Gaza

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Monday 14th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Lord makes an important point. It would be almost impossible for us to predict what it would feel like for us to be in that position. I can honestly say that I would not want to envisage being Israeli or Palestinian right now.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

My Lords, the Statement clearly says:

“International humanitarian law requires both sides to distinguish between military and civilian targets and enable unhindered humanitarian access”.

The fact is that there has been indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel but, at the same time, the fact is also that Israeli fire has killed 173 Palestinians. Will the noble Baroness tell us what is being done to apply the international humanitarian law to which the Statement refers? She said that there has been contact with Egypt, Jordan and Qatar over what is happening in Palestine. Has there been any contact with some of the very powerful Arab states which also clearly have a very strong influence over Hamas and the Palestinians?

[Baroness Warsi]

I think I said at the beginning that it is important that those who exercise influence in relation to both parties use that influence to make sure that we bring both parties back to the negotiating table. The situation is different from what it was in 2012. The situation in Egypt has changed. The number of people who seek to have, or have, any influence over Hamas is much reduced. It is therefore important that we keep open our discussions with our allies and partners in the Arab world to make sure that they do all that they can to bring this matter to a ceasefire. Certainly, we will do all that we can with our allies and partners to do the same.

Middle East Peace Process

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 1st July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

We will of course do that. The right reverend Prelate makes important points, but I think he would also say—and on a very personal basis, I acknowledge this as a mother—that it must be incredibly difficult to reach that second phase when you have just lost your children.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister is quite right to refer to this as an appalling act of terror. However, she has also pointed out on recent occasions that the window is closing on the viability of the Middle East peace process. I wonder whether the Minister could come back to the point of the Question, which is about the impact on the Middle East peace process, and what she and the Government see as the next positive step that might be taken in that process.

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Baroness is right. I have answered a number of questions on this over the past two years but there is no doubt that the events of the last two or three weeks have made it much harder to reopen negotiations and, indeed, to start some meaningful conversations. However, I go back to what I have said on many occasions at this Dispatch Box: the two-state solution is the only long-term solution that will bring a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable, flourishing Palestinian state.

European Union: United Kingdom MEPs

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Thursday 26th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, I think I made my position clear. The Conservative Party’s position on this matter is clear. We have only one sister party in Germany and that is on the record.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

My Lords, in her initial Answer, the noble Baroness said that the Government are keen to talk to those MEPs who share our views on various issues, including, of course, reform of the EU. Will the noble Baroness perhaps consider that it is equally if not more important to talk to those MEPs who do not share our views on these issues, not just the converted, and to try to build those alliances, which have been perhaps rather lacking in some of the recent government activity in the EU?

[Baroness Warsi]

I assure the noble Baroness that we engage with MEPs both on an issues basis—for example, we have had MEPs attending meetings with DECC and we have engagement through BIS on direct issues—and, of course, on broader issues of reform.

Russia: Arms

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Lord is right that those things have to be set by having a proper review, which is why we had a strategic defence and security review in 2010. Arms control is part of that. Again, we can be incredibly proud of the role that the Foreign Office and the whole of HMG have played in bringing agreement at the UN as regards the Arms Trade Treaty.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

Can the noble Baroness tell the House how many members of NATO fail to meet the 2% target?

[Baroness Warsi]

I can tell the noble Baroness that four members met their target and a further four have indicated that they intend to meet the target. However, of course, there are 28 members of NATO.

Iraq: Mosul

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 17th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

My noble friend is right; the region has to step up and take responsibility, but ultimately this matter has to be led by the Iraqi Government. One of the first things we have been asking for is for a Government to be formed after the elections that took place at the end of April. It is important that that Government is inclusive. Much of what we see in terms of tensions between communities is because communities within Iraq feel excluded from the decision-making process. Of course, countries in the region have an incredibly important role to play. It is also important to distinguish between the fact that, of course, there is a Sunni-Shia dimension to these disturbances, but not all aspects of the Sunni community support ISIL.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

My Lords, President Obama has decided to put American troops on the ground in order to protect American citizens and in particular the American embassy. Can the Minister tell us what steps the Foreign Secretary—or indeed the Prime Minister—is proposing to take in order to protect British citizens in Iraq and indeed our embassy?

[Baroness Warsi]

This is an incredibly important matter and it is something we keep under review. Our travel advice reflects the reviews as they take place. The noble Baroness will also be aware that whereas we have several hundred embassy staff in Iraq—our main embassy is in Baghdad and of course we have one in the Kurdistan Regional Government area—the US has thousands of staff in Iraq, including, of course, in Basra.

Libya: Arms to the IRA

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 25th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

Indeed, as the noble Lord will be aware, the First Minister had an opportunity to discuss these matters with the then Libyan Prime Minister Zeidan earlier last year—I think in June. I suppose that the noble Lord is probably referring to the Telegraph allegations. We have issued a strong statement denying the accuracy of that report.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

My Lords, is the noble Baroness not right, though, to stress to the House the fact that the Libyan authorities are essentially transient? The problem is the frequent changes in those authorities and those who hold government office. Has that not been further complicated by the law of political isolation that has been introduced in Libya, whereby one group of Ministers do not speak to—or, indeed, have anything to do with—the group of Ministers that they have just seen out of office?

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Baroness makes an important point. Libya is going through an incredibly difficult period and we need to be realistic about what is actually possible on the Libyan side. There is very little chance at the moment of securing a Libyan payment for compensation. The Libyan Government see themselves as victims of the Gaddafi era, and it is therefore important that we try to build a political space, which is what we are doing, to allow the Libyan Government to engage on these and other issues.

European Union (Referendum) Bill

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Friday 31st January 2014 Lords Chamber

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi) (Con)]

My Lords, if the House really wants to know the answer then maybe I should give it. In the Box we have officials from the Foreign Office, who have prepared a government brief on a government position on many issues that will be arising during the Bill. They are government officials providing a government line on elements that may come up during the Bill upon which there is an agreed government line. Also in the Box I have my special adviser. He is there to provide me with any political lines, and it is those that are prepared by the Conservative Party. There is a clear distinction.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

Will those government officials who are dealing with the strictly government parts of this Bill—I am bound to say that it is hard to know what the government parts are, because the Liberal Democrat party seems to be opposing the Bill vociferously—also therefore be making their advice available to the spokesman for the other part of the Government, the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner of Margravine? When we discussed this last week, the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, said that for the purposes of this Bill she was very clear that she was speaking as spokesman for the Conservative Party. That party is indeed a party of government, but the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, is speaking as the spokesman for the Liberal Democrat party, which is also a party of the Government.

This is a serious point, not a trivial one. As it happens, since it is a constitutional issue, I think that it is wrong that the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, is sitting on the Bench. I am sorry to say that. I think that she is an excellent Minister—she is diligent and hard-working and serves this House very well indeed—but for the purposes of the Bill it would be more appropriate if the noble Baroness sat on the Back Benches. Alternatively, if we want to take a precedent, the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, was joined by the noble Lord, Lord McNally, on the government Front Bench to deal with the Leveson inquiry, and they were both on the Front Bench together. That way the Government were represented on the Front Bench, because those are the two parties. We have a problem here: either the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, should be sitting with her Back-Benchers—and we would be delighted to hear her because she is always cogent and good—or else the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner of Margravine, should be joining her on the Front Bench.

Iran and Syria

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Monday 11th November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I take on board what the noble Lord said. Exactly these kinds of concerns are uppermost in our minds when we are in negotiations. I think that I can give the noble Lord some comfort by saying that we feel that the new Iranian regime, following the election of President Rouhani and the appointment of the new Iranian negotiating team led by Foreign Minister Zarif, has taken a constructive approach. We believe that Mr Zarif wants to resolve this problem and that he is out to do a deal. We feel that Iran is under serious political and economic pressure and that it recognises that it is in its interest to reach an agreement with the E3+3. I hope that we will be able to reach that point soon, but we take part in these negotiations with our eyes wide open, and take fully into account the context in which we are operating and have been operating for a number of years.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

My Lords, is there not a much more difficult problem about Iran? There are effectively two Governments there. The Minister is talking about discussions taking place under the Rouhani leadership, but back in Tehran, there is a religious leadership that has already tried to rein in the new Government back, in respect of the steps that they have taken towards rapprochement with the rest of the world. What confidence can the Minister—and, indeed, negotiators—have that any eventual settlement will not simply be rejected by the religious leadership in Iran, as it has already tried to distance itself from some of what is going on?

Secondly, I have a question about Syria. In a former life, I was the envoy to Bashar al-Assad and I had to deal with a lot of the people around him who were deeply unpleasant, very sinister and, in many ways, far more unyielding than Bashar al-Assad. Can the Minister give us an assurance that none of these people will be left to wield any power when eventually we see the end of this regime? There have been suggestions that the vice-president would have a role; the vice-president whom I met was certainly not a man I would want to see having any power in Syria in future.

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Baroness comes to these matters with great experience and expertise. She has made valid points about the different seats of power within Iran. At the moment, we feel that the Foreign Minister and President Rouhani have a mandate under which they are operating. We have had a number of meetings with them; the Foreign Secretary has met the Foreign Minister on three separate occasions, and we genuinely feel that progress was recently made in Geneva. The offer on the table now being considered by the Iranians is something that they will have to come back to discuss; it may well be that on 20 November we will be much clearer about how committed all aspects of the Iranian seats of power are in taking this matter forward. At this stage, however, we feel that progress has been made and that there is an acceptance that this is in Iran’s interests.

In relation to Syria, the noble Baroness made an important point. It is why the statement from the national coalition issued only yesterday said clearly that the transitional council must not include al-Assad or others who have blood on their hands. I think those are exactly the kind of individuals to whom the noble Baroness refers.

Syria: Humanitarian Assistance

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 8th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (Lab)]

My Lords, can the noble Baroness tell the House what aid is being given directly to Jordan, which is a country with little energy, scarce water and few natural resources, but which has extended extraordinary humanitarian aid to those fleeing from the violence in Syria? Jordan has been a good friend to this country in many ways and many of us would hope that Her Majesty’s Government are supporting the efforts of the Jordanian Government to give the support that is so needed.

[Baroness Warsi]

We take our obligations to all the regional countries incredibly seriously and, indeed, as far as Jordan is concerned, the latest figure is that we have provided £87 million in aid. Jordan has about 500,000 refugees at the moment—about 25% of the people who have been externally displaced. That support is in the form of humanitarian assistance and support, but also support to the Jordanians to cope with the wider infrastructure challenges that are being posed by such a large influx of people arriving.

Lebanon

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 23rd July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I completely agree with the right reverend Prelate that there has been a huge show of generosity and a real welcome from the Lebanese people. Noble Lords may be aware that the population of Lebanon is about 4 million. The number of registered refugees is 600,000 but it is estimated that the real number could be a lot higher—somewhere around 1 million. That is the equivalent of the whole of the Romanian population arriving on British shores over a very short period. A huge amount of pressure has been put on local resources, which has of course caused tensions. It is for that reason that we are supporting not just the refugee communities but the host communities as well.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, the noble Baroness may be aware that at the recent G8 women’s conference, considerable anxiety was expressed about the economic and social impact of disruption across the region on women. Can the noble Baroness say what specific help is given at the moment to Lebanese women in that respect?

[Baroness Warsi]

Unfortunately I cannot, but I will write to the noble Baroness in detail on that issue.

Iran

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Wednesday 10th July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

The Minister’s caution is welcome to many of us in this House. In the 22 days up until 8 July—only two days ago—75 people were executed in Iran. One of those was only 15 at the time of their arrest and some of these executions were mass ones, with as many as 21 being executed at the same time. Surely the Government are right to exercise caution. The mullahs are still very much in charge, no matter who takes over as president in August.

[Baroness Warsi]

Of course the noble Baroness is right. Supreme Leader Khamenei still has a huge amount of influence in many spheres of life in Iran. She is right to say that the human rights situation in Iran is dire. In 2012 there were reports of over 350 executions and 162 executions as of May this year. It has more journalists in prison than almost any other country. Opposition leaders remain detained in prison after two years. We have real human rights and other concerns in Iran. We are open to improving this relationship, and there have been opportunities when officials have met, such as during the E3+3 talks, but it is important, as the noble Baroness says, to remain cautious.

Egypt

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Thursday 4th July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have given private notice.

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi)]

My Lords, we are concerned about the prospects for democracy in Egypt. As the Foreign Secretary said in his press statement, the UK does not support military intervention to resolve disputes in a democracy. We want to see a civilian-led Government and prompt, free and fair elections in which all parties are able to take part. We are in touch with political leaders to stress the need for political solutions that can unite Egyptians behind a legitimate democratic outcome.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, I am sure that we would all agree with every word that the noble Baroness said, particularly in respect of a return to civilian democratic government as soon as possible. One of the problems in the last election in Egypt was that there were two sectarian non-liberal parties standing for election as opposed to 40 secular liberal parties. Of course, Her Majesty’s Government cannot intervene directly, but is it possible for them to encourage agencies that already work with the Department for International Development on these issues, such as the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, to advise and mentor the profusion of secular liberal parties in Egypt in order to provide effective party organisation, which is so necessary in any democratic society?

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, as noble Lords are aware, I am always incredibly cautious about intervening in a way where we are trying to affect the outcome of elections in any country, but I take the noble Baroness’s point about working with parties in preparation for an election. Indeed, that is what we have been doing through the Arab partnership fund. I know from my experience when I was in Egypt that the opposition appeared to be fractured, but the current situation is much more complicated. The National Salvation Front, the Tamarod, the main group that has been calling for the protests against President Morsi that have resulted in the current situation, has secular parties in it, but alongside the Defence Minister yesterday when the announcement was made that President Morsi would be removed was the Sheikh al-Azhar and the head of the Coptic Church. This is not just a pure fight between secularists and parties that feel that religion should be part of the state. It is much more complex than that. We are urging all parties to go back to a democratic process. Military intervention is not the way forward.

Syria

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Thursday 27th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi)]

My Lords, seamlessly the FCO now appears at the Dispatch Box. No decision has been made to send weapons to the Syrian opposition. The agreement to lift the arms embargo for the Syrian national coalition sends a clear signal to the Assad regime that it has to negotiate seriously, and that all options remain on the table if it refuses to do so. Our priority remains to advance a political transition that ends the conflict, allowing refugees to return to their homes, and to prevent further radicalisation in Syria.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that response. I am sure we all recognise the dilemma that faces anybody who wants to see the end of the Assad regime. However, the Government argued long and hard to secure lifting the EU arms embargo, so can the Minister explain how sending arms to Syria will decrease the violence there, particularly as, if it were to happen, it is likely to incite more arms to go in from Russia to support the Assad regime? Can the Minister also tell the House how the Government could be certain that any arms exported to Syria did not fall into the hands of al-Qaeda or other terrorist organisations that we believe are fighting alongside the legitimate and indigenous Syrian opposition?

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Baroness raises important questions, and we can see from the way the House is responding that these are questions that other noble Lords want answering too. I have a huge amount of respect for the noble Baroness, but it would be wrong of me to start hypothesising about a decision that has not yet been taken. I can assure her that a decision has not been taken at this stage to supply arms to the Syrian opposition. I hope that she and the House can take great comfort from the fact that when we have, for example, supplied non-lethal assistance to the opposition, we have been incredibly cautious about ensuring that even that equipment, whether in the form of humanitarian support or indeed armoured vehicles, does not get into the hands of extremists.

Syria

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Thursday 31st January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

As the noble Lord is aware, I am here most days, so I am available most days to answer any Questions that may arise. The Minister with responsibility for this particular region is my right honourable friend Alistair Burt. I will be obtaining updates on this tonight and in my weekend Box and, if further information comes to light, of course I shall update the House.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, I agree strongly with what the noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, said and I also understand the reluctance of the noble Baroness to speculate. However, one thing about which we need not speculate is that the Russians have made a very forthright statement about these reported air strikes. Can the Minister tell us what bilateral exchanges we are having with the Russians about this very worrying situation, which could grow more serious on a daily basis?

[Baroness Warsi]

I do not have any information about the specific bilateral discussions we are having in relation to this particular incident. However, I can assure the noble Baroness that we are having constant discussions with the Russians in relation to the situation in Syria. These matters are now arising because we are failing to deal with the crisis in the region. We must deal with the issue of Syria. We keep taking this back to the United Nations. The Prime Minister has made his views very clear and I have repeated them on many occasions at this Dispatch Box. We are trying to seek agreement at the United Nations to move matters forward. In the mean time, Russia is one party with whom we seek to move further forward.

Syria: Chemical Weapons

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 4th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have given private notice.

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi)]

My Lords, we share President Obama’s deep concerns about Syria’s chemical weapons. Any use of chemical or biological weapons would be abhorrent and universally condemned. Any use of chemical or biological weapons would make us reconsider our calculations and revisit our approach to Syria. We continue to work closely with our international partners, including the United States, to monitor closely developments relating to Syrian chemical weapons. We continue to urge the Syrian regime not to use these weapons and to ensure that they are secured.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. Today the Secretary-General of NATO has echoed President Obama’s view that any use by Syria of chemical weapons would be completely unacceptable. Can the Minister tell us what discussions Her Majesty’s Government are having on this issue with the United States of America and within NATO, and will she confirm media reports that Foreign Ministers meeting today in Brussels are discussing the deployment of Patriot missiles into Turkey?

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, a number of discussions are ongoing in relation to both the NATO formats and other bilateral and multilateral formats as well. As I reported to the House about a month ago, we are discussing a number of options in relation to Syria. We have always made it clear that we need to do more. The noble Baroness is aware of the challenges that we have had at the United Nations Security Council in this matter. However, in light of this recent information which has come to light, we are keeping our discussions under constant review.

Middle East: Gaza and Syria

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 20th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I know that my noble friend works tirelessly for the region and is deeply knowledgeable on the area. The humanitarian situation is extremely fragile, as she is aware, and has been exacerbated by events of recent days. Our assessment is that there is not at this stage a humanitarian crisis, because aid continues to flow from Egypt through the Rafah crossing and, intermittently, from Israel. A convoy of medical supplies managed to get to Gaza on Sunday, and food distribution is functioning—we understand that there is probably about 30 days’ worth of food stock—but I absolutely take my noble friend’s point on the base from which we started.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, the Minister’s Statement was very full and I am sure that the whole House thanks her for that. I should also like to thank her right honourable friend Mr Alistair Burt for all the work that he is doing—I think that he is an excellent Minister for the Middle East.

My noble friend Lord Triesman asked whether there is a Middle East peace process and the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, emphasised that the process is in effect paralysed—a dreadful word to use but, alas, an accurate one at the moment. Does the Minister really believe that a two-state solution is still possible? She said that time was running out; she has given it a year. Yet Israeli settlements continue to be built and, on the other hand, there is a hopelessly split leadership in Palestine between Fatah and Hamas. The demographics in Palestine tell their own story about the Palestinians simply waiting for time to deliver the solution that they want.

Can the Minister also tell us what more we can do to help address Syrian violence when the United Nations is hopelessly split on what is going on in Syria? Syria is a client state of Russia. We have to face up to that and the United Nations process seems, again, to have become paralysed. This weekend in the United States, all the newspapers were talking about war—a terrible word to use. Will the Minister please continue to give us briefings in this House? In this time of acute danger, will she arrange for regular briefings—they need not necessarily be on the Floor of the House—so that those of us who are interested in these issues can be fully updated?

[Baroness Warsi]

I can of course ensure that that briefing happens, whether it is from me or the specific Minister in charge. It is absolutely right that noble Lords, many of whom have so much experience and expertise in this matter, are kept up to date and that we hear their views. I do not think that there is any option other than still to have hope and a commitment to the two-state solution, which is the only way in which we can give the Palestinian people the state that they need and deserve and the Israeli people the security and peace that have eluded that region for so long. The priority is now for the United States to lead a major push to restart negotiations, and we have made this clear to the Obama Administration. It appears to be the right time for a newly elected President in a second term to take this initiative. That offers the best opportunity of progress towards the ultimate goal of a two-state solution. I am optimistic but also realistic so, even with that optimism, I have said that time is running out.

Syria

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Thursday 8th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

We have real concerns about the ongoing violence and killing within Syria, but we are clear that the United Nations Security Council is the best format in which to take these matters forward. We have had discussion with the Russians and Chinese to try to achieve some consensus, and I think that the views of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister are very clear. When he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September, he was very forthcoming about his concerns about the bloodshed in Syria, but we will act with international agreement.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, can the Minister tell us whether Her Majesty’s Government are giving any additional aid to Jordan to help with the influx of displaced Syrians over its borders?

[Baroness Warsi]

The humanitarian work and support that the Government are giving is divided in relation to work within Syria, including with Palestinian refugees within Syria, but also in relation to border countries, which include Jordan and Turkey.

Russian Federation: Council of Europe

Debate between Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Baroness Warsi

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Lord can be assured that we raise these matters frequently. Specifically in relation to human rights defenders, many of whom are serving sentences or have paid with their lives, we raise specifically freedom of speech, which is becoming even more important when looking at some of the controls that have been introduced on online discussions of politics and other matters. The Government regularly raise these matters with the Government of Russia, especially around freedom of expression.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

My Lords, the Minister has sought to distance herself and the Government from the decision of the Conservative Members who sought to block the report. Can she tell the House what action the Government have taken to engage with those Conservative Members who sought to block the report and how they are hoping to persuade them to adopt a more sensible and, indeed, proper attitude on these issues in future?

[Baroness Warsi]

I do not seek to distance myself from any Conservative Members of this House or another place. However, Parliamentary Assembly Members, who are cross-party and not representative of any single Government, have their views and opinions, and in those circumstances we cannot enforce government views. However, what we can do—and the noble Baroness is quite right to raise this—is to engage with them and put forward the Government’s position.