G7 Summit

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Thomas-Symonds

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can, and the surest way to deliver Brexit with a deal is to vote with the Government, both tonight and tomorrow.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

For automotive manufacturers in my constituency and beyond, the WTO tariffs that would apply in the case of a no-deal Brexit would not only wipe out their profits but often exceed them. Why should anyone take what the Prime Minister says about jobs and investment seriously when he has been so reckless with people’s livelihoods?

[The Prime Minister]

We are working with all sectors, including automotive supply chains, to protect their interests, but of course the best way to ensure that we do not have a no-deal Brexit is to support the Government and to oppose the measures that the Leader of the Opposition is putting forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Thomas-Symonds

Tuesday 27th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, because the job of the Commonwealth summit is not just to promote trade between the UK and our 53 Commonwealth friends, but to promote intra-Commonwealth trade, and that is where some of the biggest opportunities lie.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

T9. This petition was handed to me by constituents, calling on the Government to do more about the plight of the Rohingya people. I know that the Foreign Secretary met Aung San Suu Kyi recently, but what further steps do the Government intend to take to try to deal with this appalling human tragedy?

[Boris Johnson]

I can tell the hon. Gentleman that our efforts have been directed at building an international consensus to ensure that there is a multinational, multilateral body to give the Rohingya refugees the confidence and security that they need to make a safe, dignified and voluntary return to northern Rakhine.

Syria: De-escalation Zones

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Thomas-Symonds

Monday 26th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I remind the hon. Gentleman of what I think I said pretty clearly to the House just now. Yesterday morning, at my initiative, I had a long conversation with my Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, about what is happening in Afrin, the suffering that is taking place there and the UK Government’s strong desire that restraint should be shown—notwithstanding Turkey’s security concerns, which we all understand—and that the primary focus should be on the political process in Geneva and on the defeat of Daesh.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

It is now nearly five years since the then American Secretary of State and Russian Foreign Minister came to an agreement about the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria. What further diplomatic steps can the Foreign Secretary take to ensure that that happens, including by securing better access for representatives of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons?

[Boris Johnson]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, after the Khan Shaykhun episode and the work of the joint investigative mechanism to establish almost certainly the culprits behind that chemical weapons attack, Russia has, alas, vetoed any further such activity by the OPCW. Again, it comes back to the Russians and the question that they must ask themselves, which is what kind of international actor they want to be and how they want to be regarded by the world.

Oman, UAE and Iran

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Thomas-Symonds

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sister-in-law lives in my constituency, and local people have presented me with a petition for her release. May I press the Foreign Secretary directly? Did he request to see her personally, so that he could judge of her mental and physical wellbeing?

[Boris Johnson]

I must remind the hon. Gentleman that the Iranian Government do not recognise the dual national system that we have, and therefore do not give consular access. As for other members of the Zaghari-Ratcliffe family, it would be better if I said that I think their privacy should be respected.

Korean Peninsula

Debate between Boris Johnson and Nick Thomas-Symonds

Tuesday 5th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend speaks with great experience of the region and is entirely right in his analysis of the timing of the test and the effect it was meant to have on Xi Jinping and the Chinese leadership. That does not mean, though, that we should discount the Chinese ability to affect events in North Korea and China’s potential to do more.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

In the current situation, China has enormous power in the form of the 500,000 tonnes of crude oil that it exports to North Korea every year. What further steps can the Foreign Secretary take to encourage China to exercise that enormous power?

[Boris Johnson]

The best thing we can do is to continue our work with the UN Security Council, at which the Chinese have so far been absolutely in step with us. The hon. Gentleman is right to focus on oil, which we think is the next opportunity.