Baroness Northover
Main Page: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Northover's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(4 years, 7 months ago)
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The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
The noble Baroness, Lady Stroud, is not here. The noble Baroness, Lady Northover.
Baroness Northover (LD)
What realistic assessment has been made of the incidence of the coronavirus in Idlib and in Syria as a whole, and how can testing be increased? Does the Minister agree that an urgent, comprehensive and co-ordinated emergency response plan is now required?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
My Lords, if I heard the noble Baroness correctly, I stand with her in condemning the actions taken by different groups on all sides on the ground, which have caused great suffering to people in Syria. We continue to work to alleviate the human suffering there. I share with the noble Baroness that because of the fragile ceasefire, there is a glimmer of hope—35,000 people have returned to the region—but we also continue to investigate, including with the OPCW, events that have taken place in the past, including the 2017 attack. Again, I reassure the noble Baroness that anyone responsible should be held to account by the international community.