Oral Answers to Questions

Alistair Carmichael Excerpts

Monday 8th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to help protect shipping routes through the Red sea.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

6. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Royal Navy in protecting merchant shipping routes in conflict zones.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Grant Shapps)]

Happy new year, Mr Speaker.

The Royal Navy and the Government are committed to the protection of maritime trade, ensuring that both people and shipping remain safe to travel through international waters. That work is driven by the latest intelligence and analysis of that picture. As I said on 19 December in my written statement, HMS Diamond has joined our partners and allies as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect freedom of navigation and merchant shipping in the Red sea and the gulf of Aden.

--- Later in debate ---

[Grant Shapps]

As my hon. Friend will know, the Houthis have been causing havoc in that part of the Red sea, in particular attacking ships. There was a 500% increase in attacks on maritime shipping from November to December, showing that there is no direct connection to the wider conflict in the region but a decision by Houthis to attack free trade. That is unacceptable. We are working with our partners, through Operation Prosperity Guardian and other measures, to tackle it.

[Mr Carmichael]

The Secretary of State is absolutely right to point the finger at the Houthis, but we should not ignore the role of Iran in this enterprise. What are he and the Government doing with our international partners to ensure that the merchant marine have the confidence to keep using the Red sea, which is critical to the smooth operating of world trade?

[Grant Shapps]

We call on the Iranian-backed Houthis to immediately cease these attacks. The Houthis will bear the responsibility and, I have to say, the consequences should they ignore those warnings. The right hon. Gentleman asks what more we have been doing; I issued a statement along with 10 other countries during the break, in which we made clear that consequences will follow if they do not stop this action. To be clear, the UK will not tolerate the Houthis closing international waterways.