Israel: DfID Secretary of State Meetings

Lord Beith Excerpts

Tuesday 7th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

Just a minute—I was making that point. To answer the specific point made by the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, on who is responsible, the Secretary of State provided detail in her statement yesterday of what was discussed in the meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: the Secretary of State’s family background, her personal journey, the Israeli domestic political scene, India, the Prime Minister’s forthcoming visit to the UK and prospects for closer collaboration between Israel and the UK on development. Should those discussions have been circulated earlier? That is why the Secretary of State apologised and why the Prime Minister accepted that apology.

[Lord Beith (LD)]

The Ministers of this country are representatives of the Government of this country, whether on holiday or official visits. Clearly, there are principles, are there not, which ought to be clear about the support Ministers should have and the kind of reporting that needs to take place. Are these not principles that apply, whatever country was involved?

[Lord Bates]

This case has highlighted some ambiguity in the operations in travelling overseas for Ministers. The benefit that will come from this is greater clarity on what those rules and procedures should be. Clearly, we are entering a very important stage in the UK’s global relations. We want to make sure we are as joined up as possible, working together as a team and leveraging all our personal contacts around the world for the UK national interest. Lessons will be learned, not least by the Secretary of State.