Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 27th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Earlier this month the Syrian crisis entered its eighth year. Are we getting any nearer to an international solution?

[Alistair Burt]

I wish I could say yes, but that would not be entirely correct. The efforts being made by Staffan de Mistura, whom I also spoke to over the weekend, deserve our full commendation and support, but it is a difficult process. On the ground, there is the determination of the regime and its allies to continue their attacks against both the civilian population and others in the enclaves and areas that they are attacking now. If the regime would co-operate fully with the Geneva process, which it should do, these attacks could end instantly and the political process could be changed overnight.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alistair Burt]

We continue to engage with a significantly important country in the region. Human rights form part of the dialogue with Egypt at all times. Internal matters are a matter for them, but I assure the hon. Lady that the relationship has to be strong to deal with exactly the sort of issues that she raises.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State join me in reiterating that the issues this House and the international community have with Russia are with Putin and his cronies, not the long-suffering and hard-pressed Russian people, who are victims in this themselves?

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point, which is made repeatedly by Members across the Chamber but cannot be made often enough. Our quarrel is not with the Russian people. We hold out the hand of friendship to the Russian people. They are not ringed with enemies. Our dispute is with the Kremlin as it is currently managed and the currently disruptive manner of Russian policy.

Government Policy on Russia

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 6th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

Obviously, we must leave it to the police and the security services to do what they can to bring the perpetrators of yesterday’s crime, or attempted crime, to justice.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Here in the UK, we often say that pride comes before a fall. In Russia, it is rather different. They say that if you have no pride, you will surely fall. Will my right hon. Friend reassure the House that, in the dealings of the Foreign Office and other Departments with Russia, full account is taken of the Russian psychology, which respects only strength?

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend is entirely right, which is why the UK has been at the forefront of those calling for a robust approach to Russia both in the Baltics and in the western Balkans.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I am not certain that it would be right—or even if you would grant me permission, Mr Speaker—to make another statement after meeting Mr Ratcliffe, but I can tell the House that I believe it certainly would be appropriate to make a statement following any trip to Iran it might be possible to organise.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that Members of this House accepting huge amounts of money for appearing on the Iranian state broadcaster raises the danger of giving legitimacy to a regime that is holding UK citizens without grounds to do so?

Points of Order

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 21st February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

If the case that the hon. Lady is referring to is the one that I am thinking of, I have written to her about it.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You quite rightly apologised to the Lord Speaker for unilaterally seeking to ban the President of the United States from speaking in Westminster Hall. When can we expect an apology in this Chamber?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I treated of that matter very fully both on the day in question, when I responded to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), and on the following day, when there were points of order. I cannot recall whether the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) was in his place at that time, but I responded to points of order and the matter was addressed fully, so we shall leave it there. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his interest.

US Immigration Policy

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 30th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

Our policy on receiving refugees has not changed, and we have a good record. The United States, to the best of my knowledge, has taken about 12,000 Syrian refugees alone. As I said earlier, I do not think that anybody could reasonably fault the United States of America as a great recipient of migrants from around the world. If we look at the numbers—45 million people in the US were not born in that country—we see that it has a very distinguished record.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend share my disappointment that so many Members of this House have got so used to our not having control of our own immigration policy that they appear to resent another sovereign country having control of theirs?

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend puts it bluntly, but accurately. Whatever Members may think about this policy—there is a wide measure of agreement about the policy across the House—it is the prerogative of the President of the United States and the American Government to do this.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 24th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that the money that this country spends supporting refugees in Iraq and Syria can support a far greater number of people far better than attempting to relocate refugees to the UK, and that it is right that the focus of our efforts is to support people in the region?

[Mr Ellwood]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The Yazidis as a group are endogamous and have not grown as much as other groupings in Iraq. They want to stay together and they want to stay in the area. For every one person that we are able to support in the UK, we can support more than 20 people in location—clearly, on a different standard, but it means that our money can go a lot further and we can pride ourselves on being one of the largest supporters in Syria and Iraq.

Government Referendum Leaflet

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

The Government have always said that we would take, and express, a clear view. As long ago as 10 June last year, the Prime Minister said:

“I do not want us to be neutral on this issue; I want us to speak clearly and frankly.”—[Official Report, 10 June 2015; Vol. 596, c. 1179.]

The Foreign Secretary and I have repeated that point in the House on several occasions.

If my hon. Friend looks at Hansard and at reports of Select Committee evidence, he will see that Ministers consistently referred to and discussed the absence of any intention of publishing leaflets, carrying out door drops or advertising in the context of debates and questions about the final 28 days of the campaign, and whether or not the preparation arrangements ought to be amended.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

The British public recognise a democratic deficit when they see one, and they see this £9 million propaganda leaflet as unfair, biased, and just un-British. Since the moment it was announced, I have been inundated with communications from people who now wish to campaign for us to leave. Will the Government be releasing figures for the number of their propaganda leaflets that are returned in the post, and has that been budgeted for?

[Mr Lidington]

As I said earlier, the cost of 34p per household is reasonable. I think that the public would be astonished if, having reached a clear view about this important decision, the Government neglected to express that view clearly by all means legally available to them. The truth is, I think, that what my hon. Friend yearns for is silence and neutrality on the Government’s part, but that is not what he is going to get.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

We oppose the death penalty in every country in the world, including Saudi Arabia, where it is still part of the criminal law. The abolition of the death penalty remains integral to all the human rights work that my Department does.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

I welcome the fact that the long-term trend is for reducing the number of executions and also the number of states carrying out executions. Will the Minister join me in expressing concern about areas of the world where that is not the case? Does he agree that if it is wrong to take a life, it is wrong for the state to take a life in revenge?

[Mr Lidington]

That is certainly my view, and the Government’s position is to oppose capital punishment. We need also to bear in mind the fact that while capital punishment exists, it is potentially a risk for a British citizen, anywhere in the world, who might be found guilty of a criminal offence.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

On three occasions, this House—the elected House—has voted against lowering the voting age to 16 for the referendum, and the Government will propose to overturn the latest amendment from the Lords. I must say to the hon. Gentleman that it is a bit rich for him and his party to carp about the franchise, given that they voted against having a referendum at all.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the Minister assure the House that following the completion of the Prime Minister’s renegotiations there will be more than sufficient time before the referendum itself to air arguments both for and against remaining in the EU?

[Mr Lidington]

I can assure my hon. Friend that there is going to be ample time for those arguments to be aired both in this House and outside.

Europe: Renegotiation

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

We believe that Europe needs to take forward with much greater energy and determination the work in securing free trade deals with other countries and regions of the world. The trade strategy recently published by the Commission demonstrates a new and raised level of ambition that we very much welcome, but we want this agenda to be turbocharged.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that when we, as a sovereign Parliament, find ourselves in the position where we cannot even reduce the level of VAT on women’s sanitary products, the European Union has far too much power? Will he join me in criticising those who naively say that they would stay in Europe at any price, thereby undermining our renegotiations because without a walk-away position there can be no meaningful renegotiation?

[Mr Lidington]

The Government are clear that we need some very clear agreed reforms in order to make the recommendation to the British people that the Prime Minister said that he wishes to make, but also the British people will need to see serious reforms if they are to be persuaded to vote in favour of continued British membership. Beyond that, Europe as a whole would benefit from the sort of reforms that we are advocating because there are too many jobless young people in Europe who need greater European competitiveness, and in very many European countries we are seeing a sense of dissatisfaction and alienation from the way in which decisions are currently taken in Brussels.