Northern Ireland Protocol

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I have explained the outline of the proposals, and I will be publishing more details in due course.

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP)]

It is curious that the Foreign Secretary chose to quote polling rather than the fresh election results that show a comfortable majority of people supporting the protocol and an even larger majority rejecting the idea of holding the institutions to ransom. She is misrepresenting our position and that of the people of Northern Ireland, who want the protocol as a protection from Brexit. While they are happy to see it evolve, they know that there was not a whisper about consent or consensus when the Conservatives and the DUP were voting gleefully for ever-harder versions of Brexit. Where there is unanimity, it is in distrust of the cynical approach of this Government. When will this Government stop using our fragile shared society for their own malign political needs?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The hon. Lady knows that the Belfast/Good Friday agreement is based on the principle of power sharing. That requires the consent of all communities in Northern Ireland, and that is what we seek to achieve with the legislation we are putting forward.

Global Vaccine Access

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2022 Westminster Hall

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP)]

I thank the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) for initiating this debate on an issue that I know she and others have been highlighting since covid vaccines became a reality. The roll-out has been incredible across these islands. It has been a real victory for science and for the national health service. In public policy, it is not often that we get a silver bullet but, for covid-19, the vaccines are just that. They save lives—as vaccines have done over decades—and they help, in this context, to prevent the emergence of variants and to break the cycle of lockdowns.

News of breakthroughs in the science and the race towards vaccines for things such as malaria and HIV are bright spots on what is otherwise a fairly grim global horizon, and designing in access to vaccines will be important as that research advances, too. We are absolutely blessed to live in countries that enable us to access vaccines so efficiently and allow us to get back to some sort of normality, notwithstanding the challenges that health services continue to face.

However, the inequality of access to vaccines is stark. It is now a cliché to say that nobody is safe until everybody is safe, but it is true: inequality of access is inherently unfair, and if that alone does not move people, we know that it undermines getting back to normal in this country. Uneven access to vaccines is not unprecedented: during the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, rich countries again bought up global supplies. Back then, too, self-interest dominated, despite the known risks of not getting a grip globally, and despite the fact that the interface of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations is a recipe for disaster. As others have pointed out, vaccination rates remain dangerously low, despite the fact that vaccine makers worldwide have produced enough to vaccinate the world several times over. Not only are poorer countries left without access but they are more vulnerable due to weaknesses within their health systems, and inherent weaknesses due to other diseases that present challenges.

COVAX is key, but as we know, it has not worked to best effect. It had delivered only 700 million of a planned 2 billion vaccines by the end of last year, and as others have said, three quarters of health workers in Africa have not been vaccinated. Some 16% of the world’s population live in countries that have bought up more than half of vaccine supply, and suggestions that we are choosing between our own populations and those of poorer countries are simply not true. As others have said, it is vital to ensure that the logistics are in place. This really exposes how penny wise and pound foolish the recent cuts to aid have been, leaving health services unable to vaccinate their populations.

The TRIPS waiver, as others have made clear, is an absolute no brainer. As has been beautifully said, this technology should not be kept as a trophy: claims that it would stifle innovation are bunkum. It is hard to see how we do not all benefit from access to this technology, and it is really important that this country does not stand in the way of it.

Afghanistan: Humanitarian Crisis

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Wednesday 12th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Vicky Ford]

There is no one working harder to get on with the job and to support people around the world than this Government. I find Members accusing us of not getting on with the job from a sedentary position really offensive to the people of Afghanistan.

A written ministerial statement updated the House just before Christmas. I have said from this Dispatch Box that the UK Government will come back with further statements in response to the UN appeal in the coming weeks. That is the right thing to do and it is right that we are working with the UN, other international partners and key NGOs. In terms of doing my job, as soon as I leave the Chamber I am going to meet Save the Children, one of our key partners on this issue, because it is really important that we continue to work with our key partners.

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP)]

The unfolding crisis in Afghanistan is nightmarish in its scale and complexity and the Social Democratic and Labour party entirely supports the pathway set out today for an international conference to intensify and galvanise global support.

We have heard about the efforts on the ground and know that only a tiny proportion of those affected will be able and seeking to leave Afghanistan, but the scheme is clearly inadequate. I am aware, from responses I have received, that the Northern Ireland Executive are ready and willing to accept a large number of refugees; will the Minister advise the House as to what discussions have been had with them? In the light of the comments from several Members, can she ensure that there will be a pathway to referral to the scheme from MPs’ offices?

[Vicky Ford]

I will certainly get back to the hon. Lady about a pathway to referral to the scheme from MPs’ offices. The Home Office leads on that, rather than me.

I say again that this is a really serious and worsening crisis. It is the largest humanitarian appeal ever made on record with the UN. We need to work with our partners at the UN and the World Bank to unlock funding for the humanitarian crisis and that is what the Government are doing. We will be getting on with that job.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Tuesday 16th November 2021 Westminster Hall

[Tulip Siddiq]

The other point I will make—then I will take another intervention—is that I do not think that as a country we can take the moral high ground in relation to Iran and to Nazanin if we are not following a legal ruling that says we owe Iran money.

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP)]

I thank the hon. Member for her generosity in giving way. People across south Belfast, and indeed across Northern Ireland, have expressed their distress at the forced separation of a mother and her young daughter. Does the hon. Member share my concern that the failure that this family are experiencing is part of a pattern of moral unseriousness and a lack of moral courage, which is in very stark contrast to the steadfastness and bravery that this family are somehow finding?

[Tulip Siddiq]

I agree with the hon. Member and thank her for her help in this campaign. I repeat the point that several other Members have already made, which is that this issue is not just about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe; it is also about Anoosheh Ashoori and Morad Tahbaz.

Belarus: Interception of Aircraft

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Monday 24th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I certainly agree that ICAO must discharge its duties. This is a dramatic but seminal moment for it to stand up for the values that we are all trying to safeguard in relation to civil aviation. We will look very closely with our partners at the mechanisms and levers available to us within ICAO and will take as rigorous and robust an approach as we can.

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP) [V]]

The SDLP and I condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of the Belarusian Government and echo what others have said about the importance of sanctions and of holding Lukashenko and his Russian protectors to account. This is the latest attack in recent years on journalistic freedom, including the horrific murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on entirely trumped-up charges and, closer to home, intimidation of journalists here in Northern Ireland by paramilitaries. What action are the Secretary of State and his Department taking to co-operate with other countries committed to a free press to uphold the rights of journalists and to challenge attacks on freedom of speech and journalistic integrity?

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Lady raises a great point, which is that in order to exert positive influence we have to co-ordinate with our allies, so we need to broaden the group of like-minded countries willing to take that action. She can see the evidence of the initiatives we are engaged in, through the media freedom coalition, which advises states on how to strengthen legislation to protect journalists, and the financial support we give to journalists who find themselves detained. More broadly, one of the things we discussed at the most recent G7 Foreign Ministers meeting was the arbitrary detention mechanism, which effectively says that when one or other of us in that mechanism finds one of our nationals or dual nationals arbitrarily detained, we all démarche and take action to try to secure their release.

ODA Budget

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Monday 26th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[James Cleverly]

We are conscious of the potential long-term impacts of what we believe to be a one-off and hopefully short-term situation with regard to the economic impact of coronavirus. We will look carefully at the best use of taxpayers’ money to ensure that important delivery mechanisms can continue into the future.

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP) [V]]

The pandemic has set back progress in healthcare and education for many years, at a time when the Government are cutting aid for reasons that, again, have not been justified. The medical supplies that the UK is sending to India are welcome and vital, but the evidence is clear: long-term strategic support is key to building resilience and capacity, and to preventing future problems from doing the type of harm that we are now witnessing in India. Does the Minister recognise that aid cuts now—even if restored at some point in the future—are, at best, penny wise and pound foolish?

[James Cleverly]

I have answered the broader question about our budget situation a number of times. The hon. Member is right that the resilience of our partner countries is an important factor, which we consider when we make the decisions that we have made.

Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Tuesday 9th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP) [V]]

Since the previous major review of the UK’s national security and defence in 2015, we have experienced significant change and new, emerging threats, not least the global pandemic and the UK’s departure from the EU. Last November, the Prime Minister said in a statement on the review that

“Britain must…stand alongside our allies, sharing the burden”—[Official Report, 19 November 2020; Vol. 684, c. 487-488.]

but I am afraid those words felt hollow in the context of the loss of DFID and significant cuts to the aid budget. I am concerned that the integrated review will represent another step away from international development and overseas aid priorities and a move towards defence and cure—I suppose—rather than a focus on prevention and long-term development.

The UK’s development record has been something to be really proud of in terms of helping countries with fragile political, economic and healthcare systems and in turn making the world a safer place for us all. That is the best basis of a security and defence strategy. Recent moves towards explicitly self-interested policies will create a scenario in which the purpose of development spending becomes transactional or just for use as leverage, which is not just morally wrong but has, as we know, proven disastrous in the past. It is important to remember precisely why DFID was created. It was from the need to separate general overseas policies from aid interests and to ensure that aid was used in the best interests of the most vulnerable—which is how I believe citizens want it to be spent—and not, as was the case then, to leverage trade and arms deals.

For the first time in many years, development progress around the world is going backwards. Unfortunately, that is the context in which the Government have dropped their legal commitment—a manifesto pledge that is less than a year old and, as was said earlier in the debate, a commitment made by nearly every Member of this House—to protect the UK’s aid spending. For all the talk of global Britain and walking on the world stage, it is important not to strip back things such as generosity, far-sightedness and multilateralism. I say this as an Irish Member of the UK Parliament who is not moved by concepts like sovereignty and the armed forces, but who is deeply proud of the UK’s commitment and records on aid.

We are living in an economic contraction worse than any in living memory, but aid investment is far-sighted and is a good way to spend money to guard against longer-term problems. Well-nourished children will learn well in school and informed and empowered women will see their children thrive and survive. Draining the reservoirs of poverty stops extremism taking hold and we know that this makes for a safer and more secure world for all of us.

In December, a report estimated that covid-19 would push a further 200 million people into extreme poverty, while, at the same time, commercial interests from the global north extract resources many times greater in value than those that we invest in aid and development. Climate change resulting from our overuse of those resources will have massive impacts on developing countries and could lead to mass displacement, natural disasters, instability and the potential for conflict and a refugee crisis.

As we face the future, the UK cannot leave developing countries behind and go it alone. This review cannot see the decimation of a strong record in aid in favour of isolationism and self-interested policies. If we do not address the root of instability and insecurity around the world, we will not have a safer world for UK citizens or for anybody else. With covid and with development generally, until everyone is secure, we cannot all be secure.

Global Malnutrition: FCDO Role

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Tuesday 8th December 2020 Westminster Hall

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP)]

I thank the Members who have brought forward this debate. This year, the Nobel peace prize committee awarded its prize to the World Food Programme, because it wanted to turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from, or face the threat of, hunger. It said that hunger was used in many cases as a weapon of war and conflict, and that giving the award was a call to the international community to provide adequately funding to ensure that people would not starve. It said that the World Food Programme would have been a worthy recipient in any year, but in this year the virus has strengthened the reasons to address this issue, including the need for multilateralism in a time of global crisis.

The head of the World Food Programme has warned that next year there will be famines of biblical proportions. The Lancet has reported that the pandemic poses grave risks to the nutritional status and survival of children in low and middle-income countries, due to the decline in household incomes and interruptions to health and nutrition and social protection services. That is without dwelling on the worsening impact of climate change on the most vulnerable.

It is clear to see that, for the first time in many years, development progress is actually going backwards. This is the unfortunate context in which the Government have dropped their legal commitment—and, of course, a manifesto pledge made less than a year old—to protect the UK’s aid spending.

There is no doubt that the UK has been an enormously generous aid donor over the years, which is something to be very proud of, and I was struck by what the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) said. I am an Irish MP from a contested region. People talk a lot about the Union, and it is fair to say that things like sovereignty, militarism and flags are never going to move me politically, but I have been deeply proud of the UK’s record on aid spending for many years. For all the talk of global Britain and walking on to the world stage, it is important not to strip back things like this generosity, like far-sightedness, like multilateralism, which have been meaningful to so many people.

We are now in an economic contraction that is worse than any in living memory—that is not in doubt. However, investment in aid, and particularly in nutrition, is not a short-sighted way to spend money, because we know that it helps to guard against longer term problems. Adequately nourished children will learn better in school, and tackling poverty helps to drain the reservoirs of ill-feeling in which extremism can take hold. We know this will make for a safer and more secure world for all of us.

I had the privilege of working for the NGO Concern Worldwide for a decade, until 2015, and then chairing the all-party group on international development during my time in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I had the opportunity to see projects from those NGOs in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean—to see the impact of UK aid all around the world.

We know that fractional cuts in the past have had major impacts on programmes. Save the Children has estimated, based on previous Department for International Development statistics, that the approximately 30% cut in aid spending will mean many reduced programmes. People have spoken about the importance of nutrition, particularly in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life; about the impact it has on education; and about the impact it has on gender equality, because we know that most farmers around the world are women, and most will be feeding their family first. We know about the impact of nutrition on the efficiency and effectiveness of HIV medication, and we know that it is absolutely the founding stone for all other areas of poverty reduction.

The Government have repeated the promise that this is a temporary cut and that they intend to return to the 0.7% commitment when the financial situation permits. I hope the Minister can commit to writing that into legislation in the same way the initial 0.7% proposal was courageously put into law, to assure people that if this really is just a particular need in the time of covid, a sunset clause can be put in place to revert whenever finances allow. Even in the context of the cuts, the Government can commit to improving governance and oversight of spending.

It is important to remember why DFID was created in 1997: the need to separate general overseas policies from aid spending in order to ensure that the aid was used in the interests of the most vulnerable and not, as I believe was the case then, to leverage trade and arms deals. It is important that the Government set out their priorities for aid more comprehensively, and in consultation with civil society here and in the countries we will be seeking to help. We have seen the top line of that, and although everything listed by the Government is good, there is concern that it does not focus on the needs of the most vulnerable, and that it has not been worked through in such consultation.

The hon. Member for City of Chester (Christian Matheson) was correct to point out the poor timing of the abolition of DFID, when civil servants and those who administer aid were operating in very challenging circumstances. They did not need to be dealing with a bureaucratic shake-up. As I said in the Chamber at the time, it was also the period when, in the context of the Black Lives Matter campaign, we were examining the UK’s legacy on the world stage. As I say, aid was the most positive manifestation of that.

The year that we have just had has shown us how connected the planet is, as well as the value of solidarity and the power of Governments when they choose to invest for good. It is always morally right to support the most vulnerable in the world—those in extreme poverty—and particularly so when their circumstances have been worsened by the pandemic. I do not think it is too late for the Government to do the right thing. Members have made constructive suggestions about how to continue to stand by the world’s poorest, and particularly the world’s poorest children.