Middle East
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Purvis of Tweed(6 days, 19 hours ago)
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The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, I welcome the announcement of the ceasefire, as I am sure noble Lords do. This is an extremely important moment for the Middle East. However, we must not overlook—I paraphrase the Minister from the earlier Question—the fragility of the current situation or the long and challenging road ahead. Can the Minister tell the House what actions His Majesty’s Government are taking to encourage the ceasefire to hold?
This pivotal juncture was tragically precipitated by the horrific Hamas terror attack of 7 October: the worst terror attack in Israel’s history and the most murderous pogrom against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The atrocities committed on that day stand as a chilling reminder of the dangers of allowing such groups to operate unchecked. We are heartened to witness the return of the first hostages under this agreement, including British national Emily Damari. These brave individuals, who have endured unimaginable trauma, will now face the long journey of rebuilding their lives. I hope all noble Lords will join me in praying for their continued health and well-being.
As we reflect, we must also remember the victims of those appalling attacks: those who lost their lives, those murdered in captivity and those whose lives have been irrevocably altered. The cruelty of Hamas over the past 15 months underscores the necessity of holding such groups accountable. Every single hostage must be safely returned to their loved ones and the international community must continue pressing for their unconditional release. Can the Minister tell me what actions His Majesty’s Government are taking to support the safe return of all hostages?
I echo the Foreign Secretary’s acknowledgement of the essential roles played by Qatar, Egypt and the United States in facilitating this agreement. These efforts underscore the importance of diplomatic engagement, and the UK must continue to be an active partner in supporting the next steps to ensure that the ceasefire holds.
In other debates in your Lordships’ House, we have looked at humanitarian assistance. Could the Minister say what additional humanitarian assistance the Government are planning to provide to alleviate the suffering of civilians affected by the ongoing conflict, particular in Gaza? How will the logistics work? From what I have heard in this House before, part of the problem is the logistics of getting the aid to those who need it. I look forward to the Government’s response and their continued commitment to playing a constructive role in this critical moment for the Middle East.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, I agree with the noble Earl that this is an incredibly fragile situation, and I acknowledge the caution in the Foreign Secretary’s remarks and tone in the House of Commons last week. It is fundamentally a cessation of hostilities rather than a peace agreement, and there is still a very high level of uncertainty in many areas for the days and weeks ahead.
I also wish to put on record the work of the intelligence services of Qatar, the USA, Egypt and Israel. It was noted that, until fairly recently, Prime Minister Netanyahu refused diplomatic negotiations; it was all led by the intelligence services. However the agreement was made, we all hope that it will be sustainable.
I also share the noble Earl’s welcome for the fact that many families are now being reunited with the hostages. It is a tragedy that many families are waiting for the bodies of hostages, rather than live hostages. Hamas should never be forgiven for their actions.
There will be many in Israeli society who were shocked at the armed al-Qassam Brigades being very visible on the streets. Many had assumed that, as a result of the IDF’s actions, Hamas was removed, but it still looks as though it is very present. Does the Minister agree with the previous US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in his assessment, which he made public, that Hamas has recruited the same number of fighters today as it has lost? What is the Government’s assessment of the current standing of Hamas, and how will that have an impact on any relationship with Fatah and the PLO in the Palestinian Authority?
On reconstruction, the needs are enormous. I will not repeat the question I asked the Minister in Oral Questions some minutes ago; I will just put on record that I agree with everything he said in response. I hope that the Government will find a way of ensuring that education for children in the region is at the top of our priorities. One of the consequences of conflict is that it is often the next generation that is more radicalised than the previous one. Given the scale of the conflict in Gaza, we all fully understand that, without interventions now in relation to child trauma, psychosocial support and education support, there will be potential threats and danger in the future.
On the situation in the West Bank, what is the Government’s assessment of the report of concessions that the Israeli Prime Minister gave to the remainder of the extreme right wing in his Cabinet? According to those reports, while there could be support for the agreement on Gaza, there are now to be far more IDF and Israeli actions in the West Bank—leading to full annexation, as one continuing Minister in the Israeli Government said. Will the Minister state that that is unacceptable to the UK Government? Will he put on record that we will not follow the new Trump Administration in removing the sanctions that were put in place on the settlers for the violence that they had carried out against innocent communities in their own home areas? Will the Government also take the opportunity to reject the fact that the United States has reinstated supply of the Israeli Government with 2,000-pound bombs, which can bring about only mass destruction of community areas?
On the longer term, does the Minister recognise that my noble friend Lady Northover’s Private Member’s Bill, which we will now debate on 14 March, is an opportunity for us to consider the validity of a two-state solution and the need for the recognition of a state of Palestine? If there is to be diplomatic work on both reconstruction and some form of political way forward, the viability of a Palestinian state needs to be in place.
Finally, I acknowledge that the Government have increased support for the Palestinian Authority, as the Foreign Secretary has indicated. However, our support is still way below the level before the 2018 aid cuts. What is the Government’s intent in respect of replenishing the humanitarian reserve so that we can provide extra support and restore fully the level of governance support to the Palestinian Authority that we provided before the previous Government cut ODA from 0.7%?
Nagorno-Karabakh
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Purvis of Tweed(1 year, 4 months ago)
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The Earl of Courtown (Con)
The noble Lord mentions reconciliation and is quite right on that issue. There have to be talks between the parties, a lasting peace, a cease of violence, and humanitarian access. The points he makes are well made.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, I associate myself with the noble Earl’s words regarding the further tragic deaths just this week. Will he agree that part of the UK’s assistance could be in technical support for peacebuilding work? There is likely to be further huge movement of individuals. There is uncertainty as to who will be the guarantors of the security and there is confusion over the role of Russia and the former peacekeepers. The UK can play an important role in this, so I hope we are offering that.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
The noble Lord makes some good points. As he is aware, Russian peacekeepers are there, but Azerbaijan’s ability to conduct a military operation in full sight of them shows how committed Moscow is to peace and security in this area. This is an ongoing situation and the position is unclear, but we are making every effort to make representations. As I said earlier, my noble friend Lord Ahmad is at the UN. There is a UN Security Council meeting later today, where he will make these points. Later in the week, he has meetings with Foreign Ministers from that area, particularly the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan.
Rhodes Wildfires: Repatriation of Holidaymakers
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Purvis of Tweed
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, I quite understand the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon. The situation in Rhodes is stabilising at the moment. The vast majority of the island is not affected by these fires and, as I said, our travel advice is kept under constant review. I understand the situation for people taking valued holidays in difficult times; they really want some certainty. I will take that back.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, I will inform the House of the current FCDO guidance. Its website says:
“If you are planning to travel to any areas affected by wildfires, please check with your travel operator or hotel prior to travel”.
Is it safe, in the coming days and weeks, for people from the UK to travel to the areas affected by wildfires?
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, as I said, the situation is stabilising—I had a call with the department earlier this morning—and the majority of the island is not affected by these fires. As I have reiterated time and again, the travel advice is kept under constant review.
Saudi Arabia: Mass Execution
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Purvis of Tweed
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Collins, raises the issue of the juvenile death penalty. As I said in my earlier Answer, the British embassy at Riyadh closely monitors all juvenile death penalty defendants and regularly attempts to attend their trials. In April 2020, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced a moratorium on death penalty sentences for individuals who committed discretionary crimes of violence. The noble Lord also mentioned our engagement with the Saudi Arabian Government, and I can say that engagement carries on, at all levels and at every opportunity. At every opportunity in the future, we will continue to raise issues relating to the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, the Government’s last human rights report highlighted what they considered to be real progress by Saudi Arabia on the use of the death penalty, but that has now been horrifically reversed. Indeed, the Government’s own human rights report singled out that Saudi Arabia does not allow external witnesses to its trials. Last week, the noble Lord, Lord Grimstone, and officials were offering Saudi Arabia greater market access to our aerospace industry and now we are in negotiations to offer it preferential access to the City of London. Will the Government give an indication that they are not just concerned about this but will remove preferential market access for Saudi Arabia in the UK economy for grievous and horrific human rights abuses?
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord is quite right in how he has described these abuses, and I was personally shocked to read the news over the weekend about the execution of 81 individuals. The noble Lord also mentioned human rights: yes, we are particularly concerned over a variety of human rights issues relating to arrest and the continued detention of individuals, and my noble friend Lord Ahmad raises this on all levels. All these issues are always under review. We have a very close relationship with Saudi Arabia and this enables us to have full and frank discussions over these issues.
NHS: Future UK Trade Deals
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Purvis of Tweed
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Desai, is quite right. I speak in relation to any future trade deal and how we protect the NHS. Of course, the NHS is open to private companies in various ways and they serve it in many useful matters. I was looking at where we are and the future protection that we need for the NHS in any trade deals we enter into.
As I said to the noble Lord, Lord Desai, under existing competition rules, the NHS in England does not discriminate against foreign firms wishing to bid for clinical contracts—I know that I am repeating myself but this is important—provided that they meet UK requirements and standards and are approved by UK regulators. In practice, this means that foreign companies are already eligible to bid for NHS clinical contracts in England, regardless of whether the UK has a trade deal in place with a given country. However, few do so as they cannot readily meet our requirements. Only a small amount of NHS work is carried out in the private sector. Trade deals will not force the NHS to provide preferential access to foreign companies.
The noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, mentioned data, as did the noble Lords, Lord Purvis and Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe, the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and my noble friend Lady Fairhead. The UK has committed to maintaining a high level of data protection standards, which are set out in the Data Protection Act 2018. The UK recognises the importance of data protection to ensure that data continues to flow uninterrupted and to enable trading partners to build trust through the transparent treatment of personal data. Patient information will never be sold for marketing or insurance purposes unless the patient has explicitly consented. The Government’s principles governing data-sharing agreements entered into by the NHS, published in draft in December 2018, require that data may be assessed by third parties only where there is an explicit aim to improve the health and care of patients in the UK and a fair share of benefits from any agreement flow back to the NHS.
The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, also mentioned data protection. The Government take seriously the use and sharing of NHS data. I reiterate what my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care stated recently:
“NHS data must always be held securely, with the appropriate and proper strong privacy and cyber-security protections”.—[Official Report, Commons, 18/6/19; col. 114.]
Both the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are aware of the sensitivity of patient data; I can confirm that both departments will work closely together to ensure that trade negotiations will not undermine the safeguards we have in place around healthcare data that enable the public to trust in what it is used for, while realising its value and ensuring the fair distribution of associated benefits.
The noble Lord, Lord Brooke, the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and my noble friends Lady Fairhead and Lord Lansley mentioned ISDSs, which do not and cannot force the privatisation of public services. To be absolutely clear: ISDSs will not oblige the Government to open the NHS up to further competition and overseas companies will not be able to take legal action to force us to do so. The NHS will continue to be free at the point of delivery and of use for everyone who needs it. The protections here are in law.
The noble Lord, Lord Brooke, looked at the preparations for a UK-US trade deal and asked when we will publish our objectives. We are well prepared for those negotiations; there have already been four or five initial meetings. As for domestic preparation, we held a 14-week consultation on our approach to a US trade deal, to which we had nearly 160,000 responses, which we have carefully considered; we will publish a summary of them shortly. We will publish our negotiation objectives before negotiations begin and ensure that Parliament has a chance to consider them. We are laying the groundwork for an FTA through our UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group. As I said, it has met five times and will meet again before the Summer Recess.
Lord Purvis of Tweed
The Minister said that he would present the conclusions of the consultation plus the objectives to inform Parliament. This House amended the Trade Bill to state that that is not sufficient. If he could address that point in his last few minutes, I would be grateful.
Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Purvis of Tweed
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, is the suspension of any new licences for equipment not rendered a nonsense if existing integrated training and engagements are carried out by the British and Saudi air forces? These have included Operation Green Flag, which concluded in December last year and of which Major General Haidar bin Rafie Al-Omari, the commander, said:
“The Green Flag exercise involves all our air force combat systems supporting Operation Decisive Storm and Operation Restoring Hope (in Yemen)”.
He added:
“The British Royal Air Force aims to integrate all combat systems, including air combat, air support and electronic warfare”.
Will the review ensure that not only equipment licences but current training are suspended?
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, the noble Lord has made a number of points. The fact is that, as far as existing UK military personnel are concerned, we are providing information, advice and training to help Saudi Arabia minimise threats as well as sharing techniques for minimising civilian casualties. All UK personnel remain under UK command and control. I am not aware of the exercise mentioned by the noble Lord, but I will of course ask my officials about it.