Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Monday 15th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords—

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords—

Afghanistan: Food Shortages

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I have already said that the Government have announced an increase in funding to £286 million, but it is appropriate that we allocate this funding in a structured way, with trusted partners, to ensure support gets through to the people who need it most. On the issue of volunteering, the challenge in Afghanistan is that volunteers at the moment, particularly non-Afghans, are unable to enter. Equally, Afghan nationals are unable to operate.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, may I say how pleased I am that the Minister mentioned the role of Muslim countries? What discussions has he undertaken with the Administration of Afghanistan and the leadership of Qatar to ensure that not only the ICRC, the World Muslim League and the Qatar Foundation are taking a lead, but also that we do not become oblivious to the vulnerable families while they become statistics of gross poverty, death and destruction, as has happened in Yemen?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I assure the noble Baroness that operationally, as I said, Sir Simon Gass and Martin Longden met with the Taliban and pressed on the importance of human rights within Afghanistan, as well as humanitarian corridors. Through our close liaison with UN agencies, we have seen that those corridors are operational and that support is beginning to get through, but it needs co-ordination. The picture is sketchy, depending on which province of Afghanistan we talk about. On the role of the Muslim world, and the Islamic world in particular, I am very clear that there is no better way of challenging the negative narrative on women and girls that the Taliban peddles than through esteemed leaders who are from the Muslim world—and, yes, they are women as well. We need to ensure that we reel in behind them to show that Islam does not negate women’s rights but actually promotes them.

Cyberattack: Microsoft

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, notwithstanding the focus on any Chinese or Russian interference in our security and civil liberties, in light of the Guardian investigation and reports, and given the Statement made to this House by the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord True, that our Government are fully aware and made representations about potentially illegal surveillance of British citizens and institutions, will the noble Lord say if he is aware to whom representations have been made? What assurance can he provide that such security breaches have been stopped as a result of our Government’s work and that the Government are not failing to protect our citizens and institutions against any further attacks from seemingly friendly countries and partners?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I assure the noble Baroness, that it is essential—I say this very clearly—that all cyber actors use their capabilities, as I said earlier, in a legal, proportionate and responsible way. On the issue that she highlighted, which has been the cause of media reporting, I assure her that we make representations to all appropriate Governments. We work closely with our allies on this important issue and, ultimately, to tackle cyberthreats and improve resilience. That is what we have done in the case of China. We will continue to act responsibly to ensure that citizens and organisations in the UK and, indeed, across the world are protected in the best way possible. We will continue to work to mitigate such actions.

Malaria Vaccine

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, when the noble Lord started, calling this a success story and talking about facts and figures, I thought he had stolen a bit of my brief. I certainly welcome his strong support and recognition. Equally, he is right to challenge the Government to ensure that, with the major conferences and other events happening next year, we continue to show leadership, through our chairing of the G7, through CHOGM—as Commonwealth Minister, that is very much at the top of my mind—and, of course, as we lead into COP 26. I assure the noble Lord that, although there is a reduction in the financial spend, we should, and will, continue to leverage all our diplomatic capability to ensure that these important priorities are understood, not just by our development partners but by other member states, in their support for various campaigns around the world. As the noble Lord knows, we remain among the most generous of G7 donors in such development support and leadership.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as an officer of the APPG for Africa and a member of the APPG on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases. I commend to the House the work of Jeremy Lefroy and his leadership in persisting with these causes. I welcome the progress that the Oxford team is making in leading on the vaccine, and in proposing to test nearly 5,000 children in Africa. Every two minutes a child dies of malaria in Africa. Is the Minister aware of the concerns expressed publicly by some African leaders who have said that they will co-operate fully on the basis of there being the highest standards of compliance and consent, to safeguard any such trials? I thank the Minister for his assurance to the House. Will he continue to assure our partners across Africa, to address any scepticism?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is right. As I said to the noble Lord, Lord Collins, it is important that, although we have taken difficult decisions on the ODA budget, we continue to leverage to the utmost our diplomatic efforts to ensure that the priorities remain, through our multilateral partners and other member states, and to provide the level of reassurance that she described in Africa, and also compliance within countries. I have been proud of the leadership we have shown, particularly in supporting multilateral funds such as the Global Fund, which, as she knows, has helped to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, particularly in Africa. We are proud of that relationship. As we look at revising our ODA spend, I assure the noble Baroness that, when we face challenges on finance, we will look to bridge those gaps through extensive diplomatic engagement and leadership in that area.

Tigray Conflict

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, the conflict is currently focused on the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, but, as my noble friend says, it is likely to have a negative impact on the political stability and security in other parts of Ethiopia. We strongly value our relationship with Ethiopia, and it has a key role to ensure that we promote stability and security across the region. I spoke earlier about the CSSF regional programming; we also work on capacity building in countries such as Somalia through the training of troops and will continue to work closely with our regional partners in order to assist their stabilisation efforts.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, on several occasions I witnessed at first hand the devastation of the torture, rape and murder of the Rohingya people at the hands of the Burmese Government. International communities were too slow to protect, and to punish and prevent the perpetrators of genocide and ethnic cleansing, leaving Bangladesh largely to manage a refugee population of 1 million. What are our Government doing to prevent a similar fate for the Ethiopian people on this occasion and to assist Sudan with the resources that it will so desperately need to manage the refugees?

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, we are very proud to be one of the largest donors to the Rohingya people, and we will continue with that commitment to help them deal with the tragic situation that they find themselves in. We are monitoring the violence in Ethiopia very closely. As I say, we are clear that we need to see de-escalation and political dialogue, which we think is the only way forward to prevent further violence. As party to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, we are firmly committed to the prevention and punishment of genocide. We will continue to support the refugees; we are supporting them through our FCDO bilateral programmes and will carefully consider what further support is available for the UN agencies which are doing such vital work to help them.

Guantanamo Bay Detainees

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am afraid I have nothing further to add to my previous comments, which were to reassure noble Lords that we do regularly raise human rights issues with the UAE. We have a close relationship with them, and we will continue to raise these issues as and when we are able to.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, in 2006, my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer said that the existence of Guantanamo was a “shocking affront to … democracy.” Our illegal and immoral wars, causing untold deaths and mayhem in Iraq and elsewhere in the region, are a humiliating stain on our history. This screams out the question: could our Government have done more at that time to prevent the construction of what the man who was asked to construct it, US Marine Major-General Lehnert, described as the

“most notorious prison … that should never have been opened”,

and which was created alongside other global detention centres to hold enemy combatants regarded as not suitable for prosecution?

I am deeply disappointed and disheartened by the Minister’s response. If there have been no dialogues, can our Government ensure that those due for transfer will receive proper and independent legal representation and due care throughout the justice process and on their release? Surely, if this Government can lead in enabling justice, we may redeem some sense of international honour and good will.

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the UK Government’s long-standing position is that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay should close. We will continue to engage with the US Government on this issue, as we do on a range of national security issues in the context of our joint determination to tackle international terrorism and combat violent extremism.

Covid-19: Access to Vaccine

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

I completely agree that we must ensure we have community trust in vaccines, which will be essential to persuade people that taking the vaccine is the right thing to do. In the UK the Vaccine Taskforce is leading this work to ensure that, as and when a vaccine is found, it is safe and that we communicate its effectiveness properly.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s commitment to COVAX and the WHO. Will the Minister accept that the vaccine may not be the panacea or exact solution for all countries, including those in conflict regions, where international responses must include the reasonably costed availability of safe and quality medicinal products and equipment, including CPAP systems, for the management of Covid? Notwithstanding the inevitable demands on this side of the planet, what discussion has taken place with countries such as Bangladesh and India, which have excellent reputations in the production of medicines, so that they can be easily available to the regions and elsewhere?

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is quite right that we do not know how effective a vaccine may be or when it may come, so of course, we must continue our work across the world, supporting nutrition and handwashing facilities and making sure we are keeping people as safe as possible while we wait for the vaccine. The noble Baroness is also right that we must work with countries that have expertise in this field. On India specifically, we were very pleased to see AstraZeneca’s partnership with the Serum Institute of India; collectively, they will support the production of 1.3 billion doses of the Oxford University vaccine, should it be successful.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, I assure my noble friend that this remains very much at the heart of our work. As I have mentioned to her previously, I am keen to ensure that there is a long-term, three-year rolling strategy that ensures that we build on what we have achieved on this important agenda.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I echo the words of the noble Baronesses, Lady Armstrong and Lady Helic; I agree with them entirely. The Minister will be aware that Bangladesh is struggling in dealing with the Rohingya refugees. I hope that commitment from the new department will continue. Is he also aware of the work of University College Hospital? Its CPAP campaign is working with Bangladesh, preparing to provide, immediately, very cost-effective ventilators, which Bangladesh very much needs. Would the Minister consider meeting with me and the team at UCL to discuss this and find a way to support this programme?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, let me assure the noble Baroness that I would be happy to meet with her and the team. Let me add to this the reassurance that during the current pandemic, as the Minister responsible for south Asia, I have been working very proactively with both the Government of Bangladesh, as well as other Governments across south Asia—as my colleagues have in other parts of the world—to ensure that our response to the Covid pandemic does reflect the needs the most vulnerable around the world. I look forward to meeting with the noble Baroness in due course, and I have received her correspondence in this respect.

Libya

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, the role of civil society mentioned by the noble Lord is very important and we continue to emphasise its engagement and involvement. Until all sides are firmly around a table, we are some distance away from their effective involvement. Equally, the role of women and particularly women peace mediators is key. The noble Lord asked what we had done so far. We engaged as penholders on the UN Security Council after the Berlin Conference to ensure the passing of Resolution 2510. Most recently, my right honourable friend the Minister for the Middle East took part in the UN Security Council meeting, again emphasising the need for political discussions.

[Baroness Uddin [V]]

The UN Secretary-General has called for immediate international attention and described the situation as gloomy. I have been a member of the APPG on Libya for some years and visited Tripoli with the much respected interfaith advocate Dr Zaki Badawi to participate in a conference on African and Arab women. I met highly educated outstanding women leaders of Libya. Over the past decade we have heard nothing about their suffering and that of their families in the persistent battle over oil and resources to which we may have inadvertently contributed. What assessment have our Government made, alongside the international community, of the well-being of civil society and women and their fullest possible participation in the imminent dialogue and future settlement in Libya?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, it is an inevitable and tragic consequence of any conflict that the most vulnerable communities, including women, specifically suffer. We continue to make the case. I have already alluded to what I believe is the most appropriate form of resolution engaging women in every part of the peace process.

Environmental Protection (Plastic Straws, Cotton Buds and Stirrers) (England) Regulations 2020

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Friday 10th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome these regulations as we still have some way to go. I wish to make the following points. First, local authority recycling remains inconsistent and patchy, and food-waste management is absent in many boroughs. Secondly, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, that supermarkets remain on the back foot regarding the use of plastic packaging. Having strolled through two markets yesterday, I saw plenty of free plastic being given out, demonstrating that understanding of the detrimental impact on the environment remains inadequate. Does the Minister agree that the visual campaign needs to be broadened, including in various languages?

Finally, on the use of alternatives to plastic straws and cotton buds, I agree that more needs to be done in respect of manufacturing robust materials. I have a disabled family member and grandchildren, and I know that paper straws and cotton buds crumble very easily and often do not function adequately, so I welcome the exemption. Does the Minister agree that now is not the time for punitive measures such as fining companies, without first educating people and producing durable alternatives?