Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Wallace and Kerry McCarthy

Monday 13th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

T5. After the conference on disarmament in March, the UK representative said that while the situation in Ukraine would clearly have an impact on countries’ security calculations, it also“makes it more important than ever for the international community to revitalise our commitment to arms control and disarmament.”Can the Secretary of State tell us what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts since then on reinvigorating multilateral nuclear disarmament talks?

[Mr Wallace]

None.

Ukraine Update

Debate between Ben Wallace and Kerry McCarthy

Wednesday 9th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

I welcome the Defence Secretary’s very strong condemnation of, as he put it, the “indiscriminate and murderous” attacks on civilian areas. What will the UK Government’s position be next month on the UN-backed political declaration on restricting the use of wide-area effects explosive weapons in populated areas?

[Mr Wallace]

May I write to the hon. Lady, because that will be a Foreign Office lead and I understand the debate will be progressing next month?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Wallace and Kerry McCarthy

Monday 2nd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Wallace]

My right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) confirmed that the Salisbury Novichok attack in 2018 was carried out by the Russians and that Russia had an undeclared chemical weapons programme. We have repeatedly called on Russia to declare a Novichok programme and uphold its international obligations under the chemical weapons convention. We have brought in sanctions against those responsible for Navalny’s poisoning and we will keep every measure under review.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

  With almost 400,000 acres in England, the Ministry of Defence is one of the biggest landowners in this country. What is it doing to ensure that it is environmentally sustainable and helping the Government to meet their target to plant many more trees?

Rwandan Genocide: Alleged Perpetrators

Debate between Ben Wallace and Kerry McCarthy

Tuesday 9th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Wallace]

Rwanda’s doing the right thing has meant ensuring the rule of law, separation of powers, respect for the judiciary, successful prosecutions and fair trials. Those are the same principles that we believe in in this country. We must respect the judiciary and its rulings if we are to set an example around the world. The Rwandan courts seem to manage that. We will respect our judiciary’s ruling and will seek to prosecute in this country.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

I, too, have visited Rwanda, although it was with the all-party group on agriculture and food for development, so I saw a far more positive vision of the country. It is shocking to go round the stunning countryside and reflect on the fact that it was once steeped in bloodshed. Has the Minister had conversations with his colleagues in the Department for International Development? The number of survivors of the genocide is dwindling as the years pass. Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were deliberately targeted with rape, and many were deliberately infected with HIV. Working with the survivors can perhaps help us to gather evidence and eventually bring people to justice.