Foreign Affairs and Defence

David Tredinnick Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

That is a manifesto commitment I can easily reiterate, and my hon. Friend has just done it for me.

[David Tredinnick (Bosworth) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his appointment. Will he say a word on his approach to piracy off the coast of Somalia and whether he thinks enough is being done to combat it?

[Mr Hague]

It is very important to increase the international efforts to deal with that. There are a number of complex issues to deal with, such as what happens to pirates once they are captured. Of course, we will be looking at how we, with our allies, can carry out that work. My hon. Friend can be assured that we will be discussing that in the House over the coming weeks and months, too.

To complete the point that I was making, the need to renew British engagement with the world does not apply solely to the middle east. The deepening of our alliances beyond Europe and north America is a strategic necessity if we are to engage and influence the emerging powers, gain access to new markets, secure inward investment and maintain an open global economy. We will therefore seek to strengthen the UK’s relations with countries in the fastest-growing regions of the world economy, such as Brazil and Japan, enhance our partnership with India and carry forward the strategic dialogue with China while continuing to urge all our partners to observe high standards of human rights.