Browse content similar to 28/03/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
We will lead the Scottish Parliament to rejoin MPs in Westminster as they | :00:07. | :00:20. | |
continued their debate on Yemen. The airport at Sana cannot leave. I | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
would ask the government to speak to the Saudis and remove a blockage so | :00:25. | :00:27. | |
people can get in and out by air so these people can be treated when | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
they need to be. All of these delays are costing lives, they are leaving | :00:33. | :00:35. | |
people with long-term health problems as a result of severe | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
malnutrition. People are less able to fight off disease and their | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
immune system is susceptible to cholera. A suspected 22,000 cholera | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
cases in the past six months alone with 100 people at least dying as a | :00:51. | :00:57. | |
result. Tragically, Unicef estimates 63,000 children died in 2016 from | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
preventable diseases linked to malnutrition. That is more than | :01:02. | :01:09. | |
children born in Scotland last year. That is a generation, the future of | :01:10. | :01:12. | |
Yemen hangs in the balance. The government must do more. Can I thank | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
the backbench committee for allowing us to hold this important debate and | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
my right honourable friend from Leicester East for organising it. It | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
really is a forgotten conflict or perhaps an ignored conflict in the | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
UK would be a better term. The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is on a | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
knife edge. Yemen has always been desperately poor, 90% of food and | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
goods are imported into Yemen and yet it is surrounded by huge wealth. | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
There is no reason why it shouldn't be a functioning country. It has | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
reserves of oil and Gas UK but the inability to export them has | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
crippled its foreign exchange reserves. The central bank has no | :01:58. | :02:06. | |
power to sustain the economy. They are 1.5 million public sector | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
employees paid sporadically, if at all and the GDP has contracted a | :02:11. | :02:17. | |
further 35%. A war economy is now in place with tribal leaders making a | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
fortune while people starve. The international community must be | :02:23. | :02:26. | |
ready to rebuild confidence in the financial institutions as part of | :02:27. | :02:29. | |
any settlement of the conflict and guarantee the restoration of the | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
Yemen economy. I can understand why the coalition has fought to keep | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
their own people say from attacks, there were four SCUD attacks into | :02:38. | :02:41. | |
Saudi territory and these are increasing. But we have to come to | :02:42. | :02:44. | |
the point where the continue fighting is stirring up more | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
problems for the future. There is no doubt the country will be continue | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
to be used as a base by terrorist if the conflict is to continue. There | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
are growing signs the groups involved in Syria and Iraq see Yemen | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
as a long-term safe haven. Al-Qaeda has claimed 76 attacks this year and | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
in southern and eastern Yemen, killing 11 Yemen the security forces | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
yesterday. So I disagreed the Al-Qaeda are on our side. As my | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
right honourable friend said earlier. There could be immense | :03:20. | :03:22. | |
threat to the stability of the region in the future. I will give | :03:23. | :03:32. | |
way. Thank you very much. In attacking Al-Qaeda, they were | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
attacking an element that was fighting the 50s, so they are | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
attacking an element that in that instance was on our side of the | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
conflict. In that case, but they are still attacking the Yemeni security | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
forces and they are a grave danger to the rest of the region. We are | :03:50. | :03:55. | |
already supplying a which is limiting the impact of the | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
humanitarian crisis, but I want to ask the British government to be a | :04:00. | :04:02. | |
peace broker and end the crisis. My honourable friend recently visited | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
and they said they are happy to engage with the British government | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
to work on a peace process. So let's challenge them to see if they mean | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
it, whether they will understand the UN Security Council 2000 216 which | :04:16. | :04:22. | |
requires them to lay down their arms and withdraw. We have lots of | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
expertise in this area and a long history of engaging with everyone in | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
this area. On the humanitarian front, I would urge the government | :04:32. | :04:34. | |
to continue to work the flow of aid. We have helped ease the blockade on | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
the port for supplies of humanitarian aid, fuel and food but | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
the coalition has recently refused access of mobile cranes supplied by | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
the world food programme which would improve the availability of the port | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
to unload essential supplies. This is a UN body and the coalition must | :04:53. | :04:56. | |
accept the role of the UN as an impartial agent in this crisis. That | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
includes acceptance of the role of the UN inspection and verification | :05:01. | :05:04. | |
mechanism. I know they have doubts about this and are concerned weapons | :05:05. | :05:08. | |
are still being brought in. Can the Minister report back to the House | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
and whether the verification mechanism is working in a timely | :05:13. | :05:17. | |
fashion on what evidence is there evidence that me-macro weapons are | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
being smuggled. Can we reassure the coalition weapons are not being | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
smuggled. The cranes need to be put to work. Other ports must be used to | :05:27. | :05:32. | |
bring in more aid. Can the minister call on the coalition to support the | :05:33. | :05:36. | |
rehabilitation of port infrastructure and get the cranes | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
working? Can the Minister also say if there is any indication that the | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
coalition, backed by the US will be attacking her dado, because I know | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
that is of concern. But most importantly, can the government | :05:50. | :05:56. | |
demand a ceasefire and leave the country of Yemen to peace. I have to | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
reduce the time limit to three minutes and remind the House it is | :06:03. | :06:05. | |
not compulsory to take an intervention and thus increase one's | :06:06. | :06:15. | |
speech time limit. Mr Clive Lewis. I am very glad to be able to speak in | :06:16. | :06:19. | |
this place about the current situation in the Yemen. By which the | :06:20. | :06:26. | |
liam-macro wish to pay tribute... Minister. Sorry to interrupt, I | :06:27. | :06:32. | |
observed the point, when this debate ends, we have an adjournment debate, | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
which I understand, the House will get more than its 30 minutes. Is it | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
not possible we can use our allocation and did up the time and | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
the 30 minutes before the House disburses today? I have every | :06:47. | :06:49. | |
sympathy with what the Minister has said. This is a vitally important | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
debate, I am not going to take up time in fully answering the | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
Minister's point of order, but the House had decided on the timetable, | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
the backbench business committee gave 90 minutes for this debate and | :07:04. | :07:06. | |
I am powerless to change that. But the Minister makes a very good | :07:07. | :07:08. | |
point. Mr Clive Lewis. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I | :07:09. | :07:22. | |
would like to pay tribute to those members, Leicester East, and Glasgow | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
Central, for securing today's debate. I pay tribute to them not | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
just out of politeness but for choosing Iraq is a topic for debate. | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
They have brought into our public arena and urgent discussion it is | :07:36. | :07:37. | |
clear the Government would rather not have. At the very least this | :07:38. | :07:44. | |
should be deeply embarrassing to our Government, and I see this not to | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
secure a petty political point but to highlight the fact it is the role | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
of elected members to speak up when the Government is acting wrongly on | :07:53. | :07:55. | |
the international stage. That is the essence of our democracy. Madame | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
Deputy Speaker, as we have heard from members today, there is an | :08:00. | :08:09. | |
imminent crisis in Iraq, a disastrous -- there is an imminent | :08:10. | :08:15. | |
crisis in Yemen, a famine. As the member said already, the "Slick | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
Willie" Shaw are not starving. They are being starved. This is a famine | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
that can be stopped as soon as we can find the political will to stop | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
it -- the Yemeni are not starving. We have defined this political will | :08:32. | :08:34. | |
is a matter of urgency. Madame Deputy Speaker, it is the particular | :08:35. | :08:40. | |
responsible do that here in the UK because as a permanent member of the | :08:41. | :08:50. | |
UN security council, and of course because we also have close political | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
ties with neighbouring states, it is clear that we have been gifted an | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
opportunity to set the international agenda and it is nothing short of | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
our absolute moral duty to do so. Let me begin by acknowledging that, | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
and notwithstanding the good intentions in the motion debated | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
today we cannot pass the resolution that would give effect to an | :09:13. | :09:15. | |
immediate ceasefire in Yemen, however much we might wish for that. | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
Madame Deputy Speaker, we must call for an immediate ceasefire and throw | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
our weight behind that call. We can certainly recognise all major | :09:27. | :09:29. | |
parties to this war must be part of the solution the United nations | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
security council resolution has stated needs to be replaced by a | :09:34. | :09:36. | |
realistic alternative that will bring everyone to the negotiating | :09:37. | :09:43. | |
table. We can and must recognise the importance of independent witnesses | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
on the ground, and the urgent need for reliable data relating to food | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
insecurity is so that relief can be well targeted. Clearly needing | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
assurances from both sides about the protection of humanitarian workers. | :09:58. | :09:59. | |
These are credible and achievable political goals. Thank you, Madam | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
Deputy Speaker. Firstly I would like to congratulate my right honourable | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
friend from Leicester East as well for bringing this debate. I think it | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
is the second time in 6-8 weeks we have been here to debate this issue | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
and I am delighted to debate it. I think last time I opened up by | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
saying the most important thing is not about arms sales but it is about | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
the people suffering in Yemen, it is about a ceasefire, peace, for all | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
our weight behind trying to achieve something that will benefit people | :10:29. | :10:35. | |
on the ground, not just talking, talk bandied around for | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
self-promotion. I think recently the panel of experts have released a new | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
report, an updated report. In January. I would like to, in the | :10:45. | :10:51. | |
three automatic minutes, I will not get to see a great deal, but they | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
have said this by any one side is no longer realistic or a possibility. | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
We have to recognise there are three sides in this. As long as this goes | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
on, Islamist terrorists are profiting from this conflict as well | :11:08. | :11:10. | |
as the misery and suffering of people on the ground. I think it is | :11:11. | :11:14. | |
important to remember, and the UN panel of experts continues to | :11:15. | :11:23. | |
support the democratically elected president Hadi, and support the | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
resolution which condemns the coup and cold case trick-mac for | :11:27. | :11:32. | |
meaningful peace talks. -- and calls for meaningful peace talks. I think | :11:33. | :11:39. | |
my right honourable friend from Leicester East big point this out, | :11:40. | :11:44. | |
and the Houthi said. They just do not seem willing or able to come to | :11:45. | :11:55. | |
the table so far -- the Houthi side. But it is important they come to the | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
table because that is the road map to peace. I think the situation we | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
have on the ground, the problem is they see both sides have committed | :12:05. | :12:08. | |
terrible atrocities, that some of the coalition attacks may amount to | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
war crimes, although having spoken with some of the Saudis, and don't | :12:14. | :12:21. | |
forget they are involved in Iraq and Syria, the operators Nato standards, | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
and they openly admit they have made mistakes, but nonetheless some | :12:26. | :12:28. | |
atrocities have occurred and the UN panel of experts recognises that, by | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
the coalition, but the equally recognise that as many if not more | :12:34. | :12:36. | |
atrocities have been committed by the Houthis and have been described | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
as violations of international humanitarian law, violations of | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
human rights laws, which were widespread, including the use of | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
mortar bombs, into densely populated residential areas, attacks on horse | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
bottles, forcible disappearance of individuals in detention, torture | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
and murder, and I can see the clock will run down -- taxon hospitals. I | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
will say I am grateful for the debate but we must press and I asked | :13:02. | :13:06. | |
the Minister to press for meaningful peace talks. Thank you, Madam Deputy | :13:07. | :13:12. | |
Speaker. Can I begin by thanking the backbench member for granting this | :13:13. | :13:16. | |
important debate on Yemen and also to the members for Leicester East, | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
Portsmouth South and Glasgow Central. I want to pay tribute to | :13:20. | :13:23. | |
the right honourable member for Leicester East. Yemen has been | :13:24. | :13:26. | |
called the forgotten conflict. He spoke passionately about his country | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
of birth. It will never be the case in this House while he is sitting | :13:33. | :13:38. | |
there. This is it obviously very confidently did. Clearly once the | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
Houthis captured parts of Yemen the essentially launched a coup d' tat | :13:43. | :13:46. | |
against the new president, Hadi, and it became evident the country would | :13:47. | :13:49. | |
descend into civil war. There is a natural instinct and well | :13:50. | :13:52. | |
established principle in international law that where there | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
is conflict and humanitarian situation develops it is not only | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
right to intervene but an international responsibility to | :14:00. | :14:02. | |
protect civilians in certain circumstances. In a single attack in | :14:03. | :14:06. | |
March last year, which involved a Saudi air strike on a crowded | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
village market, with 106 civilians including 12 children killed, and we | :14:12. | :14:14. | |
must face up to the fact there is a very realistic chance it weapon used | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
to cause mass destruction and grief was sold to Saudi Arabia by the UK. | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
Although we have heard the UK has given evidence and support to Saudi | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
forces to help them comply with obligations and international law, | :14:28. | :14:29. | |
the message is clearly not getting through. Saudi Arabia has designated | :14:30. | :14:38. | |
the entirety of Yemen a military target. The convention is signed up | :14:39. | :14:44. | |
to by both the UK and Saudi Arabia which designates legitimate military | :14:45. | :14:47. | |
targets. Well the definition includes a wide range of | :14:48. | :14:50. | |
infrastructure, military, industrial and communities and targets, it does | :14:51. | :14:55. | |
not include hospitals, or a village markets. They targeted those | :14:56. | :15:04. | |
illegally, recklessly killing civilians in cities, schools and | :15:05. | :15:08. | |
hospitals as well, it is a clear breach of international law. This is | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
a position supported by the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen. | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
Turning war in peace is never easy, Madame Deputy Speaker, but the UN | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
can be a fantastic vehicle when properly used. We must take the | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
Civil War in Yemen and seriously encourage our counterparts on all | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
sides of the conflict, with the exception of terrorist groups like | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
Daesh, to stop the armed conflict and get around the negotiating | :15:35. | :15:37. | |
table. Brokering a ceasefire is the first step towards this. It is | :15:38. | :15:40. | |
something we could and should play a role in. I am really grateful but | :15:41. | :15:47. | |
would he not accept having the UN monitor the port movements, would | :15:48. | :15:52. | |
that not help to relieve the humanitarian problem? I fully accept | :15:53. | :15:56. | |
they have invited the Saudis into the government but what I am | :15:57. | :16:00. | |
concerned with is when the Saudis are using civilians as targets and | :16:01. | :16:03. | |
they are being hurt, then we do have a humanitarian catastrophe on our | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
hands. Can we just be absolutely clear about this point. The Saudis | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
or preventing the replacement from getting into Hudayda, despite the | :16:13. | :16:18. | |
fact that international development urgently needs these to unload | :16:19. | :16:20. | |
vessels carrying aid and medicine and food. Except that point from the | :16:21. | :16:27. | |
honourable gentleman. Clearly ceasefires is simply the beginning | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
of a long peacemaking process. Any ceasefire needs to be enforced to be | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
successful. Without enforcement ceasefires our tendency to fall | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
apart. This can be seen in Syria to some extent and in Ukraine. UN | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
peacekeepers are specifically intended for this very purpose and | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
could be deployed in Yemen to enforce a ceasefire agreement. I can | :16:51. | :16:53. | |
see Madame Deputy Speaker speaker coming to her chair. I will end | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
here. This will be difficult given the wider geopolitical forces | :16:59. | :17:01. | |
involved but the necessity of agreement among the UN security | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
Council is there. It is something we strive towards and encourage and | :17:05. | :17:07. | |
support. Too many people have died, Madame Deputy Speaker. We cannot | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
oversee another famine like we are seeing in Yemen at the moment. Thank | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate my right honourable | :17:19. | :17:20. | |
friend from Leicester East for bringing this debate to the House | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
today. What we're seeing in Yemen today is a humanitarian crisis is | :17:25. | :17:27. | |
being referred to as one of the worst the world has ever seen. Over | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
the past 18 months the war and destruction has killed over 10,000 | :17:33. | :17:38. | |
people, with at least 1200 of those being children. According to the | :17:39. | :17:41. | |
office of the High Commissioner for human rights the majority of these | :17:42. | :17:44. | |
deaths are from coalition air strikes. 3 million people have | :17:45. | :17:56. | |
severe valued -- malnutrition with a more requiring urgent help. This is | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
one of the worst crises. The Red Cross warned there are only three or | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
four months left to avoid famine. We are used to statistics and figures | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
in this House but may I remind my honourable friend is that each and | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
every single one of these people is a mother, a father, brother or | :18:12. | :18:15. | |
sister, a husband or wife or a child? These are the innocent | :18:16. | :18:18. | |
victims caught up in the forgotten war. This conflict is making this | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
enormous catastrophe worse. Every day that it continues, and both | :18:24. | :18:31. | |
sides are feeling. -- failing to facilitate the flow of vital | :18:32. | :18:33. | |
humanitarian aid, and failing to conduct any kind of credible | :18:34. | :18:37. | |
investigation that meet international standards in Yemen. I | :18:38. | :18:43. | |
have many Yemeni people in my constituency, many of them have | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
family in Yemen. Who are being cut up in the destruction. They are | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
absolutely terrified for their relatives. Last week my right | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
honourable honourable friend, from Leicester East, joined me at an | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
event in Sheffield with the local Yemeni community. I commend his huge | :19:00. | :19:02. | |
commitment to shedding light to the crisis and his work on the issue. | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
Madame Deputy Speaker, over the weekend we had the two-year | :19:07. | :19:09. | |
anniversary of the beginning of the conflict in Yemen but I must say | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
that if current political will remains as it is, this conflict will | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
continue. We must take action now. There must be an immediate ceasefire | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
and humanitarian aid must be adequately brought in and | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
distributed. If the conditions for this are not met huge numbers of | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
Yemenis will continue to suffer and die. The coalition insists the only | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
target military targets, but I suggest the evidence from the Saudi | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
led coalition and the civilians in the resulting ... As been suggested | :19:43. | :19:52. | |
by human rights organisations, they are blatant breach of international | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
Manichaean laws. Madame Deputy Speaker, the UK's approach to the | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
war in Yemen is a total contradicts and I urge the Government and the | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
Council to adopt a new resolution on Yemen -- breach of international | :20:07. | :20:10. | |
law. We must the ceasefire as soon as possible. Alongside that | :20:11. | :20:14. | |
humanitarian access must be prioritised and this must be | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
established to avoid greater disaster. The humanitarian situation | :20:21. | :20:28. | |
in Yemen is incredibly serious and continues to spiral out of control. | :20:29. | :20:32. | |
A report by Unicef yesterday makes harrowing reading and, I quote, | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
malnourished children across Yemen are teetering on life and death. | :20:39. | :20:50. | |
Cemeteries are full of unmarked graves. 80% of all children in the | :20:51. | :20:56. | |
country are in need of humanitarian assistance. That is a moral outrage. | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
Quoting international development budgets in response to serious and | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
repeated concerns over the UK's Arms trade with Saudi Arabia is also an | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
outrageous way for any supposedly responsible government to act. The | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
Saudi led coalition has destroyed much of the infrastructure in Yemen, | :21:16. | :21:18. | |
as we have heard, especially with air strikes in the port of Hudayda, | :21:19. | :21:24. | |
leading to one of the six loading crates still remaining functional, | :21:25. | :21:27. | |
seriously hampering efforts to get aid into the country. Good | :21:28. | :21:30. | |
intentions can't for absolutely nothing. What good is it if we | :21:31. | :21:34. | |
allocate an aid budget yet continue to support those who are making it | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
near impossible to get aid to those who need it? Almost 10 million wee | :21:39. | :21:46. | |
ones need assistance and not only are we not doing enough to help, we | :21:47. | :21:48. | |
are actively preventing help. Why are we ignoring the brittle and | :21:49. | :21:54. | |
impending prospect of a famine that will have been shamefully and | :21:55. | :22:01. | |
utterly complicit in creating the international -- in creating? | :22:02. | :22:03. | |
International development line will not watch any more. Why is the UK | :22:04. | :22:06. | |
Government so keen to continue selling weapons, that it is unable | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
to even try to convince its Saudi ally to stop the bombing? Why are we | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
not leading ceasefire negotiations at the UN? There are clear breaches | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
of international humanitarian law on all sides of the conflict. Yet this | :22:21. | :22:25. | |
Government continues with its policy of implausible deniability about its | :22:26. | :22:27. | |
allies, and its collusion The UK Government insistence the | :22:28. | :22:40. | |
Saudis should be able to investigate themselves would be laughable if it | :22:41. | :22:47. | |
wasn't so improper. I don't have a lot of time, so unfortunately I have | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
to end by saying the government appears totally incapable of | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
changing direction or doing the right thing, so it sticks to its | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
line and ignores the consequences. This is real life with millions of | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
children starving and this cannot continue. We need to see action if | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
we are to prevent a catastrophe. The government cannot and must not wait | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
another moment. Let the show real leadership and bring about an end to | :23:16. | :23:18. | |
the widespread suffering to the people of Yemen. I want to put it to | :23:19. | :23:25. | |
the Minister whose esteem has never been higher in this House, but | :23:26. | :23:33. | |
tomorrow is the last chance the UK has of influencing the course of | :23:34. | :23:39. | |
events, materially in Yemen. Because in my view, it seems there is a lot | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
of building up to ensure the conflict and the bombing will get | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
worse and not less. The United States, since the arrival of the | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
Trump regime has changed its stance. The level of US bombing in the Yemen | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
has increased than it ever was. The Trump regime has changed the Obama | :24:00. | :24:07. | |
regime's position on supplying precision weapons to the Saudi air | :24:08. | :24:13. | |
force. The Saudi air force had almost run out of precision weapons | :24:14. | :24:18. | |
and the fear is the Saudis will use the resupply to intensify the | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
bombing. Yesterday, the Washington Post had a very reputable report | :24:24. | :24:28. | |
that the Defence Secretary is asking permission from the White House to | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
change the rules of conduct, the United States forces to intervene | :24:33. | :24:39. | |
with the Saudi led coalition in order to occupy the port of Hudayda. | :24:40. | :24:47. | |
The Saudis don't have the material basis to undertake such an invasion, | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
it would have to come from the US Marine carriers in the Gulf. That | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
could only end up in a situation, where far from reducing the | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
conflict, it will increase and the humanitarian crisis will get worse. | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
I want to add one thing that has not been mentioned so far, they have | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
announced over a quarter of a million African refugees who have | :25:11. | :25:14. | |
poured into Yemen in the last two years, over 100,000 in the last, | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
despite the conflict and famine in Africa, making the situation on the | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
ground in Yemen even worse. I would ask the minister at what discussions | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
have there been with the Trump regime regarding this | :25:29. | :25:31. | |
intensification of American military involvement in Yemen and what steps | :25:32. | :25:36. | |
is the UK Government going to take to intervene now, while it has the | :25:37. | :25:39. | |
chance in the UN, to get the ceasefire before the conflict | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
becomes even more bloody and the humanitarian crisis becomes even | :25:44. | :25:55. | |
worse? Summing up from these benches is a tall order today and I have | :25:56. | :26:00. | |
colleagues can forgive me for not fitting in all of their excellent | :26:01. | :26:03. | |
contributions we have heard in this debate. But looking back over my | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
notes, I noticed the 23rd of March marked a year almost to the day | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
since the committee on arms, export control first met to discuss this | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
issue. As a member of that committee, it is with some sadness I | :26:20. | :26:28. | |
speak more than a year on from that, with the situation in Yemen growing | :26:29. | :26:32. | |
worse. During that time, those on these benches have been consistent | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
in their position that the government must suspend all arms | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
sales immediately to Saudi Arabia until a full, independent and | :26:42. | :26:47. | |
transparent enquiry into the humanitarian law to these alleged | :26:48. | :26:53. | |
activities has been put in place. I would like to offer some time, if | :26:54. | :27:00. | |
that's possible. We have had a very straightforward, honest and | :27:01. | :27:03. | |
consistent position throughout this whole sorry saga. Quite simply, it | :27:04. | :27:09. | |
is an atrocious humanitarian situation that cannot be allowed to | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
get any worse I continued Saudi offensive. If this government has | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
any leveraged at all, which they claim they do, with the regime in | :27:19. | :27:22. | |
Riyadh, they must stop the bombing now and bring peace to the people of | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
Yemen. This should also be an opportunity for the government to | :27:29. | :27:31. | |
reflect on how their decision to allow arms sales and the military | :27:32. | :27:34. | |
and security systems they offer Saudi allies has affected the | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
humanitarian situation. I would also said the damning indictment of the | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
UK foreign policy has become so reliant on this one bilateral | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
relationship, not only in terms of the options it gives the UK in the | :27:50. | :27:53. | |
region, but how it is important to maintain this current level of arms | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
exports. The stories we have heard the day of the humanitarian crisis | :27:59. | :28:02. | |
in Yemen is extremely distressing and on the ground, there are | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
increasingly distressed stories coming back from the NGOs who are | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
there trying to help. It is not just 12, it is Save the Children, Oxfam, | :28:14. | :28:20. | |
amnesty International, the Red Cross, Medecins Sans Frontieres. | :28:21. | :28:24. | |
They have come back with plans and they have similar themes. All these | :28:25. | :28:30. | |
agencies are looking to permit rapid and unimpeded access to deliver | :28:31. | :28:37. | |
humanitarian aid. They are asking to build on the current spending and | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
funding commitments. I don't want previous speaker talked about the | :28:43. | :28:46. | |
six or 7% of funding that has been given. They are asking for the | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
support from the human rights Council to conduct an investigation | :28:52. | :28:57. | |
on the Leader of the House and independence and international | :28:58. | :29:06. | |
enquiry. They want to intensify efforts to support the UN led peace | :29:07. | :29:13. | |
talks. Lastly, not to sell or transfer arms to any party involved | :29:14. | :29:17. | |
in the Yemeni conflict. We are also at the stage of the point where we | :29:18. | :29:21. | |
see desperate tactics employed by the Houthi rebels, including the | :29:22. | :29:27. | |
plan to attack Saudi warships in the red Sea. The UK contribution in this | :29:28. | :29:34. | |
is significant, we have allowed weapons to be exported, but more | :29:35. | :29:39. | |
significantly, the number of UK personnel who are advising the Saudi | :29:40. | :29:43. | |
Armed Forces on a number of issues and what they are doing is a mystery | :29:44. | :29:49. | |
and it is unclear, as the MoD refuses to tell us. When I visited | :29:50. | :29:54. | |
Saudi last year it was clear the British Embassy work keen to press | :29:55. | :30:02. | |
upon us the personnel were playing a vital part with our Saudi | :30:03. | :30:05. | |
counterparts. This must be something that gets to the heart of the | :30:06. | :30:09. | |
narrative used by the government. Because for my part, I would | :30:10. | :30:13. | |
appreciate the answers to some questions, namely the war is being | :30:14. | :30:17. | |
fought in mostly by mercenary so how can we be confident there is no UK | :30:18. | :30:24. | |
citizens involved putting actions along the purview of the MoD. Why is | :30:25. | :30:35. | |
the government not buying back the stockpiles of cluster munitions? The | :30:36. | :30:42. | |
cluster munitions sold legally by the UK to Saudi in the 1980s brings | :30:43. | :30:47. | |
by the length of this relationship. There is no doubt the UK Government | :30:48. | :30:52. | |
has been involved with Saudi Arabia from the start. UK engineers have | :30:53. | :30:58. | |
extracted oil, built roads, UK nurses have stuffed the hospitals | :30:59. | :31:03. | |
and teachers, their schools. How is it the UK has so little leverage | :31:04. | :31:08. | |
edge over that regime, why must we also hear about the carrot and not | :31:09. | :31:13. | |
the stick. Germany and the Netherlands have banned the sale of | :31:14. | :31:18. | |
material to Saudi Arabia. Indeed it is the government's rejection of the | :31:19. | :31:25. | |
Dutch UN led rejection of war crimes which first brought this | :31:26. | :31:28. | |
government's priorities into question. I can only hope it is not | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
the size of this relationship that has skewed priorities in Whitehall. | :31:34. | :31:38. | |
I have no doubt the defence sector is an important one for our national | :31:39. | :31:42. | |
economies and the local economy in Fife, but with highly skilled jobs | :31:43. | :31:49. | |
and applications of technology, we must look again at the high | :31:50. | :31:54. | |
standards of licensing these products need to obtain in order to | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
be sold worldwide. I don't think anyone on those benches here do not | :31:59. | :32:06. | |
understand that complex situation. We are expected to believe that on | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
one hand the role of the UK is playing is significant that the UK | :32:12. | :32:17. | |
has leveraged over the Saudi regime, but these personnel are not in the | :32:18. | :32:21. | |
country on anything more than an advisory role. I hope the minister | :32:22. | :32:25. | |
will take the time to enlighten us today on where these people stand. | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
What is the role of Saudi, if it is a significant one, then we are tired | :32:31. | :32:33. | |
of not being given the proper answers. If it is not, please stop | :32:34. | :32:38. | |
telling us we are able to affect matters within the Saudi kingdom. | :32:39. | :32:43. | |
There are other questions my colleagues have brought up in the | :32:44. | :32:49. | |
debate today. The member for West and East, a fighter for Yemen. The | :32:50. | :32:55. | |
member for Liverpool and Derby talked about the 5000 people who | :32:56. | :33:00. | |
have lost their lives. 1500 of them children. The member has asked about | :33:01. | :33:08. | |
other nations not paying their way. With your influence, Minister, you | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
can bring more pressure to bear on the nations not paying any money to | :33:13. | :33:17. | |
help Yemen. Not enough independent people to declare the famine exists | :33:18. | :33:22. | |
and ?3.3 billion worth of arms sales which dwarfs the figure we offer an | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
international aid. The honourable member for Portsmouth South again, | :33:27. | :33:32. | |
always speaks on these matters with distinction, looking for a country | :33:33. | :33:39. | |
in Yemen to return to be successful and to be a functioning country. | :33:40. | :33:43. | |
That is what we all want but in order to do that, we must stop arms | :33:44. | :33:49. | |
sales now to allow peace to take place. Another member highlighted | :33:50. | :33:56. | |
the half a million children who are suffering from malnutrition. Again, | :33:57. | :34:06. | |
the issue here is about seizing arms sales, let's get on a path to peace | :34:07. | :34:10. | |
and make sure the people of Yemen have a fighting chance to rebuild | :34:11. | :34:16. | |
their country in the future. May I start by thanking the sponsors of | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
this debate, particularly my honourable friend from Leicester | :34:21. | :34:23. | |
East and the member for Portsmouth South who were both born in Yemen | :34:24. | :34:26. | |
and they bring a depth of knowledge and passion to these debates, which | :34:27. | :34:31. | |
we are very grateful for. We have tended to see Yemen through the | :34:32. | :34:35. | |
prism of British involvement in this conflict in the form of arms sales | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
and other military support to the Saudi led coalition. I don't intend | :34:40. | :34:43. | |
to dwell on those issues today, although I am sure they will be | :34:44. | :34:47. | |
raised again, not least because we await the judgments on legality on | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
the sale of arms to Saudi in the next few weeks. When we look at | :34:53. | :34:57. | |
Yemen today, what we see is a humanitarian catastrophe, the | :34:58. | :35:01. | |
world's worst, according to the United Nations. We should not forget | :35:02. | :35:06. | |
that before the start of this four, Yemen was a destitute nation, | :35:07. | :35:09. | |
surrounded by wealthy mate neighbours with a desolate landscape | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
which meant it relied on imports for 90% of its food. Now Yemen is | :35:15. | :35:18. | |
engulfed in a famine in all but name. It is not just 90% of the | :35:19. | :35:24. | |
country's food is imported, but the most of those imports need to go | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
through the port of Hudayda, the red Sea port which has been raided by | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
air strikes which have destroyed the cranes and it makes it impossible to | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
unload cargo. Even if the supplies could get as far as the port and get | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
through the roadblocks, paperwork and the searchers, it is unlikely | :35:45. | :35:47. | |
they would get any further because another effect of the Saudi air | :35:48. | :35:51. | |
strikes is they have systematically destroyed the roads and bridges that | :35:52. | :35:54. | |
make it possible to get the supplies from one place to the other. The | :35:55. | :35:59. | |
other 10%, the small amount of food be Yemeni people themselves produce, | :36:00. | :36:04. | |
for most part that has gone as bombs have struck factories and food | :36:05. | :36:07. | |
markets, poultry farms and even fishing boats. Jane McCord Rick has | :36:08. | :36:15. | |
said, who is the UN humanitarian coordinator, that I mention of this | :36:16. | :36:21. | |
war has become a tactic. It is an all-encompassing, surprise that is | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
causing everybody to failure. Another member of the United | :36:27. | :36:33. | |
Nations, in January told the Security Council that a viable | :36:34. | :36:36. | |
proposal for peace was on the table and within reach. | :36:37. | :36:43. | |
My first question is what happened to that proposal? Where has it gone? | :36:44. | :36:50. | |
Was it in connection to the ceasefire resolution we were told | :36:51. | :36:52. | |
the UK would introduce six months ago? Can the Minister to us what | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
happened to that resolution? The last we debated this matter, the | :36:59. | :37:01. | |
right honourable gentleman told us the British Government was in the | :37:02. | :37:04. | |
process of re-drafting the resolution, and I wonder how that is | :37:05. | :37:09. | |
now going. Do we have an up-to-date resolution? When the Security | :37:10. | :37:13. | |
Council meets tomorrow, under the British chairmanship, to discuss the | :37:14. | :37:16. | |
humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which I understand was pressed for by the | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
Russians, we will be chairing the meeting and we should be putting | :37:21. | :37:24. | |
forward the peace resolution. Are we going to? I fear not. I have been | :37:25. | :37:31. | |
told the UK is in fact increasingly stepping back on the diplomatic | :37:32. | :37:34. | |
front for fear of upsetting the Saudis on the one hand and the | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
Americans on the other, because the new administration in America, I am | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
told, from sources, my sources on the 38th floor, that the new | :37:44. | :37:47. | |
administration is now considering stepping up its support for the | :37:48. | :37:50. | |
coalition military campaign. If that is right could you confirm that the | :37:51. | :37:57. | |
Saudi have been given the rest of the year to stabilise yemen, in the | :37:58. | :38:03. | |
words used? and to reassert the government's authority over the | :38:04. | :38:06. | |
entire country? surely that cannot be the case. we all know in military | :38:07. | :38:12. | |
approach alone will not work. May I also ask about the role of Stephen | :38:13. | :38:16. | |
O'Brien, a member of this House, and indeed many members you know him. He | :38:17. | :38:21. | |
is the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and is | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
important obviously in this regard -- many members here know him. He | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
said we are facing the worst humanitarian crisis since 1945, the | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
crisis in Yemen. Can you confirm Mr O'Brien is not leaving his post and | :38:37. | :38:41. | |
that the rumours he is not -- that he's leaving not out of choice, | :38:42. | :38:45. | |
because of Saudi objections, are wrong. If he can confirm that I | :38:46. | :38:49. | |
would appreciate it. If this forgotten war becoming the new | :38:50. | :38:53. | |
Syria? Is it a multilayered civil war being fought by major powerful | :38:54. | :38:59. | |
nations, either directly or through proxies, where the victims are | :39:00. | :39:02. | |
civilians who suffer unbearable and insufferable torment? And they are | :39:03. | :39:10. | |
also being starved. I urge the Minister to ensure that Britain once | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
again takes up a proactive role in relation to Yemen, because it is a | :39:16. | :39:18. | |
permanent member of the security Council, because it is currently the | :39:19. | :39:22. | |
president, because it is that pen holder, because it has a closed | :39:23. | :39:27. | |
listenership with Saudi Arabia, one of the major parties in this, and | :39:28. | :39:31. | |
what the people of Yemen need more than anything else at the moment is | :39:32. | :39:35. | |
peace, and we have some power in this conflict. We can do something | :39:36. | :39:36. | |
about it tomorrow. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I | :39:37. | :39:50. | |
briefly make the point that I just wish there was more time to respond | :39:51. | :39:54. | |
to what I think has been a very good debate. I have eight minutes to do | :39:55. | :39:59. | |
my best to give justice to what I thought was an excellent debate. A | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
reminder that the House actually does take these matters very | :40:04. | :40:05. | |
seriously, and I join others in paying tribute to the right | :40:06. | :40:11. | |
honourable member for Leicester East and others who put forward this. I | :40:12. | :40:14. | |
will do my best to rattle through his point and as usual I will give | :40:15. | :40:19. | |
members more details. I make the point as I did before. I find it | :40:20. | :40:24. | |
bizarre we are passing for and Aaron to adjournment debate which normally | :40:25. | :40:28. | |
lasts 30 minutes. -- that we are pausing. But I will focus on the | :40:29. | :40:34. | |
right Hadi's points. -- the right Honourable member's points. It is | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
the scale of the tragedy that is well known to us all. 70% of the | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
population are no needing humanitarian assistance, and in | :40:44. | :40:48. | |
answer -- no needing. In answer to the honourable lady, Britain | :40:49. | :40:50. | |
continues to play a leading role, and swift by the prejudice or | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
interest of any other countries whatsoever -- and suede. We are the | :40:57. | :41:00. | |
pen holder, as she said, we are determined to do that job without | :41:01. | :41:03. | |
prejudice or influence from other nations, for what we see is best. We | :41:04. | :41:09. | |
shall leadership at the UN as well as the number of nations around the | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
Middle East that are looking towards this, who met recently in February. | :41:15. | :41:22. | |
I met if you are clad and we did discuss what other parameters we | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
need in place for a ceasefire to actually work and then for our UN | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
resolution to be supported -- I met Ishmael Ahmed. Many right honourable | :41:33. | :41:34. | |
member 's have mentioned the importance of the port of Hudayda | :41:35. | :41:37. | |
and this cannot be underestimated. Looking at the country there are two | :41:38. | :41:41. | |
critical access points, one in the South in the port of Aden and the | :41:42. | :41:45. | |
other half we the Red Sea, the port of Hudayda itself, and the | :41:46. | :41:47. | |
population there is 3 million people. If the civil war going on | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
their moves into that area, it will devastate that city displacing | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
probably about half the people who live there, 1.5 million people, | :41:59. | :42:02. | |
causing absolute mayhem, furthering the prospect of famine and indeed | :42:03. | :42:06. | |
actually leading to a refugee crisis as well. Not only that, but it will | :42:07. | :42:12. | |
flatten the port itself and if we are frustrated with the amount of | :42:13. | :42:15. | |
aid getting through the port at the moment, it will be even worse if the | :42:16. | :42:22. | |
battle were to commence in that urban populated area. So we do call | :42:23. | :42:26. | |
upon the coalition and the Houthis to recognise that the world is | :42:27. | :42:30. | |
watching and they do need to come back to the table. This will not be | :42:31. | :42:33. | |
sorted by military solution. It will be sorted by a political one and it | :42:34. | :42:36. | |
is very important that is recognised. A lot has been said | :42:37. | :42:41. | |
about these cranes and can I just make it clear that firstly that old | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
cranes were bombed a number of years ago, and the new cranes, yes, they | :42:48. | :42:52. | |
were not going to go and they are no sitting in Dubai and the reason they | :42:53. | :42:56. | |
have been moved to Dubai is to keep them out of harm's way because no | :42:57. | :42:59. | |
one knows what will happen to the port of Hudayda because it is | :43:00. | :43:02. | |
unclear where the battle is going so I just reiterate the point how | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
unhelpful and wrong it will be for us not to work towards a peaceful | :43:08. | :43:10. | |
solution. The right honourable member I think was right to say this | :43:11. | :43:15. | |
is not intractable. There is a power for peace. There are an awful lot of | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
plates spinning in the Middle East, no doubt about it, but Yemen I | :43:20. | :43:23. | |
genuinely believe is one that can be solved but we do need the will of | :43:24. | :43:26. | |
the Yemeni people as well. My right honourable friend for Sutton | :43:27. | :43:30. | |
Coldfield who I have a huge amount of respect for, he made at helpful | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
visit I think, although not endorsed, to go there, but in his | :43:36. | :43:41. | |
own way he went there and he shared his findings. He spoke about and | :43:42. | :43:47. | |
paid tribute to UN agencies which I join him in doing, and he also spoke | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
about the difference in strategy between different departments. I | :43:52. | :43:54. | |
make it very clear there is one clear strategy but, yes, I can see | :43:55. | :43:58. | |
the dilemma on the one side, being determined to get aid into the | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
country, then another side, this procrastinated war which this | :44:04. | :44:05. | |
coalition is pushing, and they are not doing a particularly good job | :44:06. | :44:09. | |
about it. I have been critical of their actions before. They are not | :44:10. | :44:13. | |
used to sustained warfare and have made mistakes. We debated that here, | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
and made it very clear to them on as I said before, that this is not the | :44:18. | :44:23. | |
way this war is going to end. But we certainly support Saudi led efforts | :44:24. | :44:28. | |
to restore stability and check the advance of the Houthis, because this | :44:29. | :44:32. | |
is what started all this in the first place. Let's not forget that | :44:33. | :44:37. | |
Houthis through and would have been taken at the port of Aden had a | :44:38. | :44:44. | |
coalition not answer the call of President Hadi to stand up to his | :44:45. | :44:47. | |
legitimacy. He spoke about weapons... I am afraid I don't have | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
time. He spoke about weapons getting in, and I am afraid they are, Mr | :44:52. | :44:57. | |
Deputy Speaker, getting in by land and sea, not much by the Port of | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
Hudayda, but smaller boats are getting in providing arms right up | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
and down the Red Sea and indeed the land corridors as well. The UN | :45:06. | :45:09. | |
mechanism is not working as well as it could do because it is unable to | :45:10. | :45:13. | |
capture all those boats moving in. My right honourable friend made | :45:14. | :45:17. | |
something I have to contend with, and we can discuss this after. I | :45:18. | :45:23. | |
don't agree somehow that because Al-Qaeda is fighting the Houthis | :45:24. | :45:26. | |
that we should somehow have some form of alignment with them. | :45:27. | :45:30. | |
Al-Qaeda's track record shows we cannot entertain any alliance | :45:31. | :45:34. | |
whatsoever. They have brought in and harm to the Middle East and indeed | :45:35. | :45:38. | |
to Europe as well. I will briefly give way. I should make it | :45:39. | :45:46. | |
absolutely clear, Mr Deputy Speaker, nobody regards Al-Qaeda with greater | :45:47. | :45:49. | |
abhorrence than me. The point I was making was that in this particular | :45:50. | :45:54. | |
conflict there are some very uneasy alliances against the Houthis. I | :45:55. | :45:59. | |
apologise, and all she wanted me to give way, but I think it is | :46:00. | :46:01. | |
important my right honourable friend put that on the record. It is very | :46:02. | :46:08. | |
important indeed. Mr Deputy Speaker, many have called for a ceasefire and | :46:09. | :46:11. | |
that is fully understandable given where we actually want to go. But | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
for this to work in practice, Mr Deputy Speaker, there are parameters | :46:18. | :46:21. | |
that need to be in place. We need to have withdrawal lines, we need the | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
decommissioning of heavy weapons or agreement of that decommissioning. | :46:26. | :46:30. | |
We need buffer zones ready or in place or agreed and we need policing | :46:31. | :46:33. | |
mechanisms to manage any violations taking place otherwise it could get | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
out of control and then again the ceasefire is actually breached as | :46:39. | :46:43. | |
well. In my discussions with not only the UN envoy, but indeed other | :46:44. | :46:47. | |
countries, we spoke about the parameters of what a ceasefire would | :46:48. | :46:50. | |
look like, and the process needed. And they are built around firstly | :46:51. | :46:57. | |
the sequenced security steps including withdrawals, secondly | :46:58. | :47:01. | |
agreed rules and appointments, in essence a transition leadership. | :47:02. | :47:04. | |
Thirdly, the resumption of discussions based on resolution 2216 | :47:05. | :47:13. | |
and the initiative, then signing a detailed agreement, and certainly | :47:14. | :47:18. | |
the finalisation of an actual road map, then the drafting of the | :47:19. | :47:20. | |
Constitution which takes you to the elections as well. This is the | :47:21. | :47:25. | |
ballpark design which the UN envoy is trying to promote and it is the | :47:26. | :47:29. | |
detail which is unfortunately causing problems for all | :47:30. | :47:34. | |
stakeholders to actually sign. But I absolutely make it clear that we are | :47:35. | :47:37. | |
absolutely committed at the UN to try to pursue this. And to ensure | :47:38. | :47:41. | |
that ceasefire eventually comes around. The role the USA has played | :47:42. | :47:46. | |
has been mentioned as well and I will be visiting the USA very soon | :47:47. | :47:51. | |
to make sure they are committed. Rex Tillerson, the new Secretary of | :47:52. | :47:54. | |
State, worked in Yemen for many years and knows the area very well | :47:55. | :47:57. | |
indeed. I make it clear the additional military support they are | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
giving is not designed for them to have more munitions, it is actually | :48:03. | :48:06. | |
designed to give them better intelligence gathering so that less | :48:07. | :48:09. | |
mistakes can be made, but more to the point it is important that the | :48:10. | :48:13. | |
United States works with us and indeed others to actually deter | :48:14. | :48:19. | |
further military action, and to focus on getting that political | :48:20. | :48:24. | |
agreement in place. Mr Deputy Speaker, the UN Security Council | :48:25. | :48:31. | |
resolution 2216 was cleared, in unblocking the political process | :48:32. | :48:36. | |
required, the Houthis and forces loyal to the former president, for | :48:37. | :48:39. | |
them to hand over their weapons. Despite consistent demands from the | :48:40. | :48:43. | |
international community, the Houthi Alliance has refused to discuss | :48:44. | :48:46. | |
these issues with the UN special envoy. They also have taken a series | :48:47. | :48:52. | |
of unilateral steps that have undermined peace efforts, including | :48:53. | :48:56. | |
the establishment of a supreme political Council and a shadow | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
government to rival that of President Hadi's. This, Mr Deputy | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
Speaker, is unacceptable. We do not recognise the rival government and | :49:06. | :49:08. | |
the Yemeni parties must engage with the peace party process in good | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
faith and meet obligations as set out in the UN proposals. Mr Deputy | :49:14. | :49:17. | |
Speaker, in conclusion this government is gravely concerned | :49:18. | :49:20. | |
about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. And we are taking a leading | :49:21. | :49:23. | |
role in the international response. That means not only providing | :49:24. | :49:26. | |
substantial humanitarian aid, but also means using all diplomatic | :49:27. | :49:32. | |
means available to us to support efforts to reach a political | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
agreement and the press for a solution to the economic crisis. But | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
ultimately, as I have said before, it is the Yemenis themselves whom | :49:41. | :49:45. | |
must reach a compromise. The Yemeni people need and deserve peace and we | :49:46. | :49:50. | |
continue to work with international partners to support efforts to | :49:51. | :49:54. | |
secure it. Thank you. Mr Deputy Speaker, with the leave of the | :49:55. | :49:58. | |
House, that's has spoken with one voice today. 45 members have | :49:59. | :50:04. | |
attended the debate over the last 90 minutes. We could have had another | :50:05. | :50:09. | |
90 minutes to discuss this war. It may be a forgotten war outside but | :50:10. | :50:13. | |
it is not forgotten in the House of Commons. And the voice of this House | :50:14. | :50:18. | |
is very clear. We want peace in Yemen, we want a ceasefire, an | :50:19. | :50:23. | |
immediate ceasefire, and we want the aid to come into Yemen to avoid the | :50:24. | :50:29. | |
famine that has been predicted, and we need to start tomorrow. We place | :50:30. | :50:34. | |
that motion in the hands of the minister. We wish it well, and they | :50:35. | :50:38. | |
ask him to come back with better news for us. | :50:39. | :50:42. | |
The question is as on the order paper, as many of that opinion say | :50:43. | :50:50. | |
aye. The contray no. The ayes have it. I would like to put motions five | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
to 12 together. I beg to move. Motions 5 to 12. As many of that | :50:57. | :51:02. | |
opinion say aye. The contrary no. The ayes have it. Before I call the | :51:03. | :51:10. | |
minister to move motion No 13 on the the form, I should inform the House | :51:11. | :51:16. | |
that Mr Speaker has considered the instrument and has not certified it, | :51:17. | :51:22. | |
minister to move. Question is as on the order paper. The ayes have it. | :51:23. | :51:32. | |
Now petition. I rise to present a petition opposing the closure of the | :51:33. | :51:38. | |
DWP office which could result in over a hundred job losses that would | :51:39. | :51:43. | |
affect mainly women workers. The petitioners request the House of | :51:44. | :51:50. | |
Commons urges the Government to ensure that Ansley DWP office is | :51:51. | :51:54. | |
kept open so there are no job losses. Petition. Proposed closure | :51:55. | :52:15. | |
of Annesley DWP office. The question sorry. This House do now adjourn. | :52:16. | :52:32. | |
Thank you. 70 years ago this year, the Burn mining disaster happened in | :52:33. | :52:37. | |
my constituency. It was the worst disaster in shale mining history. 50 | :52:38. | :52:43. | |
men went on shift, but only 38 came out alive. One miner's body was | :52:44. | :52:54. | |
brought up, but 14 men were cut off by debris and fire. 15 men from my | :52:55. | :53:01. | |
constituency died in this accident. Earlier this year the towns of west | :53:02. | :53:14. | |
Calder and Seafield paid trib tribute and stories were told by | :53:15. | :53:21. | |
local school-children. Standing in west Calder square that day when | :53:22. | :53:25. | |
tributes were paid, hearing the children recounting the stories of | :53:26. | :53:31. | |
men of burn grange was such a powerful and beautiful trib United. | :53:32. | :53:39. | |
I would like to -- tribute. I would like to pay thanks to the community. | :53:40. | :53:45. | |
I'm proud to have the opportunity to read the names of men again today. | :53:46. | :53:50. | |
The men who lost their lives working for their families and their | :53:51. | :53:56. | |
communities in an industry is that marked by the binges around my | :53:57. | :54:08. | |
constituency. John McGarty, John Livebody, married two of a familiar. | :54:09. | :54:16. | |
I Anthony Gogan. Married. Two of a family. David Muir. Single. George | :54:17. | :54:31. | |
Easton. Married. Three of a family. Henry Cowie, single. William | :54:32. | :54:37. | |
Ritchie, 50, married, three of a family. John Fairly, single. Thomas | :54:38. | :54:51. | |
Heggie, two of a family. William Finlay, married. Three of a family. | :54:52. | :55:01. | |
Samual Pake. William Carroll, married two of a family. David | :55:02. | :55:07. | |
Carroll 38, married. Five of a family. I cannot imagine how the | :55:08. | :55:12. | |
local mining community felt when the pit sirens wailed to warn of | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
disaster. The families running to pit to wait for news and a week that | :55:17. | :55:23. | |
lasted for days. Before they could claim the bodies, today I pay | :55:24. | :55:29. | |
tribute to them and their sacrifice. My grand father went down the pit | :55:30. | :55:38. | |
along the run in eastern colliery in Bathgate. Accidents he told me were | :55:39. | :55:45. | |
part of the job. And I grew up with stories of him hauling himself | :55:46. | :55:53. | |
through crevices at 5, foot #5shgs foot 5, he was sent down the wee | :55:54. | :56:00. | |
nooks that others couldn't fit in. Once the tow rope broke with a | :56:01. | :56:07. | |
loaded tub full of coal and knocked him unconscious, leaving a gash in | :56:08. | :56:10. | |
the back of his head. The truth was, he should never have been where he | :56:11. | :56:13. | |
was, but it was a path well trodden by the miners around him. He | :56:14. | :56:18. | |
survived fine. But he never went that same route again. The scar on | :56:19. | :56:22. | |
his head was a mark shown many times to me as a child and was a remind | :56:23. | :56:27. | |
tore him, he said, that he was one of the lucky ones. I would give way. | :56:28. | :56:32. | |
I congratulate the honourable lady on bringing this forward. It is a | :56:33. | :56:37. | |
need for safety. Does she agree it is essential that Government works | :56:38. | :56:44. | |
with the representatives of industries safety group to develop | :56:45. | :56:48. | |
and lead and implement a strategy that working with these group is the | :56:49. | :56:53. | |
best way to promote health and safety in mines in the United | :56:54. | :56:58. | |
Kingdom. I completely agree with the honourable gentleman. That work with | :56:59. | :57:03. | |
members who work in that community is so vital. And West Lothian | :57:04. | :57:10. | |
council local history library has collected information about the | :57:11. | :57:17. | |
disaster which became part of the scheme. Many communities in the UK | :57:18. | :57:21. | |
do work like this and it is so vitally important that the young | :57:22. | :57:27. | |
people and communities around us remember their industrial heritage. | :57:28. | :57:31. | |
I thank my honourable friend for giving way and I would like to | :57:32. | :57:37. | |
congratulate her for securing this debachlt may I take this opportunity | :57:38. | :57:41. | |
to remember the 207 people who lost their lives at the High Blantyre | :57:42. | :57:50. | |
coalfield on 22nd October 1877. Many local women were widowed and | :57:51. | :57:54. | |
children left without a father in the worst mining disaster in the | :57:55. | :58:01. | |
history of Scotland. Would she agree this provides a lesson from the past | :58:02. | :58:14. | |
on why health and safety should be paramount. I would be delighted to | :58:15. | :58:21. | |
give way. I congratulate her bringing this debate. You have a key | :58:22. | :58:25. | |
note, we must never forget sacrifices that people made and it | :58:26. | :58:29. | |
is important that children and people living within the communities | :58:30. | :58:33. | |
in these later years understand this. In my constituency we are | :58:34. | :58:40. | |
coming up to the 60 anniversary of the the Cairns colliery disaster, | :58:41. | :58:45. | |
where 17 men lost their lives. I want to pay tribute to them and | :58:46. | :58:49. | |
their families and it is important that communities never forget. Thank | :58:50. | :58:53. | |
you. I join him in paying tribute to those lost in his constituency. I | :58:54. | :59:00. | |
welcome such fitting tributes men and their families. It will remain a | :59:01. | :59:08. | |
reminders of sacrifices those men made. The five sisters, the binges, | :59:09. | :59:23. | |
and the binges of Broxburn were serialised by the BBC. | :59:24. | :59:28. | |
Constituencies across the UK have reminders in museums and galleries | :59:29. | :59:37. | |
like Mill Farm and that the Newtongrange that I remember | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
visiting as a youngster, when my grandfather was ill. I asked my mum | :59:42. | :59:45. | |
whether he would be well enough to visit. He was not, but the stories I | :59:46. | :59:49. | |
brought back meant a great deal to him. There have been thousands of | :59:50. | :59:53. | |
deaths in mines, but safety has improved and it has been 50 years | :59:54. | :59:57. | |
since the last mining accident in the UK at the colliery in Wales, | :59:58. | :00:07. | |
where 31 lost their lives. As recently as 2014, the worst accident | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
killed 301 people in Turkey. Four years before, many of us remember | :00:14. | :00:19. | |
the 29 men killed at the pipe river mine disaster in New Zealand and in | :00:20. | :00:27. | |
November 2010, 29er out of 31 miners at the mine in the USA were killed. | :00:28. | :00:37. | |
On January 30th 2000 there was a spill in Romania, 100,000 tonnes of | :00:38. | :00:43. | |
contaminated water broke into the rivers. Although there was no human | :00:44. | :00:50. | |
fatality, it killed up to 80% of aquatic life and it saw the accident | :00:51. | :00:58. | |
hailed a as the worst since Chernobyl. Although the industry has | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
been tainted by issues with health and safety, we have learned a huge | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
amount from accidents such as the one in Burn Grange, to the pit | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
closures and attacks on trade unions in the Thatcher era and the miners' | :01:15. | :01:20. | |
strike. It was strikes that drove my grandmother's family to Glasgow. We | :01:21. | :01:23. | |
remember them today and always. As a result of that strike, mining is no | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
longer as much part of industrial landscape, but health and safety is | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
crucial for those left working in the industry, wherever they are in | :01:33. | :01:35. | |
the world and I do believe that we have come a long way in health and | :01:36. | :01:42. | |
safety improvements, but more need to be done in mining and other | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
dangerous industries. Because many went from our pits into other | :01:48. | :01:50. | |
industrial work, like oil and gas. And it is so important to remember | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
that men and women in the industries have and still do work in some of | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
the most challenging environments. Health and safety is paramount and | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
one such worker who Fopped that path was -- followed that was path was | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
the father of my office manager, who worked in a pit in Edinburgh and was | :02:11. | :02:20. | |
the last of a breed of coal miners. He told me how he was caught in a | :02:21. | :02:26. | |
roof fall and he said going down the leg of a platform where you're often | :02:27. | :02:33. | |
alone and sur rouvended by many -- sur rournded by many -- surrounded | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
by many toxic gases was the most hostile environment he has been in. | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
I was involved in the emergency response of a helicopter going down | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
in 2013. The company I worked for lost a colleague and I spent time | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
with his family and working with many and other companies to review | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
health and safety and emergency response and do our best to ensure | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
an accident could not happen again. The work and the continued | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
improvement of our health and safety xerveg Health and Safety Executive | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
is vital. Piper alpha is the worst accidents in the North Sea and many | :03:14. | :03:20. | |
lessons were learned, including by the health and safety Executive. We | :03:21. | :03:27. | |
all owe a debt of gratitude to those who worked in the pits. And their | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
work and legacy leaves a mark on our landscape and in our lives. We must | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
remember them. I want to ask the minister what she will do and what | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
her Government will do to ensure communities blighted tz by the loss | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
of these industries will get greater invest to embrace the future. | :03:51. | :03:58. | |
Despite goals to become a low carbon economy, we depend on fossil fuels | :03:59. | :04:07. | |
and we are increasing our reliance on imported energy. Coal and other | :04:08. | :04:15. | |
solid fuels make up 10% of the UK's energy imports from countries like | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
Australia and the United States. I have to say we have to look at some | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
of the health and safety practices in those countries and raise | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
concerns. Because you know some of these are subject to international | :04:28. | :04:35. | |
sanctions, over Ukraine for example, which is providing close to half the | :04:36. | :04:43. | |
coal and Columbia. The company response for Russian import coal | :04:44. | :04:52. | |
exports coal and nearly a quarter comes to the UK. Russia's safety | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
record not without blemish and several accidents have happened in | :04:59. | :05:08. | |
Russia. Notably... The mine disaster of 2007 which killed at least 106 | :05:09. | :05:17. | |
miners and last year a methane leek triggered two explosions and 26 | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
people lost their lives. Over 60% of Russian coal is extracted in one | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
area of Siberia and the human rights of people are being violated and | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
Columbia's health and safety record is appalling. An explosion in | :05:34. | :05:40. | |
January 2011 killed 21 and another at the same mine in 2007 killed more | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
than 30. During the decades long civil war the industry has grown to | :05:47. | :05:54. | |
where it ranks as the fourth largest exporter of coal in the world. | :05:55. | :06:03. | |
This has come at the terrible cost, including the dispossession of | :06:04. | :06:12. | |
communities. Coal not only polluted the air and water but the country's | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
politics as well, but just one company providing support for | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
militias involved in human rights abuses. We should not be condoning | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
dereliction of duty towards these mining communities, but while we | :06:28. | :06:31. | |
still do import coal, we should do it from responsible sources and I | :06:32. | :06:34. | |
would like to ask the Minister if she will review her coal imports, | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
and the countries they come from. In addition we should be doing more to | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
develop and support our renewable sectors to meet our own power needs. | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
In my constituency that Banks Group is a property and mining firm, truly | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
diverse, with a clear vision on the future of renewables. It does | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
pioneering work in redeveloping land used for mining, and they are | :07:00. | :07:06. | |
responsible for the Northumberland the restoration which is also known | :07:07. | :07:09. | |
as the Lady of the North. In partnership with North Lanarkshire | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
Council, the renewable project will ensure ?69 million of economic | :07:16. | :07:21. | |
benefit for the area well ?1.74 million in jobs and training fund to | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
support 400-450 local unemployed people into work, further education | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
or workplace training. It is this sort of ambitious forward thinking | :07:32. | :07:33. | |
and environmentally friendly initiatives inessential as we work | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
towards low-carbon goals. My final request, and I know I am asking a | :07:39. | :07:41. | |
lot of the minister, is to ask she sets up specific funds for the | :07:42. | :07:49. | |
communities of former coal and shale mining areas to help them provide | :07:50. | :07:52. | |
for the future. In my constituency work has been done in engaging with | :07:53. | :07:55. | |
local schools, but economically it could and should support the areas | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
that have never recovered from their heavy industries being taken away | :08:00. | :08:06. | |
and damaged so irreparably. At the time they got little or no support | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
from the then Conservative Government. They have sacrificed | :08:11. | :08:13. | |
more than they should and indeed provided for the whole country. We | :08:14. | :08:16. | |
owe them our gratitude and support and I call on this Government to do | :08:17. | :08:22. | |
all it can to ensure those former mining communities thrive and | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
develop new industry where the old ones once stood so valiantly. Thank | :08:26. | :08:32. | |
you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I want to start by thanking the | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
honourable member for securing this debate and her passionate speech on | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
an issue which is important to her and her constituents, and to this | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
Government and this House. It gives us the opportunity today to | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
recognise the bravery of those workers at the mine who, in | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
providing for their families and securing resources for our country, | :08:57. | :09:01. | |
paid the ultimate sacrifice. The honourable member and her | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
constituents have rightly mark the 70th anniversary of that appalling | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
disaster with honour and dignity for the men who did not come home to | :09:10. | :09:17. | |
their families on the 10th of January 1947, and, if I may, one of | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
the most moving parts of the tribute she paid was reading out the names, | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
but also the ages of those impacted by this, and I think we get the | :09:27. | :09:34. | |
impression from that that this is really how this does affect the | :09:35. | :09:40. | |
whole community. It is often a job that people will be in for a life, | :09:41. | :09:51. | |
and ages ranging 24-50 I think give a sense of that, and I thought that | :09:52. | :09:54. | |
was a very moving part of her speech. I think she has done a | :09:55. | :10:00. | |
tremendous job in paying tribute to all those killed and all those | :10:01. | :10:08. | |
affected by that disaster, but all those who also work and have worked | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
in that profession and the communities that support them. It is | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
a rare occasion when we read out the names of people killed in such | :10:17. | :10:19. | |
tragedies in this place, but I think it is very fitting that she has done | :10:20. | :10:27. | |
that, and I also understand from the clerks that she tabled this debate | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
to try to get it to fall as close as she could to the anniversary and | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
things never work out perfectly, but I think that her constituents and | :10:37. | :10:43. | |
many others will appreciate that. And it is important that we do that | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
and have done that today. Before I go on to speak about some of the | :10:48. | :10:55. | |
UK's safety record and the other issue the honourable lady races, I | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
would like to just touch on some of the international tragedies that | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
have also occurred. She mentioned some. There are sadly many others, | :11:04. | :11:11. | |
1995, when 104 miners died falling down a shaft in South Africa. 2006, | :11:12. | :11:19. | |
when 65 coal miners were killed in a gas explosion in northern Mexico. | :11:20. | :11:26. | |
2007, at least 90 killed in Ukraine's worst mining disaster. And | :11:27. | :11:36. | |
in 2011, 52 people killed in south-western Pakistan after a gas | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
explosion in a deep coal mine. The reason why I think it is important | :11:42. | :11:47. | |
that we remember this is an international issue is that the | :11:48. | :11:50. | |
Health and Safety Executive and the considerable expertise it has, 50% | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
of the inspectorate that looks after this issue as well as others are | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
from the mining industry, and have worked in the mining industry for | :12:02. | :12:09. | |
much of their career. But they have ambitions to export their expertise. | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
The Health and Safety Executive's latest business plan is clearly | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
trying to do more of that, and I think that is one of the things we | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
do have a good record on, we have huge expertise. That is one thing we | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
can do and make a huge contribution, particularly in developing nations, | :12:28. | :12:36. | |
who often when disaster strikes, it is unimaginable there. So I would | :12:37. | :12:39. | |
think that is important and I would encourage them to do that. They are | :12:40. | :12:42. | |
doing a huge amount of work in this area already. Just imagine a couple | :12:43. | :12:45. | |
of recent things they have done, they have been reading some work in | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
Australia and ventilation -- leading some work. On engineering safety in | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
Russia, as well, which the honourable lady particularly | :12:58. | :12:59. | |
referred to, that country, in her speech. I would also pay tribute, as | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
the honourable lady did, to all those who also step in when disaster | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
strikes, and often provide support and expertise to the rescue and | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
recovery when such disasters strike. I am particularly proud of this | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
because the combined International rescue services that are contributed | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
to by the UK's bluelight services train and drill in my constituency | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
annually for such events, and her debate today affords me the | :13:33. | :13:34. | |
opportunity to pay tribute to them as well. Bernard Greenidge and other | :13:35. | :13:44. | |
incidents led to the introduction of a great deal of legislation in the | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
latter half of the 20th-century -- Burngrange. Were a number of | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
recommendations contained in the official report of that particular | :13:53. | :13:57. | |
explosion and fire for improving health and safety in mines, | :13:58. | :14:04. | |
including the use of safety lamps, how explosives should be stored and | :14:05. | :14:07. | |
handled safely, the need for adequate ventilation and the | :14:08. | :14:13. | |
sampling of the atmosphere. Health and safety regulation in this | :14:14. | :14:15. | |
country has improved greatly over the last 70 years. Learning from | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
previous experience in order to try to prevent as far as possible | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
disasters and other incidents that can lead to loss of life, injury or | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
ill-health. At the time the Health and Safety Executive introduced the | :14:29. | :14:36. | |
act in 1974, there were 651 fatalities to employees. The | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
comparative number today is 105. So that is progress made, but clearly | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
still more needs to be done. In 2014, following an extensive review, | :14:48. | :14:58. | |
the Hotels Regulation act replaced all previous legislation relating to | :14:59. | :15:01. | |
health and safety in undergrowth mines. Some 45 sets of regulations | :15:02. | :15:08. | |
and -- underground mines. Importantly, they provided a | :15:09. | :15:10. | |
comprehensive and simple goal setting legal framework to ensure | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
mine operators provide all the necessary protection for Mineworkers | :15:17. | :15:20. | |
and others from the inherent hazards in mines. The regulations contain | :15:21. | :15:24. | |
requirements relating to the key organisational aspects for safe | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
management of the mine, and to the key physical hazards inherent to | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
underground mining. The principal major hazards of which are unique to | :15:34. | :15:39. | |
that particular sector. In addition to the industry specific | :15:40. | :15:45. | |
regulations, mine operators must comply with, there is also the | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
health and safety at work act, the management of health and safety work | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
regulations 1999, the Dangerous Substances And Explosive Act, 2002, | :15:56. | :16:01. | |
and the control of substances hazardous to health regulations, | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
also of that same year. There are around 2000 workers still involved | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
in underground mining, and they deserve the high standards of health | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
and safety. As the honourable member pointed out, often that will mean | :16:16. | :16:20. | |
working in partnership with other organisations, and I thank him for | :16:21. | :16:26. | |
his intervention as well. The Health and Safety Executive has a | :16:27. | :16:32. | |
regulatory intervention plan for every underground mine in Great | :16:33. | :16:34. | |
Britain, no matter whether it is still active or whether it is their | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
for heritage and tourism purposes. This reflects the specific inherent | :16:39. | :16:46. | |
hazards of mines and the previous health and safety performance of | :16:47. | :16:49. | |
those mines. Those that are bearing the greatest risk and have the | :16:50. | :16:52. | |
tourist record received the most attention. -- and have the poorest | :16:53. | :17:02. | |
rigour. Inspectors base their regulars on these plans and a | :17:03. | :17:05. | |
proactive. I understand the Scottish Parliament has tabled a motion to | :17:06. | :17:12. | |
particularly Mark workers' Memorial Day, and I don't know whether the | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
honourable lady might be tabling a similar motion in this Parliament, | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
but that is on Friday the 28th of April, and it does afford us another | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
opportunity to remember all of those who work in these important but | :17:26. | :17:32. | |
dangerous industries, and for us to remember and pay tribute to what | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
they do and those that... I wonder whether at this point the Government | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
representative that is speaking on behalf of this motion would just try | :17:43. | :17:52. | |
and recall that these same miners we are talking about, many of them, the | :17:53. | :18:00. | |
miners who went down the pit, they were the very people that the | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
previous Tory Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, called the enemy within. | :18:06. | :18:10. | |
Does the honourable lady believe that this is an opportune time, when | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
we are speaking about all those people who lost their lives, | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
including those 81 in my constituency at Crest well, where | :18:21. | :18:27. | |
they were consumed by flames, and they had to be locked in. They | :18:28. | :18:36. | |
couldn't get them out, and those 18 people who fell down the shaft at | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
the colliery in Derbyshire to their death, they were the same people | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
that the previous Tory Prime Minister called the enemy within. | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
And I think at this moment it would be right and proper for this | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
Government to say that that wasn't the reality about these people who | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
went down the pit day after day. Surely, this is the time to see it. | :19:03. | :19:09. | |
Well, I hope that in what I have said today and what I will go on to | :19:10. | :19:16. | |
say that I have paid tribute to those people. My maternal | :19:17. | :19:24. | |
grandfather was a miner, and I have spoken about the hazards that people | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
face in those professions and other professions, without whose serve as | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
the country could not continue its industrial projects. We all then a | :19:35. | :19:44. | |
great deal -- we owe them a great deal. I would say to the honourable | :19:45. | :19:47. | |
gentleman that on the politics of these matters we would probably | :19:48. | :19:54. | |
disagree, but I think it is the purpose of the debate that the | :19:55. | :19:57. | |
honourable lady has tabled today that we paid tribute to those that | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
work in these professions and we remember in particular those who | :20:02. | :20:13. | |
lost their lives, particularly at Burngrange, but at other disasters | :20:14. | :20:16. | |
around the world. I am sure that will not have satisfied the | :20:17. | :20:18. | |
honourable gentleman but I will move onto the other point is the | :20:19. | :20:22. | |
honourable lady has raised. Quite rightly, the honourable lady has | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
touched on what we can do through our policies and other Government | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
departments to encourage good practice and to encourage other | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
countries to take health and safety as loosely as we do in the UK. I | :20:39. | :20:41. | |
think in my department, which is responsible for the Health and | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
Safety Executive, there are some considerable opportunities that come | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
with the Health and Safety Executive's moves to export its good | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
practice and I think that is important. Certainly, I will ask my | :20:54. | :21:03. | |
counterparts at the Department of beans to -- at the Department to | :21:04. | :21:08. | |
update the honourable lady on how they are developing their energy | :21:09. | :21:12. | |
strategy to take into account the very valid points the honourable | :21:13. | :21:17. | |
lady raises, and on the other matter of regeneration for these | :21:18. | :21:24. | |
communities, because where I think I am in danger of perhaps agreeing | :21:25. | :21:31. | |
potentially with the honourable member, and things that were not | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
what the Matt Dunn well in the past, it was ensuring regeneration of | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
those areas, industries where entire communities had been dependent on | :21:43. | :21:45. | |
them were collapsing -- what was not done well in the past. Where that | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
happens you want swift intervention and you want investment, and one of | :21:50. | :21:55. | |
the privileges of the first ministerial post I held which was a | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
local government was working with local enterprise partnerships on | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
getting particular investment into those areas, and part of the recipe | :22:05. | :22:12. | |
of success in rebuilding those particular areas was the mining | :22:13. | :22:20. | |
heritage. Many projects that were... Whether they were creating business | :22:21. | :22:23. | |
parks around energy, whether they were creating a tourist offer, quite | :22:24. | :22:32. | |
often it would come back to the mining heritage of those particular | :22:33. | :22:36. | |
areas, so I think that- very well with the important point is the | :22:37. | :22:39. | |
honourable lady has raised about heritage today, and remembering that | :22:40. | :22:44. | |
and giving it the status it should have as part of our nation's | :22:45. | :22:46. | |
history. I will ask the department of local | :22:47. | :22:54. | |
government to write to the the honourable lady to update her on the | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
funding that has gone into former coal mining areas. I will again | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
thank, I will take an intervention. Just before she closes, in terms of | :23:05. | :23:10. | |
funding, she may be aware that the UK Government pulled funding for the | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
cold field communities trust. Is that not something the Government | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
should look at and one final point in terms of mine workers that have | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
survived, she may be aware the Government takes 50% of the annual | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
returns from the mine workers' mention pot. Maybe the Government | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
should reconsider that. The honourable gentleman refers to the | :23:33. | :23:40. | |
trust which was closed and wound up. However, there were other sources of | :23:41. | :23:46. | |
funding made available through the usual funding channels and much of | :23:47. | :23:51. | |
that has been directed into those particular communities. I know that, | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
because I was at the department looking at how those funds had been | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
allocated. But I think that whether it is mining, or whether it is other | :24:04. | :24:12. | |
industries, that are not providing - the support to those communities, | :24:13. | :24:16. | |
wherever they are, we need to have a strong plan and a strong vision for | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
those communities. What is it that is going to replace that? We | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
shouldn't leave people without that. I thank the honourable lady and she | :24:28. | :24:34. | |
has made some positive points. On the matter of distribution of funds, | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
would she consider it appropriate for those former mining communities | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
to be considered alongside the city growth plans and city growth deals. | :24:45. | :24:53. | |
It would seem an ideal criteria to apply. Often it is outside of city | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
centres where the worst areas of deprivation are? I think the | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
honourable lady makes a good point, that if one aspect of what makes a | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
community strong and economically viable is removed, then other parts, | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
education system, attracting teachers in, all sorts of things, | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
then start to become harder. I think it is vital and I know it from my | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
own constituency that there is a clear vision and proposition for how | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
the economy is going to not only grow, but also be stable and that | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
might mean diversification and a different approach to some of the | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
strengths and assets of a particular community. But I think that is the | :25:42. | :25:46. | |
key to success. That is what not only attracts public money and | :25:47. | :25:51. | |
investment, but also private investment as well. That what is the | :25:52. | :25:58. | |
communities need. I will intervene. The minister has failed to answer | :25:59. | :26:01. | |
the point about the money that the Government takes from the mining | :26:02. | :26:07. | |
workers' pension scheme. Can we have an assurance that there are no deep | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
mine pits left in Britain, just a few private mines and a bit of | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
opencasting, can we now have an assurance that the government will | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
cease from taking that money out of the pension scheme, so the miners | :26:23. | :26:28. | |
that she's talking about would get an even better pension? Well, the | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
honourable gentleman raises a serious point that deserves a | :26:35. | :26:39. | |
serious answer and if I could ask him, given the limits that I have in | :26:40. | :26:46. | |
this adjournment debate, if he would write to the pensions minister. | :26:47. | :26:53. | |
Well, I would I'm sure I don't need to encourage the honourable | :26:54. | :26:56. | |
gentleman to keep going, but if he is not satisfied with an answer he | :26:57. | :27:02. | |
should write again. But I am not able I'm afraid to add anything to | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
what the pensions minister will have already told the honourable | :27:07. | :27:11. | |
gentleman. I will unless there are any other interventions, tank all | :27:12. | :27:20. | |
members fo - thank all the members, particularly the honourable lady | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
from Livingston who has given a great service to those who lost | :27:26. | :27:31. | |
their lives in that tragedy. The question is the House should | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
adjourn. The I have as have it. Order. -- The ayes have it. | :27:37. | :28:25. | |
My lords I will repeat a statement made by my honourable friend the | :28:26. | :28:30. | |
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the other place. The | :28:31. | :28:37. | |
statement is as follows. Since the Northern Ireland Assembly election | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
on 2nd mar, I have been encouraged in talks with the political parties | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
and the Irish Government. In line | :28:48. | :28:49. |