convinced membership of a reformed European Union will | :28:18. | :28:21. | |
make the British people more prosperous, more secure and more | :28:22. | :28:26. | |
influential in the world than any of the alternatives so far proposed. It | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
is important that voters have the full fax at their disposal when | :28:31. | :28:36. | |
making a choice in June. Can the Minister confirmed to the House that | :28:37. | :28:39. | |
the Government has calculated the cost of implementing the proposals | :28:40. | :28:44. | |
agreed at the EU Council last week, in particular those relating to the | :28:45. | :28:47. | |
administration of the new benefits rules. What will be savings to the | :28:48. | :28:56. | |
Treasury be? Some of this will be a matter for the implementation of | :28:57. | :28:59. | |
regulations that will now follow both at European level and at | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
national level. The answer to the honourable lady's question will | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
depend upon what the level of benefits and tax credits is at the | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
appropriate time in the UK. Those matters will become clear as time | :29:14. | :29:19. | |
goes on. I wish the Minister great success in trying to alter the level | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
of VAT on sanitary towels but could he confirm that if the British | :29:24. | :29:29. | |
people decided to leave the European Union, could he confirm that will be | :29:30. | :29:33. | |
up to the British Government to decide the level of VAT on sanitary | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
towels and other products? That would depend upon the nature of the | :29:40. | :29:46. | |
subsequent relationship because the reason why value-added tax has since | :29:47. | :29:51. | |
before our membership of the EU, been something dealt with at EU | :29:52. | :29:58. | |
level, is because the price at which goods are sold as a direct impact | :29:59. | :30:02. | |
upon the notion of a single market and free trade within Europe will | :30:03. | :30:07. | |
stop the issue that my honourable friend raises would have to be | :30:08. | :30:10. | |
tackled in the course of negotiations about such a future | :30:11. | :30:21. | |
relationship. As the House is aware, all prices are hovering around $30 a | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
barrel, the lowest in 13 years and this is a consequence of lower | :30:28. | :30:31. | |
global demand, continued production and the resilient production in the | :30:32. | :30:38. | |
USA. Countries are taking action and they are diversifying their | :30:39. | :30:42. | |
economies and removing subsidies. In reference to Russia, around half of | :30:43. | :30:46. | |
the Government revenues have come from oil and gas and the GDP has | :30:47. | :30:56. | |
declined by 4% last year. Clearly, foiling -- falling oil prices are | :30:57. | :31:01. | |
having an effect on many countries. I was part of a delegation visiting | :31:02. | :31:07. | |
Saudi Arabia last week. What encouragement is our Government | :31:08. | :31:11. | |
doing to other countries to help and support them diversify and what | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
opportunities does the Minister Seif British companies to assist in that? | :31:16. | :31:22. | |
There are enormous opportunities as my honourable friend outlined is not | :31:23. | :31:26. | |
just in Saudi Arabia but across the golf -- golf. We are working to | :31:27. | :31:33. | |
diversify to help these countries with renewables, green energy and | :31:34. | :31:37. | |
also Saudi Arabia has expressed an interest in opening up tourism. | :31:38. | :31:41. | |
These are important aspects that Britain can play an important role | :31:42. | :31:50. | |
in. I will is the eight and nine together. Britain was a driving | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
force between -- behind the creation of the global coalition. We hosted | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
the first meeting in January 2015 in London. I discussed the campaign | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
against Daesh with other international partners including at | :32:05. | :32:08. | |
a coalition small group meeting in Rome earlier this month. The Army in | :32:09. | :32:19. | |
-- the Kurdish army has been battling since 2014. When he paid | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
tribute to the Peshmerga and Seymore as to what role they may play no | :32:25. | :32:33. | |
liberation. I am happy to pay tribute to the Peshmerga. They have | :32:34. | :32:37. | |
proved themselves to be a resilient fighting force and the most | :32:38. | :32:41. | |
effective force operating against Daesh. The UK's training and | :32:42. | :32:45. | |
providing equipment to the Peshmerga. I had an opportunity to | :32:46. | :32:53. | |
meet with the President of the KR G2 talk about the liberation of Mosul | :32:54. | :33:00. | |
and be the role the Peshmerga might pay -- play. The Kurdish regional | :33:01. | :33:05. | |
Government is more open to the idea that the Peshmerga will play a role | :33:06. | :33:11. | |
in the liberation of Mozilla. They have also agreed to Iraqi security | :33:12. | :33:21. | |
forces being based in the KR G in order to prepare for the assault on | :33:22. | :33:27. | |
Mosil. It is more likely that we will see a successful assault on | :33:28. | :33:34. | |
Mosil sooner rather than later. Seeking a solution in Syria has gone | :33:35. | :33:38. | |
hand-in-hand with our humanitarian aid in the region. When he set out | :33:39. | :33:44. | |
how increased diplomatic cooperation will improve and assist our | :33:45. | :33:48. | |
humanitarian aid in the region, specifically neighbouring countries | :33:49. | :33:52. | |
such as Jordan and Lebanon? We hosted a successful Syria and | :33:53. | :33:59. | |
regional conference on the 4th of February raising $11 billion in a | :34:00. | :34:02. | |
single day. The real significance of that meeting was that we moved on | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
from the idea of simply collecting money and distributing it, to | :34:08. | :34:10. | |
working with host countries in the region, to ensure that refugees are | :34:11. | :34:16. | |
able to access the labour market, can get education for their children | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
and can access health care, making them less likely to feel the need to | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
decamp and become regular migrants heading towards Europe. King | :34:25. | :34:33. | |
Abdullah of Jordan asks that we reach out to areas like Bosnia which | :34:34. | :34:43. | |
may be the next trouble spots. Are we making any progress? We should be | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
very much focused not only on those countries that are already facing | :34:50. | :34:52. | |
this challenge, but the countries that are next in line for the | :34:53. | :35:00. | |
challenge, seeking to enforce them. The Prime Minister's of all Western | :35:01. | :35:02. | |
Balkan countries were in London yesterday and I had been Minister to | :35:03. | :35:07. | |
meet the President of Bosnia-Herzegovina over. We're | :35:08. | :35:13. | |
working closely with them to ensure the resilience and the European | :35:14. | :35:21. | |
trajectory of that region. On the issue of Daesh fighters returning | :35:22. | :35:25. | |
home to countries within Europe, whatever its have been made in terms | :35:26. | :35:29. | |
of diplomatic coordination to ensure there is a more common response | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
among countries in Europe to ensure we keep our citizens here safe and | :35:35. | :35:38. | |
prevent these people coming back to wreak havoc through terrorism on | :35:39. | :35:43. | |
towns and cities in the UK? Different countries in Europe have | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
different domestic legislation around this issue. We have some of | :35:49. | :35:53. | |
the most robust measures available to us to deal with returning | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
fighters. It is precisely because of the importance of exchange of | :36:00. | :36:02. | |
information between European partners, that the Prime Minister | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
was able to confirm that we believe Britain is safer and more resilient | :36:08. | :36:14. | |
against the threat of terrorism by its cooperation with EU. If | :36:15. | :36:26. | |
operations against Daesh are successful... Thank you, I hope the | :36:27. | :36:39. | |
gentleman will not be deflected. What is the threat of them moving to | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
Libya and has the Foreign Secretary made an assessment of that | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
eventuality? There is clearly a risk that as Daesh is defeated in Iraq | :36:51. | :36:58. | |
and Syria, the embryonic presence in Libya, particularly around one area | :36:59. | :37:05. | |
could be a base for operations 100 miles off the coast of Europe. That | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
is why we are working with our partners and allies to encourage the | :37:11. | :37:13. | |
formation of a Libyan Government of National cord that we can work with | :37:14. | :37:19. | |
to start stabilising the country and pushing back on those Daesh | :37:20. | :37:27. | |
footholds in Libya. Could the Secretary of State say how far ahead | :37:28. | :37:30. | |
we are in terms of bringing about that coordination and bringing a | :37:31. | :37:35. | |
stable authority within Libya to take on Daesh? We have seen an | :37:36. | :37:39. | |
increasing Daesh activity and there is still a lot of disconnect between | :37:40. | :37:44. | |
different bodies in Libya. What progress has been made? There is | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
progress being made among European partners and with the US preparing | :37:49. | :37:55. | |
the support we can give to a Government of National cord in Libya | :37:56. | :37:58. | |
when and if it is formed. The problem is that several months after | :37:59. | :38:03. | |
we first expected to happen, it still not been formed. We are | :38:04. | :38:06. | |
working closely with the parties in Libya and with the regional powers | :38:07. | :38:10. | |
who have influence, particularly Egypt, to encourage Prime Minister | :38:11. | :38:15. | |
-- the Prime Minister to get that Government formed an approved so we | :38:16. | :38:20. | |
can engage. There is a strong commitment by the European partners | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
to engage once that Government is created. | :38:25. | :38:31. | |
Much does get said during the election of cycles and we were | :38:32. | :38:38. | |
concerned by some of the statements that have been made during the | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
Israeli election. I was in Israel last week and I can confirm that I | :38:44. | :38:49. | |
had meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He remains committed to | :38:50. | :38:56. | |
the two state solution. It has been over 20 years since Oslo and there | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
are more than 350,000 illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
West Bank. 300,000 Israeli settlers in east Jerusalem and the Government | :39:05. | :39:10. | |
continues to announce the building of more illegal settlements. Does he | :39:11. | :39:13. | |
believe this will aid the priest process and if not, what is he doing | :39:14. | :39:25. | |
about it? -- peace process. This is unhelpful and takes us into the | :39:26. | :39:29. | |
wrong direction. Through my visit, I visited some of the settlements | :39:30. | :39:33. | |
developing there and while announcing when new settlements have | :39:34. | :39:36. | |
slowed down, we are seeing the existing settlements are starting to | :39:37. | :39:39. | |
grow and that happens without people seeing this. We have an area to the | :39:40. | :39:45. | |
north of Jerusalem and if that continues to grow in the method that | :39:46. | :39:52. | |
it does, it will link up towards the north of Jericho. It will | :39:53. | :39:55. | |
essentially say there are no two state solutions. We need Israel to | :39:56. | :40:00. | |
show it is committed to this and stop the settlements. On the issue | :40:01. | :40:04. | |
of words, something that is rubbished is the issue of incitement | :40:05. | :40:09. | |
and the increasing amounts of incitement we're seeing from the | :40:10. | :40:13. | |
Palestinian Authority 's and media. Some has been referenced by those | :40:14. | :40:17. | |
committing knife attacks on innocent civilians. Last week I said -- spent | :40:18. | :40:22. | |
a visit to a school in Brussels where I had appalling stories of | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
anomie -- anti-Semitism in Europe where people deliberately conflate | :40:27. | :40:32. | |
Jews and Israel. The Minister condemned not only the incitement | :40:33. | :40:35. | |
we're seeing outside of the Palestinian Authority, but the | :40:36. | :40:37. | |
attacks which we are seeing in Europe as a result of this? | :40:38. | :40:43. | |
I agree that what we are seeing, Israelis, subject to brutality and | :40:44. | :40:53. | |
murder, is unacceptable and Israel has the obligation to defend its | :40:54. | :40:59. | |
citizens. But we are seeing is the anti-Semitism there, the reaction | :41:00. | :41:05. | |
often through websites, reappearing in Europe or closer to home and we | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
have been working hard with international colleagues, to make | :41:10. | :41:13. | |
sure that we stamp out anti-Semitism, no matter where full. | :41:14. | :41:23. | |
A clear majority of Israelis support the setting up of a Palestinian | :41:24. | :41:27. | |
state but as the Minister agree that actions like how mass, mounting | :41:28. | :41:36. | |
attacks on Israel from Gaza, makes it less attainable? She is right, | :41:37. | :41:47. | |
what we are seeing is some of the developments, it is like deja vu, | :41:48. | :41:51. | |
we're going round again, the rebuilding of the tunnels | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
themselves, the missiles start to fly, where does it take us? This is | :41:57. | :42:00. | |
not a confidence building measure, in the same way that building | :42:01. | :42:03. | |
settlements is not a confidence building measure. We need to make | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
sure we empower the Palestinian Authority so it has the ability to | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
look after and take responsibility for the governments of Gaza, that is | :42:13. | :42:22. | |
the way forward. I'm sure there is a big contrast in the growth of | :42:23. | :42:26. | |
extremism, Israeli authorities deal with Jewish extremism, they | :42:27. | :42:36. | |
investigate, prosecute and condemn. Whereas violent extremists, so far | :42:37. | :42:39. | |
as the Palestinian Authority, the name schools after them, sporting | :42:40. | :42:44. | |
events after them, they glorify them on television. Will they take the | :42:45. | :42:51. | |
opportunity to condemn absolutely the attitude of the Palestinian | :42:52. | :42:54. | |
Authority and urge them to cease this senseless encouragement to | :42:55. | :43:01. | |
violence? He makes a powerful argument, and it's important that we | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
actually see that there are affirmative actions on both sides to | :43:07. | :43:08. | |
reduce tensions, but I raise the specific matter of inflaming, of | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
using words, health Minister in the Palestinian Authority was unhelpful | :43:15. | :43:21. | |
in the comments she made recently in condemning the attacks taking place. | :43:22. | :43:25. | |
This takes us into the wrong direction. We should be doing | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
things, making steps that encourage others to act in consequence of | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
that. I wish we had more time but we haven't. Question number 11. I had | :43:36. | :43:43. | |
productive discussions at the joint ministerial Council with other | :43:44. | :43:47. | |
overseas Territory leaders in December, we agreed progress on in | :43:48. | :43:50. | |
permitting central registers, a system should be kept under | :43:51. | :43:56. | |
continuous and close review, discussions are ongoing but I want | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
to see significant progress ahead of the anti-corruption Summit being | :44:02. | :44:04. | |
hosted by the Prime Minister in May. Will he confirm that the overseas | :44:05. | :44:09. | |
territories and Crown dependencies will be at the summit and will we do | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
our part to make sure that we secure commitment from them to clean up | :44:15. | :44:18. | |
their act and make company on this public? Final in bytes for the | :44:19. | :44:24. | |
summit have not yet gone out of the discussions are ongoing, -- invites. | :44:25. | :44:31. | |
The director is currently visiting the Cayman Islands and British | :44:32. | :44:36. | |
Virgin Islands, thrashing out some of the details. Does the Minister | :44:37. | :44:42. | |
expect those registers will be publicly available all of close to | :44:43. | :44:46. | |
one, to gain access to relevant authorities? I am sorry, I was | :44:47. | :44:56. | |
strong to follow his question as to whether they would be open or | :44:57. | :45:00. | |
closed. They will be open registers available for law enforcement | :45:01. | :45:07. | |
agencies to interrogate, not publicly open registers. That is a | :45:08. | :45:10. | |
long-term aspiration but initially we want to get that access for law | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
enforcement agencies, which will create greater transparency and | :45:16. | :45:23. | |
reduce corruption. In April 2014 the Prime Minister said that, I believe | :45:24. | :45:28. | |
the beneficial ownership and public access of a central register is key | :45:29. | :45:31. | |
to improving the transparency of company ownership and vital to | :45:32. | :45:35. | |
meeting the urgent challenges of tax evasion. Nearly two years have | :45:36. | :45:40. | |
passed and there still appears to be no time table for transparency | :45:41. | :45:43. | |
arrangements in regard to the financial centres, why is this? | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
There has already been much progress. I think she dismisses that | :45:49. | :45:54. | |
progressed to regulate. There are checkpoints, last week we were | :45:55. | :46:00. | |
speaking with overseas territory leaders, there are people there at | :46:01. | :46:03. | |
the moment and we hope to crystallise some of these | :46:04. | :46:08. | |
improvements before them summit in May on corruption, which was brought | :46:09. | :46:11. | |
by the Prime Minister and will be held in London, demonstrating their | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
commitment to this important issue. Can the Minister told the house the | :46:18. | :46:24. | |
exact date by which he expects overseas territory financial centres | :46:25. | :46:28. | |
to ensure proper transparency arrangements, or are we going to | :46:29. | :46:31. | |
continue to hear more excuses for inaction in the years to come? This | :46:32. | :46:37. | |
is an area of direction rather than an ultimate direction, and we will | :46:38. | :46:43. | |
constantly be asking the international community to do more | :46:44. | :46:47. | |
to create greater transparency but it is crucial that the international | :46:48. | :46:52. | |
community, whether the Crown dependencies, overseas territories, | :46:53. | :46:54. | |
are moved together on this, because we want to eliminate the problem of | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
corrupt money rather than shift it from territory to territory. It is | :47:00. | :47:05. | |
the best bit quickfire questions, quickfire answers. Number one. The | :47:06. | :47:15. | |
Foreign Office's mission is to protect our values through our | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
diplomacy and the Prime Minister's deal with the EU but offers the | :47:20. | :47:24. | |
basis for Britain's feature prosperity and future in Europe. The | :47:25. | :47:30. | |
crisis in Syria, the result in migration to Europe, the levels of | :47:31. | :47:33. | |
Russian aggression and the Terror is the threat from Islamist extremism | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
remain the principal threats to the security of the UK and UK citizens | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
around the world. I should recommend this to the register of interests, | :47:44. | :47:48. | |
as we know from Northern Ireland, conciliation is only possible if | :47:49. | :47:53. | |
both sides want it to move forward. Will he recognise efforts made by | :47:54. | :47:59. | |
the Sri Lankan sides in building a strong democracy and unite the | :48:00. | :48:02. | |
island, and will he encourage them to continue? I was in Franco last | :48:03. | :48:08. | |
month and I was able to meet the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and | :48:09. | :48:13. | |
travel to the north -- I was in Sri Lanka. I have spoken to the High | :48:14. | :48:19. | |
Commissioner in Geneva, who has been there, he was there in February, we | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
are looking forward to his update on Sri Lanka at the UN human rights | :48:24. | :48:30. | |
Council in June. As events in the Ukraine and Middle East have | :48:31. | :48:34. | |
reminded us, nations committed to peace, security and democracy need | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
to stand together in the face of aggression. Our membership of the US | :48:39. | :48:41. | |
is one of the most important ways in which we do this and the Foreign | :48:42. | :48:45. | |
Secretary knows that ending our alliance with the Ewart sent a | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
dangerous signal, including two Daesh and President Putin. Why does | :48:51. | :48:55. | |
he think that's his cabinet colleagues cannot see this and are | :48:56. | :48:58. | |
intent on a course of action that would weaken's voice in the world | :48:59. | :49:05. | |
and undermine our security? Each person in this country will have to | :49:06. | :49:07. | |
make up their own mind about the questions before them in the | :49:08. | :49:11. | |
forthcoming referendum and I have always said this is a balancing | :49:12. | :49:15. | |
equation, there are pluses and minuses in every international | :49:16. | :49:19. | |
relationship but I agree that on the question of Britain's security and | :49:20. | :49:23. | |
influence in the world, there is no doubt we are stronger, safer and | :49:24. | :49:26. | |
more influential as part of the European Union. I'm grateful to the | :49:27. | :49:33. | |
Foreign Secretary for that reply. The report of the UN human rights | :49:34. | :49:37. | |
Council enquiry on Syria, published this month, found that, "Flagrant | :49:38. | :49:42. | |
politicians of human rights and international humanitarian law | :49:43. | :49:46. | |
continued unabated. " The ceasefire is needed but it will only relieve | :49:47. | :49:53. | |
suffering if it is adhered to. What a CSS are the prospects for ensuring | :49:54. | :49:58. | |
that Russia respects the ceasefire by ending its attacks on the Syrian | :49:59. | :50:01. | |
people and if it does not, what further pressure can be put on | :50:02. | :50:09. | |
President Putin to do so? The issue is going to be this, the Russians | :50:10. | :50:13. | |
will say that they are complying with the ceasefire, and they will | :50:14. | :50:17. | |
say that continued attacks, air strikes, are justified by the terms | :50:18. | :50:23. | |
of the ceasefire and that they will be a Mrs D to pour over individual | :50:24. | :50:29. | |
attacks by the US and Russia in the coordination sought to identify what | :50:30. | :50:36. | |
happened. The big picture is this. Unless the level of Russian air | :50:37. | :50:40. | |
strikes tragically decreases, this ceasefire will not hold because the | :50:41. | :50:43. | |
moderate armed opposition cannot lay down their weapons and will not, | :50:44. | :50:49. | |
while they are being annihilated from the air by the Russian | :50:50. | :50:56. | |
aircraft. The Tanzanian electoral commission announced the general | :50:57. | :50:59. | |
election results in Zanzibar at the end of last year and there has been | :51:00. | :51:02. | |
increased electoral violence in Zanzibar as we head to the poll on | :51:03. | :51:07. | |
March 20. What representations on making the 10th union government to | :51:08. | :51:12. | |
make sure we do not return to the violence of the thousand and 2001? | :51:13. | :51:20. | |
-- the Tanzanian government. We are concerned by the decision to annul | :51:21. | :51:23. | |
the elections for the Zanzibar Presidency and the house of | :51:24. | :51:28. | |
representatives on the 28th of October. Our position will set out | :51:29. | :51:32. | |
in the statement by the British High Commissioner on the 29th of October | :51:33. | :51:36. | |
and we have raised these concerns at the highest level, including the | :51:37. | :51:38. | |
Foreign Secretary in his telephone call to the then Prime Minister, my | :51:39. | :51:45. | |
telephone call to be Foreign Minister in December and my right | :51:46. | :51:49. | |
honourable friend in his meeting with the same individual in January. | :51:50. | :51:53. | |
I hope to visit Tanzania in the coming months and raised these pods | :51:54. | :51:59. | |
personally. Given his response to earlier questions rating the benefit | :52:00. | :52:04. | |
to the UK of remaining in the Yukon is it not a real concern that many | :52:05. | :52:07. | |
of his colleagues in the government would put our security at risk by | :52:08. | :52:17. | |
Brexit? This is a referendum in which members of Parliament will | :52:18. | :52:20. | |
each have one vote, along with every member of the UK electorate. In my | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
experience, there are deeply held views both for and against petition | :52:26. | :52:31. | |
on the ship in both my party and the Honourable Lady's party. My view is | :52:32. | :52:39. | |
clear that this country is going to be more prosperous, more secure, | :52:40. | :52:42. | |
more influential in the world through continued EU membership. | :52:43. | :52:49. | |
Given the ongoing Russian incursion into Georgian sovereign territory, | :52:50. | :52:56. | |
but he absolutely condemn the situation in the southern Caucasus, | :52:57. | :53:02. | |
and does he think the situation in South city must now be regarded as | :53:03. | :53:09. | |
the new norm? We should be alert to Russia's aggressive actions in | :53:10. | :53:14. | |
former Soviet Union countries, wherever they are, not just in | :53:15. | :53:18. | |
Ukraine and arguably we were too slow to recognise what was happening | :53:19. | :53:23. | |
in Georgia was the beginning of a new mention the Russian foreign | :53:24. | :53:27. | |
policy, we should have resisted it robustly and we should push back | :53:28. | :53:33. | |
wherever we can. Can he confirm whether or not his discussions with | :53:34. | :53:38. | |
the US about Libya have included the possibility of UK military action | :53:39. | :53:42. | |
and can confirm there will be none without approval from this house? | :53:43. | :53:48. | |
Have a long established convention which he knows that before | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
committing UK come back forces to combat, in all situations where it | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
is possible, other than the direct emergency, or where considerations | :54:00. | :54:03. | |
of secrecy make it impossible, the Prime Minister is committed to bring | :54:04. | :54:06. | |
the issue to the house and allowing the house and opportunity to | :54:07. | :54:13. | |
discuss. What have they made of the securities situation in Burundi and | :54:14. | :54:18. | |
what steps have been taken to bolster Her Majesty's government's | :54:19. | :54:23. | |
presents there? In response to the crisis, we have stepped up military | :54:24. | :54:28. | |
and support to people fleeing Burundi, abiding money, the | :54:29. | :54:34. | |
parliamentary under Secretary of State for International Development | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
has decided to recruit a full-time coordinator, based in Bujumbura, | :54:40. | :54:44. | |
this will be good news, they have been pressing the government to do | :54:45. | :54:49. | |
this and we will commit on both sides of the house. On the 4th of | :54:50. | :54:53. | |
January the Secretary of State told the house that China's claim to be | :54:54. | :54:58. | |
treated as a market economy should be judged through the prism of | :54:59. | :55:03. | |
steel. Given that 70% of the Chinese steel industry is owned by the | :55:04. | :55:06. | |
Chinese government, can the Secretary of State confirm that | :55:07. | :55:09. | |
China should empathic they not be granted market economy status? What | :55:10. | :55:15. | |
I said in January, he will find if he checks the record, is I had come | :55:16. | :55:19. | |
back from China, where I had conveyed the message to the Chinese | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
that there claim to market economy status and the consideration of the | :55:26. | :55:28. | |
claim would be judged through the prism of their actions in the nation | :55:29. | :55:32. | |
to steal, they gave me assurances then and in October that they are | :55:33. | :55:36. | |
seeking to address overcapacity in the Chinese market will stop we have | :55:37. | :55:41. | |
just had discussion about this this morning and I've learnt that there | :55:42. | :55:44. | |
protests going on in China about loss of steel jobs just as there are | :55:45. | :55:48. | |
in the UK and other places throughout Europe. The reality is we | :55:49. | :55:53. | |
have a massive surplus of steel capacity throughout the world and we | :55:54. | :55:54. | |
have to address it. Following the action against Daesh, | :55:55. | :56:05. | |
what are the plans to make a permanent memorial? There is a | :56:06. | :56:17. | |
migration and a concern that Daesh is moving out under pressure in Iraq | :56:18. | :56:22. | |
and Syria to other parts of the world, including Libya. He is right | :56:23. | :56:25. | |
to make the connection between what happened in Libya, the terrorist | :56:26. | :56:31. | |
attack that took place killing many Britons. We all hold a memorial | :56:32. | :56:37. | |
service on the 12th of April to mark this event. A recent UN report | :56:38. | :56:46. | |
suggested Saudi Arabia's military operation Yemen is targeting | :56:47. | :56:50. | |
civilians. Is the minister confident that the UK Government is fulfilling | :56:51. | :56:55. | |
its obligations under the arms trade treaty in relation to Saudi Arabia | :56:56. | :57:03. | |
in this case? We have discussed the expert's panel for the UN on this | :57:04. | :57:08. | |
report. We are looking at the report in detail. It was done by satellite | :57:09. | :57:13. | |
evidence. The experts didn't visit the country itself and we have to | :57:14. | :57:16. | |
bear that in mind. We have passed the information on and are | :57:17. | :57:22. | |
discussing it with Saudi Arabia. I had a letter from the ambassador | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
this week confirming that every effort is made to follow human | :57:27. | :57:29. | |
rights law in the support of the President and UN resolution 2216. | :57:30. | :57:43. | |
Immigration controls in Calais are governed by the Treaty of Le | :57:44. | :57:50. | |
Touquet. He will also know that the treaty can only be broken if the | :57:51. | :57:53. | |
British or the French choose to do so and it has nothing to do with | :57:54. | :57:56. | |
whether we are members of the European Union or not. We ask, which | :57:57. | :58:04. | |
ever person said it, to stop talking this nonsense, that if we leave the | :58:05. | :58:08. | |
EU, we are suddenly going to find a massive refugee camp in the heart of | :58:09. | :58:15. | |
Kent? The Treaty of Le Touquet is certainly vital to this country's | :58:16. | :58:21. | |
border security of the 100,000 people who have been stopped from | :58:22. | :58:25. | |
entering the UK in the past five years, roughly a quarter were | :58:26. | :58:31. | |
stopped at Calais. We cooperate closely with the French Government | :58:32. | :58:38. | |
but I fear my honourable friend underestimates the extent of | :58:39. | :58:40. | |
domestic French opposition and protest against the controls, that | :58:41. | :58:45. | |
if we left the EU, the stock of goodwill towards the Treaty of Le | :58:46. | :58:52. | |
Touquet would be severely depleted. On the Foreign Office website, there | :58:53. | :58:57. | |
is advice to companies thinking of doing business with illegal Israeli | :58:58. | :59:03. | |
settlements. It says financial transactions, investments, | :59:04. | :59:05. | |
procurements as well as other economic activities in Israeli | :59:06. | :59:09. | |
settlements and tell legal and economic risks. We do not encourage | :59:10. | :59:15. | |
or office opposed to such activity. Does the Government give the same | :59:16. | :59:18. | |
advice to public bodies including loud -- local councils with regard | :59:19. | :59:23. | |
to their procurement assistance? We are clear with local authorities | :59:24. | :59:30. | |
that they should not be bound by -- that they are bound by procurement | :59:31. | :59:34. | |
rules. We do not support boycott movements and the Minister for the | :59:35. | :59:38. | |
Cabinet Office was in Israel last week and made that abundantly clear | :59:39. | :59:43. | |
them. With the US wishing to continue for a further 20 years, is | :59:44. | :59:49. | |
military presence on Diego Garcia, what discussions are the Foreign | :59:50. | :59:53. | |
Office planning to have with Washington about facilitating | :59:54. | :00:04. | |
bringing them back? We made it clear we wanted the US presence to | :00:05. | :00:07. | |
continue but the Government has not held discussions with the US about | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
continuing that arrangement. I very much welcome his discussions if you | :00:13. | :00:16. | |
weeks ago at the Foreign Office as part of the all-party group visit to | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
the Foreign Office. I will continue to liaise with him when the | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
Government does come to a conclusion following the report and following | :00:27. | :00:34. | |
the consultation. Following on from yesterday's dropping the value of | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
sterling, implication does the Foreign and Commonwealth Office | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
office anticipate for Britain and Northern Ireland as a result of the | :00:42. | :00:48. | |
uncertainty around the referendum? Uncertainty always has a cost to | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
business. Business hates uncertainty and the markets will reflect that | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
uncertainty. That is why it is right to hold the referendum at the | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
earliest possible date, 23rd of June, so people can get on with | :01:04. | :01:09. | |
their business. When I canvassed the streets of Newark for local | :01:10. | :01:11. | |
elections, people asked me what the views of my local councillors are | :01:12. | :01:18. | |
refuse collection or potholes. I rarely hear them ask their views on | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
foreign policy. What my right honourable friend agree that foreign | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
policy is set by the Foreign Secretary and by the Government and | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
debated in this house, not by our town halls and we should all | :01:31. | :01:34. | |
therefore support the Government's action against boycotts and | :01:35. | :01:40. | |
sanctions? One of my colleagues has reminded me he is not the only one | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
who pounded the patents of Newark. Everybody on these benches did so. | :01:45. | :01:51. | |
Foreign policy is a matter for the Government of the United Kingdom and | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
is the business of this Parliament and it is important we have a single | :01:57. | :01:59. | |
foreign policy which is clearly projected so Britain's position in | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
the world is understood and strengthened. Demand always | :02:03. | :02:08. | |
massively exceeds supply at Question Time. We haven't time but I am | :02:09. | :02:17. | |
allowing time for one last question. , Press the Foreign Secretary | :02:18. | :02:23. | |
further on and they gave to my honourable friend from Sheffield | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
South East? Is there anything in the rules which feted as a public | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
institutions ability to act on the advice that his website puts out my | :02:34. | :02:41. | |
honourable friend quoted? Public bodies in this country are bound by | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
the EU procurement directive in their purchasing activity and must | :02:46. | :02:51. | |
follow those rules. I am sorry to disappoint colleagues. There is huge | :02:52. | :02:54. | |
interest in what the Foreign Office does and says. We'll have to leave | :02:55. | :03:07. | |
it there for today. Urgent question. To ask the Secretary of | :03:08. | :03:08. |