Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Lisa Nandy. Not here.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

On the morning of 13 August 1961, the people of Berlin woke up to find a wall being built across their city. That wall remained in place for some 30 years before it came down and allowed the unification not only of Germany but of the east and west. Will the Foreign Secretary, together with the Secretary of State for Defence, use that anniversary as an opportunity to remind Europe that that would not have been achieved without the help of the Americans, and to remind the Americans that Europe remains important to them?

[Mr Hague]

Yes, absolutely. I completely agree with the hon. Lady. Indeed, her question should prompt us never to forget these things. The transatlantic alliance remains the absolute cornerstone of our security, as does NATO, and that will remain the case in the years ahead.