Oral Answers to Questions

Damien Moore Excerpts

Tuesday 4th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I, too, congratulate the Back Bencher of the year.

I raised this issue when I was in Tehran on 19 November. I pointed out to the Iranian Government that if they are unhappy with the coverage of the BBC Persian service, there is a very simple thing that they can do: allow their representatives to be interviewed on it and allow them to put across their point of view, at which they smiled and changed the subject. We will, however, continue to press on that point.

[Damien Moore (Southport) (Con)]

13. What steps the Government are taking with international partners to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

[The Minister for Africa (Harriett Baldwin)]

We will continue to work with international partners to drive progress in tackling this terrible crime and deliver on the commitments made at October’s London conference. Some 57 countries have adopted the conference’s declaration so far.

[Damien Moore]

Will my hon. Friend update the House on the progress that is being made towards the Government’s target of halving the number of elephants killed for ivory by 2024?

[Harriett Baldwin]

We are leading from the front. As my hon. Friend knows, we are bringing in an ivory ban in the UK. We have formed a high-level political coalition, the Ivory Alliance 2024, and we are urging everyone to tackle something that is extremely urgent, because the number of African elephants has declined by 30% over the past seven years.