Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Anne McGuire(9 years, 3 months ago)
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Mr Hammond
The Prime Minister has made it clear that any Government of whom he is Prime Minister will be committed to that referendum.
Dame Anne McGuire (Stirling) (Lab)
T9. This week, as part of the congregation of Stirling Methodist church, I joined other local politicians in writing to the UN about a global climate agreement in Paris. Can the Secretary of State tell us what work is being done on the agreements reached in Lima in December 2014, leading up to the Paris conference in 2015?
Mr Hammond
As it happens, I can, because the item was on the agenda at the European Foreign Affairs Council yesterday, when there was an update report on the work programme that was agreed at Lima. My French colleague reported on the progress that is being made. The French are confident that we are making good progress towards a substantive agreement in Paris later this year. EU colleagues agreed that we should continue to lobby the countries that are perhaps considered to be back-markers; and, in particular, that European Union countries should seek to exert as much pressure as possible on China and the United States, both of which appear now to be in a good place on this agenda. We need to make sure that they stay there.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Anne McGuire(9 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Hammond
I think that the correct response is simply to ignore, and refuse to recognise, the results of any elections that were organised illegally by the separatists.
Mrs Anne McGuire (Stirling) (Lab)
24. Sanctions should be a means to a diplomatic end. These sanctions are clearly having an impact on the Russian economy, but will the Secretary of State update the House on what diplomatic reaction there has been from President Putin in the light of the pressure on his economy?
Mr Hammond
I do not think that the phrases “diplomatic reaction” and “President Putin” usually go hand in hand. There has certainly been a reaction from President Putin, but I am not sure whether it could be described as diplomatic.
Channels are open. The Germans, in particular, maintain a close dialogue with the Kremlin. I think that the Kremlin understands, and needs to understand, the determination of the European Union to stand firm, and the fact that Russia must honour its obligations under the Minsk agreement. There is nothing else to discuss at the moment.