Japan and the Middle East

David Rutley Excerpts

Monday 14th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have to put aside our personal preferences and prejudices about nuclear power and ask some tough scientific questions about what recent events demonstrate and what we should learn. There are big differences between Japan and Britain. We do not yet know the full extent of what has happened at the reactors, and, as the leader of the hon. Gentleman’s party said, we should not rush to judgment in considering these issues.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s efforts to engage the international community in developing a robust response to the barbaric acts of Colonel Gaddafi. What steps are being taken to provide humanitarian aid to displaced people in Libya, especially in the increasingly isolated town of Misurata in the west?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend asks an important question. What we have done so far has focused on the Egyptian and Tunisian borders, where Britain has led the way in supplying tents and blankets and in flying people back home to Egypt, because we want to ensure that a bad humanitarian situation does not become a humanitarian crisis. His point about access to western Libya is vital. Humanitarian aid agencies do not have access to all areas; they absolutely should have, and the Libyan authorities should see to that straight away.