All 1 Debates between Catherine West and Fred Thomas

Tue 3rd Dec 2024
Ukraine
Commons Chamber
(Urgent Question)

Ukraine

Debate between Catherine West and Fred Thomas
Tuesday 3rd December 2024

(1 day, 18 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

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Catherine West Portrait Catherine West
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The key words are “respecting borders”, and that is where the neocolonial philosophy of President Putin, as he laid out originally in that seminal essay before the war, shows how completely at odds with the modern viewpoint he is. Yes, we will support Ukraine on its vision of its own borders, its own strength and its own sovereignty.

Fred Thomas Portrait Fred Thomas (Plymouth Moor View) (Lab)
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It can feel, with Russian submarines recceing our waters, with North Korean troops fighting for Russia and with Iranian drones causing the death of Ukrainians, that Russia wants a bigger war. We must deter it. That is why we must absolutely drive a victory for Ukraine—a total victory. Does the Minister agree with me and General George Marshall that the best way to win a war is to prevent it in the first place?

Catherine West Portrait Catherine West
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I thank my hon. and gallant Friend for his service to the UK and for his intimate knowledge of what it actually means to be at war, and therefore to talk about deterrence. I am committed, as is the whole Front-Bench team, to working as closely as possible on all the international friendships and treaties and the pressure that we can bring to bear, so that we can achieve a lasting peace together and be behind Ukraine as it steps forward into a very uncertain future.