Today’s Business of the House
Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Russell Brown(9 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab)
May I quietly remind the Leader of the House that during the last Parliament, when he was on the Opposition side of the House and I sat on the Government, he spoke before me in a debate and I then paid him the compliment—some might say it was not a compliment—that in my view, he was quite frankly the best of a bad bunch on the Opposition Benches? I have to say to him that he has gone down seriously in my estimation today, and that will be shared by many across the country. As the shadow Leader of the House has said, this is a grubby piece of work. The hand and fingerprints of the Prime Minister are on this, and I just hope that the Leader of the House will seriously consider what he is doing.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Russell Brown(11 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Hague
As my hon. Friend will know, there is a great variety of views. I find that there is enormous gratitude for what we have done and what we try to do diplomatically, and for the huge amount of humanitarian assistance that is provided, but yes, there are also members of Syrian opposition groups who would like us to do something different, and who would like a military intervention from outside. As I have explained to the House before, we do not rule out any options. We do not know how the situation will develop. However, for reasons that I have given the House many times before, it is very different from the situation in Libya last year.
Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab)
5. What his policy is on proposals to give Palestine enhanced status at the UN.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)
No application for enhanced status is currently before the United Nations. The whole House supports the right of the Palestinian people to have a state of their own: that state cannot come soon enough for them, and for the peace and stability of the region. We support a sovereign Palestinian state on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, Jerusalem as the shared capital and a just settlement for refugees, and we will judge any proposal at the UN on whether it advances that goal.
Mr Hague
: The hon. Gentleman is right: President Abbas has stated that intention. However, no proposal is currently before the UN. In our view, the priority is for the United States—after the election, obviously, and whoever is successful—to lead a major push to restart negotiations and arrive at a two-state solution. The opportunity to do that is slipping away, and may have slipped away completely within another year or two. For the present US Administration it is absolutely crucial, and we have already said that to President Obama and to Governor Romney. Any decision on votes at the UN must be made on the basis of actual proposals.
I think the hon. Gentleman will infer from what I am saying that we believe that actual negotiations would be infinitely preferable to divisive symbolic gestures, and we are advising President Abbas not to go down the path of tabling such a resolution at the moment.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Hague of Richmond and Russell Brown(13 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Hague
It is possible for some of the expenditure of the BBC World Service to be classified in the way that my hon. Friend describes. In the Foreign Office we have done everything we can to give financial support, including transitional support, to the BBC World Service. She will be aware of the fact that in three years it will be funded by the BBC licence fee, and that transfer of funding will give new opportunities for the future. But every part of the public sector must contribute to improving its efficiency and saving money; there is no getting away from that.
Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab)
None of us can imagine the plight that tens of thousands of people are experiencing in Japan at this time, and they include UK citizens. My constituent’s son, his wife and their seven-month-old child are stuck in the north of Sendai city. They are in a hotel where a bus turned up this morning and took away a number of European nationals who were fit and healthy, including Irish nationals. However, the only advice being given by our Foreign Office is, regrettably, just that—advice. It is not assisting with transport. Can something more be done?