Xinjiang: Forced Labour

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I point to the work that we did in the Human Rights Council and on the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly where we collated more than 30 countries to support our statement on human rights in both Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Of course, many countries are nervous in their dealings with China because of its asymmetric economic clout. Therefore we need to proceed carefully and sensitively to ensure that we carry with us as many people, and as many countries, in order to have the maximum effect in deterring the actions that China takes and to maximise our chances of protecting human rights.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

I welcome what the Foreign Secretary has said. I think he has been strong, though he could be a bit stronger on sanctions. Right across the piece this is a repressive regime that hates democracy and does not care for human rights. Can he comment on what I thought was a veiled threat from the Chinese ambassador, who recently left our shores, when he said that the UK must make up its mind on whether it is a rival or a partner?

[Dominic Raab]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support. We will not take diktats from any Government on the way we proceed. We recognise, as I said, the scope for positive relations with China; the example I gave was climate change. However, I was also clear that we will absolutely protect every area of our national security and we will stand up for our values. I thought, frankly, that the ambassador’s performance on “The Andrew Marr Show” when he was shown live footage of what is going on in Xinjiang represented all the scrutiny that we need to see and promote. It was a good example of the questions that are left unanswered by the Government in Beijing.

Uyghur Slave Labour: Xinjiang

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 16th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

We are liaising. We are very much aware of the work my hon. Friend refers to, and our officials and Ministers are having discussions in that regard. He mentions sanctions. As he knows, we are constantly and carefully considering further designations, and we will keep all potential listings under review.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

May I remind the Minister, who I have a lot of time for, that we have all-party support on this issue? China is really waging a war against democracy and human rights —not just in Hong Kong and China but worldwide. Is it not about time that we sent President Xi Jinping a strong message that we will not continue to allow investment in our country or to allow wealthy members of the politburo to come to the classic luxury shops in this country—when they are open? Can we not send a stronger message now that we will not put up with this any longer and that our hearts and minds are with the poor persecuted people working as slave labourers?

[Nigel Adams]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. Of course, trade with China is important to the UK. China is the UK’s fourth largest trading partner, and total bilateral trade was worth over £76 billion in the four quarters to the end of quarter 2 2020. However, as we continue to strive for that positive relationship, we will not sacrifice our values or our security. We are absolutely clear-sighted about challenges, and as we continue to engage we will always protect our national interest, speak up and hold China to its international commitments and promises.

Hong Kong: Sentencing of Pro-democracy Activists

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 7th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

There were quite a few questions there. Perhaps my hon. Friend would like to apply for a Westminster Hall debate or some such; given his expertise in this area, that is probably not a bad idea. As I said, British judges have played an important role in supporting the independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary for many years, and we want that to continue. If there were no independent judiciary in Hong Kong, that would naturally play into China’s hands.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

May I remind the Minister that we in this House have a sacred duty? I was a member of one of the many all-party delegations that went to Hong Kong to persuade residents that they should trust China to keep its obligations on one nation, two systems. We have that obligation. The fact is that this quelling of democracy in Hong Kong is only the beginning. President Xi is an enemy of democracy worldwide who believes in world power and global economic and political domination. He has to be stopped in Hong Kong, because if not, he will not be stopped elsewhere in the world.

[Nigel Adams]

I hear exactly what the hon. Gentleman says. I am not entirely sure what the question was, but the UK Government are fulfilling our moral and political obligation to ensure that China respects its obligations under the joint declaration. I urge him to look at the action that we have taken on the new immigration path for BNOs. We consistently raise our concerns, such as the ones mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, with the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities; the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did so with the Chinese ambassador on 30 November.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Cleverly]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his work in this role prior to my tenure. He makes a strong point about the need to maintain working relations with a number of individuals in the Iranian Government, and we seek to do so. Ultimately,

I am not sure it is useful for me to speculate about the outcome of elections or which individuals may be in what posts, because the UK’s position will be unchanged: the detention is illegitimate, all the British dual national detainees should be released and we will continue to work with whoever is in whichever role to achieve that.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

I thank my colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Kilburn (Tulip Siddiq), who has worked so tirelessly on this campaign. Perhaps we might try a slightly different approach and tone. I have had the privilege of conversations with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, regarding an all-faith delegation to Tehran to discuss the cases. Possibly, there is a chance that an all-party delegation could go to Iran specifically for that purpose. At the moment, I know that Iran will not accept delegations, but perhaps the mood music will change after today and we might get, particularly, an all-faith delegation. If the ministerial team made that possible, perhaps we would get some beneficial results.

[James Cleverly]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for putting forward ideas he believes may be useful to bring about the goals that we all want. I am unsure about the effectiveness of that one, but I am willing to receive any ideas from him. We will continue working, and to explore ideas with whoever puts them forward. I commend the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn for engaging with us regularly. Ultimately, we are all—across party and right across the House—trying to achieve a resolution and to have the British dual national detainees returned home.

Belarus: Presidential Elections

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 24th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his stalwart work—from his membership of the Joint Committee on Human Rights to his special envoy role—as a champion for human rights and freedom of religious belief. He will know that I view media freedom, Magnitsky sanctions and freedom of religious belief as inextricably entwined. Of course we will look at the case that he described and make sure that those voices for freedom in Belarus are not snuffed out.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Can I push the Secretary of State a little harder? He said he wants to get to the bottom of all this, but at the bottom of all this we surely know is Russia, which is becoming almost a rogue state around the world. Russia only listens when we are tough with it. Can we not have sanctions against Russia and, in this country, clear out the nest of vipers who have taken up residence—Putin supporters and yes men and yes women—here in London? For goodness’ sake, can we not take on Russia, show it we mean business and start perhaps with the owner of the Evening Standard?

[Dominic Raab]

I admire the hon. Gentleman’s passion for justice and human rights. I am not sure that the relationship between Lukashenko and President Putin is quite the way he describes. I think there is more nuance there, but one of the challenges we have, as we hold Lukashenko to account, is to try to avoid the inevitability of Belarus slipping further and further into Moscow’s embrace. On the action we are taking in the UK, we have one of the most rigorous systems in the world to ensure, as I have described, that dirty money and blood money do not find their way washing through UK businesses or banks, and we are going to strengthen that even further in the way I described by proceeding to add and extend Magnitsky sanctions to the corruption field as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

What steps he is taking to use UK influence to improve the education of women and girls throughout the world.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Wendy Morton)]

Standing up for the right of every girl to 12 years of quality education is a major priority for the Government and the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, but covid-19 is having a profound effect on the barriers girls face to education and putting them at risk of dropping out of school permanently, so a focus on girls’ education is more important than ever. That is why, in response, we have adapted our education programmes in 18 countries and provided more than £10 million of new funding to support refugee and displaced children to access education.

[Mr Sheerman [V]]

I hear what the Minister has said, but today and this week we want the Prime Minister to stick to his agreements and promises, and he recently promised me that the Government’s highest priority would be tackling the lack of education for girls worldwide. Some 15 million little girls do not even get to primary school. There is an enormous commitment from the United Nations sustainable development goals to do something about that. Can I have an assurance that the ministerial team will keep berating the Prime Minister until we get action on that?

[Wendy Morton]

Let us be absolutely clear: as the FCDO, we will continue to deploy the UK’s diplomatic clout and world-leading development expertise to secure greater global ambition and investment in girls’ education. The Prime Minister has been clear in his commitment to that.

Hong Kong National Security Legislation

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I agree entirely with my right hon. Friend’s sentiments, as well as his specific points. Of course, as well as the people of Hong Kong, investors and other people who might wish to visit Hong Kong, and who ordinarily would have done so, will be looking very carefully, not least given the extraterritorial elements of this law, at what it will mean. At the very least, above all the points that have been made in the Chamber today, it will risk a further range of uncertainty for businesses and for finance into Hong Kong and, as I said, that must be counterproductive not just for the people of Hong Kong and those investors, but for China.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

I recall my first visit to Hong Kong when I was on the parliamentary delegation that, to our shame, went to Hong Kong and assured the Hong Kong people that the Chinese would stick to the agreement. I am very angry about this morning, but may I remind the Secretary of State of what I have learned about China over the years? It is a ruthless communist dictatorship; it despises and hates democracy and—worldwide—it is busy undermining democracies. Like all dictatorships, it cannot be appeased, and if we do not take action in trade and investment, and really hit them where it hurts, we will not be able to stop this tiger growing more and more ferocious.

[Dominic Raab]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the concerns he has expressed. I do not think he should personally feel bad about the commitments he made; we all shared the hope that China would live up to those responsibilities. We are making it clear that, even if China fails to live up to its responsibilities, we as one United Kingdom, including the hon. Gentleman, will live up to our responsibilities to those BNO passport holders. I take his point about the wider threat from China. Of course, given its size and the economic asymmetry, we need to think very carefully with all our international partners about how we proceed. We do not want to have a poor relationship with China; we want a positive relationship with China. However, one thing is clear: we will not duck issues such as human rights, our values or issues that touch on a vital national interests.

British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and Coronavirus

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 2nd March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

As I mentioned in my statement, we have reduced the number of staff in our embassy in Tehran. That was a precautionary but very much a temporary measure. Our essential staff will continue to do their critical work, and they will remain in post.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I am sure the Minister will agree that this coronavirus is a dreadful thing. It will probably come here much more than it is doing at present, but the people of Iran are suffering greatly, and we should do everything that we can for them during this crisis because that is the right thing to do—not as a quid pro quo, but in building a better relationship with Iran. Will he please push this as hard as he can? We want to be generous to the Iranian people, and to rebuild trust with that nation.

[Nigel Adams]

The hon. Gentleman is spot on. That is exactly what we want to do, and it is why we have reached out with assistance today, alongside France and Germany. At a time of global crisis such as this, it is incredibly important for countries to come together to support the most vulnerable. Given the number of cases and the number of deaths experienced by Iran, we will of course take that into consideration, and that is why we are offering our support.

UK Telecommunications

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

We have a definition of “high-risk vendor”, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right is to suggest that there will be ample parliamentary opportunity to debate and define when we introduce the legislation, which will be done as soon as possible.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I have some sympathy for the Secretary of State, because this is a highly complex area, and I shall certainly want to go away and study his statement in some depth— as will many of our partners and many of the nations with which we trade regularly—but will he answer one question? Much of the emphasis in his remarks has been on national security, and I understand that, but has he talked to people in universities? Has he talked to entrepreneurs, inventors and designers, all of whom know that intellectual property is stolen by the Chinese every time they put it on the internet? They know that the Chinese cannot be trusted, but we would give the Chinese greater access to university research and the businesses that entrepreneurs are setting up. All those people believe that they will lose their intellectual property. Has the Secretary of State thought of that?

[Dominic Raab]

The telecoms supply chain review took extensive soundings and advice from all the sectors that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned. Let me also say that a robust approach to intellectual property enforcement is in no way inconsistent or in conflict with the crucial decision that we have had to take, and have rightly taken today.

Iran

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

We work closely with all our international partners and we are engaged with Israel on the issues that we have in common with it. On de-escalation so far, after the death of General Soleimani we saw an Iranian response that was dangerous and reckless, but none the less we have not seen any major military intervention from Iran since then. Our message to all sides in the region is that we need to take baby steps towards de-escalating over time, and then, gradually, as the situation defuses, think about what positive measures can be put in place to build up confidence in the region. Until we get on that train and on that track, it is difficult to see how the wider diplomatic initiatives can bear fruit.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that although any sensible person does not want the pressure on Iran to cease, nobody sensible wants another war in the middle east, either? He mentioned the door being slightly open; is it not a fact that if we want peace, we have to carry on speaking to the Iranians? All of us who have been campaigning for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and the other prisoners believe that perhaps speaking at a level of faith, with an all-faith delegation going to Iran to speak to the faith leaders there, might help. I spoke to the Archbishop of Canterbury at a service only this time last week, and he seems to think that if the delegation was welcome—if Iran was open to a delegation—it could take place. Would the Secretary of State support such a delegation to visit Iran?

[Dominic Raab]

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s premise: we need to keep the diplomatic lines of communication open. I have made it clear to Foreign Minister Zarif that for our part we wish to do that and to start to see how measures can be taken on all aspects, but particularly to see the Iranians come back to full compliance with the JCPOA. I sympathise very much with the spirit of the idea of an all-faith diplomatic initiative. The hon. Gentleman he will have seen that for the moment, through our Foreign Office travel advice, we advise against travel to Iran. That is probably the safest bet for the moment.