Black Lives Matter

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I thank the noble Baroness for that question. We have a ministerial board on deaths in custody to ensure that we are driving forward the recommendations of Dame Elish Angiolini. On exports to the US, the UK has issued licences that permit the export of crowd control equipment to the US, but we continue to monitor closely developments there, and we consider all export applications within a strict risk assessment framework. We keep all licences under careful and continual review.

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the British response following the death of George Floyd in America has rightly been to condemn the excessive use of force which led to his tragic death. In reflecting on this dreadful occurrence, does my noble friend the Minister agree that British policing represents everything that is great about our law enforcement, particularly with regard to policing communities? Does she agree that representations should be made to America that policing by consent is, by far, the preferred method of delivery, as opposed to policing by force?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I agree with my noble friend. As he says, we police by consent in this country. Our world -class police officers continue to put their own lives on the line to protect the public during the protests, despite coming under attack. We ask our police officers to do the most difficult of jobs, and they are respected around the world for the excellent work they do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to give that commitment, as we always do. I am very clear that it was right to take action to prevent the slaughter that Colonel Gaddafi would have carried out against his people in Benghazi. I believe that was right. Of course, Libya is in a state that is very concerning right now, and everyone has to take their responsibilities for that. What I would say is that after the conflict the British Government did support the training of Libyan troops, we did bring the Libyan Prime Minister to the G8 in Northern Ireland and we went to the United Nations and passed resolutions to help that Government, but so far we have not been able to bring about a Government of national accord that can bring some semblance of stability and peace to that country. Is it in our interest to help the Government do exactly that? Yes, it is, and we should be working with others to try to deliver that.

[Byron Davies (Gower) (Con)]

Q3. My constituency of Gower, which was won for the first time ever by the Conservatives, could be transformed, along with the rest of the region, by the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. Having signed a £1.2 billion deal for Cardiff yesterday, will the Prime Minister give an absolute assurance that the Government review of tidal lagoons will do everything to ensure that the wider Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project fits the UK energy strategy, and does he recognise the economic potential it will bring to the Swansea bay region?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. I remember visiting his constituency just after his excellent victory last year. I seem to remember that we went to a brewery for a mild celebration. He is right that tidal lagoons do have potential. Last month, we launched an independent review of tidal lagoon power to understand the technology better. We will look carefully at the findings of that review and continue working closely with the developers in order to make a decision on Swansea.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Wednesday 16th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Lady might be aware that, in our recently published aid strategy, we committed to investing around 50% of our DFID investment in so-called fragile and conflict states, precisely because we need to recognise that this is not just a matter of dealing with conflict after it has happened, and that we need to work to prevent it and to deal with fragility prior to issues taking place and causing huge distress.

[Byron Davies (Gower) (Con)]

How much has my right hon. Friend’s Department spent in the past two years on humanitarian assistance in Syria and in the neighbouring countries that are receiving Syrian refugees?

[Justine Greening]

Over the course of the entire conflict, we have provided around £1.1 billion. That is our biggest-ever response to a humanitarian crisis. About half of that has been provided inside Syria, and around half has been used to support people in the region. There are now 4.4 million refugees outside Syria. It is vital that this work should continue, and we will continue to lead it.