Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 19th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

What recent assessment the Government has made of the (a) political and (b) humanitarian situation in Yemen.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

What recent discussions he has had with the US Secretary of State on that Administration’s proposed designation of Houthis as a terror group.

[Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford and Eccles) (Lab)]

What support the UK is providing to the UN’s work to secure peace in Yemen.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Cleverly]

We must see an end to Iran’s destabilising influence in Yemen, which has stoked further conflict. We have raised this issue directly with the Iranian Government. Iran’s provision of weapons to the Houthis is in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 2216 and the UN Security Council embargo on the export of weapons by Iran. We remain deeply concerned at Iran’s political, financial and military support to a number of militant and proscribed groups in the region, and we will continue working with international partners to dissuade Iran from proliferation and wider destabilising actions.

[Alison Thewliss [V]]

Mark Lowcock, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, has clearly stated that the US’s designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group will push Yemen into a famine on a scale not seen for 40 years and that only a reversal of the US decision will fix this, so could I ask the Minister what the UK Government are doing to avert this catastrophe and get the US Administration to change their mind?

[James Cleverly]

Following President Trump’s Administration’s decision to designate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organisation, we have requested that the US put in place comprehensive exemptions to limit the humanitarian impact and the impact on commercial imports and the UN peace effort. Our priority is to support the UN peace effort, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will engage with the incoming US Administration on this and a number of other important bilateral issues.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is always a great champion for all the different community groups in his constituency. He is right to talk about the importance of balance in these UN resolutions. In fact, our record has not changed in recent years; it has been consistent. We support the Palestinian right to self-determination consistent with a two-state solution. We support the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. We have called out illegal Israeli settlements. In relation to Jerusalem, what he says is not quite correct, because the resolution explicitly notes its importance as a holy site for the three monotheistic religions. We have also voted against one resolution and abstained on three precisely because we did not feel they were balanced.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP) [V]]

Oxfam has said that the US designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organisation has already meant that banks are refusing to facilitate vital commercial wheat and rice imports to Yemen. What specific conversations have the UK Government had with the banks on that matter?

[Dominic Raab]

We can talk to the banks, but of course they will follow the designation made by the US. As the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, my right hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (James Cleverly), said earlier, we are concerned that those sanctions and that designation will not allow for the humanitarian aid that we, the hon. Lady and others across the House feel is absolutely essential to alleviate the blight of the conflict in Yemen. It is also right to say that the effort has to be on bringing that conflict to resolution, which can happen only through Martin Griffiths and the UN-sponsored plan.

Yemen

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Thursday 24th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

First, I thank hon. Members for securing this debate. I am glad to see the hon. Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond) back in the House, because she is a strong voice for Yemen.

I wish to draw the House’s attention to the third report of the UN group of eminent experts on Yemen, entitled “A Pandemic of Impunity in a Tortured Land”. The chair of that group, Kamel Jendoubi, has implored the international community to take action and

“not turn a blind eye”

any longer. So much of what has happened in Yemen has been incredibly well documented, and we all know that that has happened.

The eminent experts recognise that

“there are no clean hands in this conflict”.

However, I ask all Members to reflect on the group’s statements, particularly on arms sales. It says that

“the continued supply of weapons to parties to the conflict is only perpetuating the conflict and prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people.”

Anybody who is selling arms into that conflict should bear that in mind. I ask the Minister to respond in particular to the recommendation by the group of eminent experts that the situation in Yemen should be referred to the International Criminal Court. Will he support that very strong recommendation?

Will the Minister consider speaking to his colleagues in the Home Office? There should be a place of safety in this country for Yemenis who reach these shores. As the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Kim Johnson) said, however, that has not been the case. Last week, May Bulman reported in The Independent that Yemenis were among those the Home Office tried to put on a removal flight. This matters; it has been going on for as long as the war. A Yemeni constituent the Home Office tried to remove, not long after I was first elected in 2015, eventually got sanctuary in Glasgow, but I wish that many more Yemenis who reach these shores were able to get that peace of mind and safety.

Let me reflect on some comments from people in Yemen and what they are asking for, and particularly on the position of women within peace negotiations, which is incredibly important. Dr Bilqis Abu Osba, head of the Awam Foundation for Development and Culture, says of women and their involvement in peace building that

“the inclusion of women and youth in any upcoming peace process is an assurance for comprehensive and just peace for all Yemenis.”

I encourage the Minister to ensure that as many women’s organisations as possible are included in those negotiation to help build the peace.

Other organisations such as Amnesty, Mwatana for Human Rights, and the Mothers of Abductees Association have raised particular concerns about the failure to implement measures in the Stockholm agreements regarding the return of those who have been kidnapped, detained or forcibly disappeared. Many people have disappeared. People do not know where they are, and their families remain concerned about their prospects. It seems particularly brutal that that situation is still going on, despite being mentioned in those agreements. I urge the Minister to consider what more can be done to ensure that people can get back home to their families.

Finally, I will mention one person who was forcibly disappeared by the Houthis, but who was able to return to his family. Hisham al-Omeisy spoke on Peace Day, and I will conclude with what he said:

“I’m haunted by the ghosts of thousands of souls lost in the brutal Yemen conflict asking if it was worth it. It wasn’t. Violence was never the answer. Sadly, we can’t change the past. But we can learn and charter a new path for reconciliation and peace together.”

I urge the Government to take that on board.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Paul Holmes (Eastleigh) (Con)]

What recent assessment the Government have made of the political and humanitarian situation in Yemen.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

What recent assessment he has made of the political and humanitarian situation in Yemen.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Cleverly]

I agree with my hon. Friend on that. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary speaks with his international counterparts about the international effort to support Yemen, and I speak with the Yemenis themselves. The best thing that can happen for the people of Yemen is for the conflict to cease, which is why diplomatic pressure is applied to that end.

[Alison Thewliss [V]]

Today, Oxfam campaigners are visiting the new FCDO to hand in a letter on behalf of thousands of people, including my constituents, that calls on the UK Government to stop fuelling the war in Yemen and to reverse the decision to resume arms sales licences to Saudi Arabia. Does the Secretary of State not accept the inherent contradiction between selling arms with one part of the FCDO and providing aid with the other? Does he also accept that what Yemen needs is an urgent and immediate ceasefire, rather than an escalation of this five-year-old conflict?

[James Cleverly]

The UK has an internationally respected and robust arms trade licensing regime. We have a close working relationship with the allies that are involved in the conflict in Yemen, to minimise civilian casualties and collateral damage. It is completely legitimate for all countries around the world to defend themselves against external aggression, and we are proud of the work we are doing to help the people of Yemen through this difficult time.

Hong Kong National Security Legislation: UK Response

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We will raise this, as we have raised it consistently, with the Chinese Government at every level—of course, to the extent that they are willing to engage. The important point is to engage with China, to the extent that we can, on these very specific points and the specific basis that I have set out. Of course, China just looks the other way and wants to ignore and flout not just international law but international opinion, and of course there are going to be consequences for its own ambitions in the world.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

The Foreign Secretary has talked about the potential to extend to BNO passport holders the right to stay in the UK for an extendable period of 12 months. What would happen after those 12 months? What specific discussions has he had with his colleagues at the Home Office? What rights will be extended to those passport holders’ dependants?

[Dominic Raab]

The purpose of offering extendable periods of 12 months is that there will be no guillotine that comes down. It allows BNO passport holders to come here. We are removing the six-month limitation. They can apply to work and study, and that will itself create a path to citizenship. I have been engaged with the Home Secretary and, indeed, other Ministers since last September, looking at the detail. There is further consideration that we are giving to it. Of course, it is about giving effect to those rights as effectively as possible, but also doing it in the most straightforward and swift way we possibly can.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank my hon. Friend for that. It is a tragic but timely warning that some of the persistent social challenges we face on knife crime, or any other kind of crime, will persist and will not just stay at home because of coronavirus, although overall the level of crime has come down. I send my deepest sympathies to the families of the victims in his constituency. May I reassure him that we have committed to recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years? We are making it easier for the police to exercise stop-and-search powers. We are ensuring that more perpetrators go to prison, and for longer. He will know that it is for PCCs to decide how and where to spend their resources, but I pay tribute to him for being a tenacious and doughty champion on crime issues and the policing that needs to take place in his constituency.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP) [V]]

Many businesses in my constituency and around the UK shut their doors on public health advice and are now finding that insurers are refusing to pay out on business interruption policies. I ask again: will the UK Government intervene and stand behind those claims so that no business loses out for doing the right thing?

[Dominic Raab]

I do not think it is the right thing to do to stand behind all the claims, but we certainly continue to liaise with the insurance industry to make sure, as far as is legally and practically possible, that it is showing the flexibility as people, and particularly the consumers of those insurance policies, come through this very difficult time.

Covid-19

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I reassure the hon. Lady that, in both the cases she referred to, we are actively looking at the solutions we can provide for UK nationals. She is right to raise the issue of scalable support. I am making sure that all the resource available will be focused on coronavirus in the weeks ahead, so of course there is an element of scalability. We have the resilience to get through this crisis, and I am confident that we will.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

Another case of people stuck in Morocco was raised with me today—that of a family with three young children. I understand they were due to fly back on 24 March, but flights have been suspended. May I have clarity on when they can come home to Glasgow? They are stockpiling food and just do not know when they will be able to get back. What advice can the Secretary of State offer?

[Dominic Raab]

The Africa Minister has already made it clear that he will follow up on all those cases, so we will certainly look at the case of the hon. Lady’s constituents. I am writing to all hon. Members with practical advice about how they can stay up to date by following the real-time advice. We will continue to give the hon. Lady and all other hon. Members as much advice as swiftly as possible to provide for the safety but also the return of their constituents.

Recent Violence in India

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

My hon. Friend speaks with great knowledge and passion on all these matters and is right to raise this issue. I will speak to my ministerial colleague, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, who I know has a close relationship with the high commissioner. I am sure that this matter has been raised, but on behalf of my hon. Friend and his constituents, I will ensure that Lord Ahmad has a meeting with the high commissioner shortly.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

Many of my constituents have raised concerns about the ongoing situation in India and Jammu and Kashmir. There is something the Minister could do to be of assistance. There will be many people within the UK Visas and Immigration system awaiting a decision, including people who have been through religious persecution already. What advice would he give to his colleagues in the Home Office on how those cases should be dealt with and will he ensure that the advice on India and Jammu and Kashmir is updated to reflect the ongoing situation?

[Nigel Adams]

We regularly update our advice on Kashmir via the FCO website and we encourage people to take close notice of that. I am sure that my colleagues in the Home Office will have noted the hon. Lady’s question and will make sure she gets a follow-up.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alison Thewliss Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Australia is a signatory to the Paris agreement, and a number of Australian states have already committed to net zero by 2050. Ahead of COP26 we look forward to working with Australia to increase its climate ambition, in line with principles that it has already agreed to.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)]

Last week we left the European Union to become an independent country, delivering on the promise made by politicians to the British people. Later today I will be departing for Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, to deliver on this Government’s vision of a truly global Britain.

[Alison Thewliss]

Yesterday the World Health Organisation evacuated 30 patients from Yemen who needed urgent medical treatment, including several children, but those are very much the lucky exceptions. What is the Foreign Secretary doing, together with his international counterparts, to negotiate peace in Yemen, so that all its people can receive medical assistance when they need it?

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Lady raises a conflict that I, and the whole Government, are very concerned about. We work with all our international partners, and in the past week I met the Saudi Foreign Minister to consider how we can pursue dialogue and get a peaceful resolution to that conflict, not only for the parties and the region, but also for the vulnerable people affected.