Persecution of Christians

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Nigeria is No. 7 on the world watchlist published by Open Doors. Some of the most egregious examples of persecution, with whole communities being laid waste, come from Plateau state. Many commentators, including the EU Parliament, have put that down to the pressures brought about by climate change. Well, climate change does not rape people. Climate change does not bomb church services. Climate change does not abduct women and children and force them into marriage. Those things are done because of an extremist ideology entirely unrestrained by proper state power, because of the state’s incompetence, indifference or even complicity.

What assistance is the United Kingdom affording to Nigeria in the implementation of the Human Rights Council’s recommendation, from its universal periodic review, on the protection of freedom of religion and belief? Has the Minister shared the experience that I had as a Minister of visiting some of the countries where these things take place and having his ear bent by members of both the Opposition and the Government on what we should do about it, as if we were still a colonial power able to do such things? What leverage do the Government actually have, beyond the important role of providing a platform to share views and reassure sufferers that we are alive to their concerns—that we are praying for them, at least?

Finally, I have a word of caution for the hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur), who spoke about official development assistance. Properly spent, it is directed to projects that relieve suffering communities. If it is used as a political weapon—as leverage that is put on Governments and withdrawn—it only makes the sufferers suffer even more.

Israel: Refusal of Entry for UK Parliamentarians

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Monday 7th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I agree with how my hon. Friend described my hon. Friends the Members for Earley and Woodley and for Sheffield Central. They are my friends too. They were a bureau chief for the Financial Times and a lawyer before coming to this place. They are distinguished members of their communities and distinguished Members of this House.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Israel has forgone the opportunity to engage with two of its trenchant critics. Is this not a case of more fool it?

[Mr Falconer]

I agree.

Gaza: Israeli Military Operations

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

Those are important questions. The UK considers settlements illegal under international law. We are clear that settlement goods must be properly labelled and they do not benefit from the trading regimes that would otherwise apply to both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. My hon. Friend’s question is the right one. We need to ensure that there remains a viable path to a two-state solution. There is no other path to peace in the region, and all our efforts are focused on that outcome.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

When I was the Minister responsible, the current Minister was then an outstanding official in the Department. He will therefore know that when I presented an egregious list of complaints to the Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, as well as to the chief negotiator, he simply stormed out of the meeting, leaving the ambassador with his head in his hands. I therefore ask: what leverage do we actually have?

[Mr Falconer]

The right hon. Gentleman is kind about my service. I know that he raised some of the issues with some force, as he says, during his time in this ministerial role. That underlines the hard truth here, which is that the Israelis must be persuaded to relent from a course of action that both the Conservative and Labour parties, as well as the other parties in this Chamber, have seen is totally undermining the long-term stability of the region, which is important not just for Israel and for Palestine, but for the UK and our friends and allies in the middle east.

Conflict in Gaza

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

Reports have come in that Hamas have now started firing rockets into Israel and sirens are at this time sounding in Tel Aviv. I condemn Hamas’s rocket attacks. I want to reiterate that the only way through this is to get back to a ceasefire. It is unacceptable that Israeli civilians are running for cover and that Palestinian civilians are finding that the casualties are rising. There can be no place for Hamas in the future of Gaza, which is why we are doing everything to help the reform of the Palestinian Authority; we believe that they must play a role in Gaza’s governance in the months and years ahead.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Despite a huge investment in our relationship with Israel over so many years, we appear to be reduced to the position of spectators on a touchline, shouting at the players and being largely ignored. To what extent does the Secretary of State believe that our lack of leverage—if any—is a consequence of policy decisions taken in Washington?

[Mr Lammy]

I think it is clear that the efforts of US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump brought us to a place where we had a ceasefire. Sometimes it can feel futile; diplomacy can feel very hard. The words of parliamentarians can feel like they have no effect, but everything that every single one of us as Members of Parliament did in those 17 months also led to that ceasefire in January. We wish that we could have brought it about sooner, and now we must act to get back to that ceasefire as quickly as possible.

Ukraine

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

Yes, yes, yes, I say to my hon. Friend. I think all of us pay tribute to our armed forces and to his work in our armed forces. It is because of that work over so many years—that sacrifice—that I think the spirit of this country guides us to stand solidly with Ukraine on a cross-party basis. He is right to pray in aid those words that underpin our values, and indeed global values as underpinned in the UN charter. That is what we are fighting for and we will not give up.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State regret recanting the views he originally expressed in assessing Trump? When the time is right—it is certainly not any time now—can I urge him to consider following the example of Archbishop Cranmer by plunging the offending hand first into the flame?

[Mr Lammy]

Er—[Laughter.] This is a serious debate and a serious discussion. As I have said, that is, in a sense, old news; there is so much news before us, and so much history to be forged, which requires diplomacy and friendship and us understanding who the real threats are. Those real threats are the autocracies of the world, which could do tremendous damage over the coming years. I have always recognised that.

Chagos Islands

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about protecting against malign interests. That is exactly at the heart of the deal. He is also exactly right about the history of why the deal was needed. That was, of course, recognised by the previous Government, which was why they started the negotiations. We wanted to put the base on a secure footing well into the next century, which is what I assume they were trying to do previously and spent 11 rounds negotiating. We have come to a deal that is in our national interest. Most crucially, it is our national security and that of our allies that is at the heart of it. There are multiple safeguards in place in the treaty. They will protect our national security and that of our allies.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Given that what the Minister has told the House today is so at variance with the report from the Prime Minister of Mauritius, surely it rings alarm bells in his mind about the nature of the polity and the individuals with whom he is negotiating—and has he entirely lost his moral compass? The Government are considering taxing death-in-service benefits of our servicemen while at the same time contemplating spending £18 billion on saving a base that we already own.

[Stephen Doughty]

I am not going to reflect on the appalling record of the right hon. Gentleman’s Government on defence and our service people. We are getting around to rebuilding our relationship with our armed forces and rebuilding our defences, in view of the global threats that we face.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about the Mauritian Prime Minister, who is, of course, responsible for his own words. I certainly do not recognise some of the commentary that there has been over the last 48 hours. It is clear that there has been no change in the substance of the deal or in the overall quantum agreed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

The UK Government consistently urge Pakistani authorities to act in line with their international obligations and respect fundamental freedoms and human rights. I raised these issues during my visit to Pakistan in November and in my statement to the House on 28 November. We issued a further statement on 23 December about the role of military courts. We have made it clear that the UK supports individuals’ rights to freedom of assembly and expression, and we will continue to do so.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

T2. Why are the Government acting with such dispatch to secure the agreement with Mauritius? What is the rush?

[Stephen Doughty]

As I have said in the House on many occasions, there is no rush. [Interruption.] No, it is a fact that negotiations on this issue were going on for two years under the previous Government, with 10 rounds of failed negotiations. We have secured a deal that is in all of our interests and, crucially, secures our base and our national security interests and those of our allies on Diego Garcia.

Northern Gaza

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I am always happy to hear the House’s view on these issues, which I have heard and will continue to hear extensively, and I know the strength of feeling across the House. On the ICJ advisory opinion, we are still considering what was a complex and far-reaching judgment with significant horizontal legal implications as well as in relation specifically to the conflict. At the heart of that advisory opinion is a concern about the status of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I am pleased to confirm that we continue to consider Palestinian territory to be occupied, we continue to take a position consistent with international law, and we continue to condemn illegal settlements. That is why we took tangible—not just rhetorical—steps against violent and illegal settlements in the west bank.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

The Minister must be aware that there are hon. Members on both sides of the House who were equally as frustrated with the form of the previous Administration as they are with this one. He says that he has brought pressure to bear on the Israeli authorities. When that pressure manifestly fails to deliver, is there a plan?

[Mr Falconer]

I pay tribute to the right hon. Gentleman, who was also a Foreign Office Minister. I once hosted him in Afghanistan, which I am sure he will not remember. [Interruption.] I am sure that he remembers Afghanistan and has vivid memories of Kabul at that time—I meant that he might not remember me. We raise those issues with force. There are consequences for sustained breaches of international humanitarian law, but it would be inappropriate for me to comment in too much detail on how we conduct diplomatic relations on those questions.

Pro-democracy Campaigners: Arrests

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West]

I will not be tempted down the particular track that the hon. Member has invited me to go down, involving oligarchs and so forth, but what I will say is that we live in a very uncertain time. There is a sense of “safety first” in foreign policy: we would like to close everything down and just operate within the UK, but that option is not available to us. What we therefore seek to do is bring ourselves into line with other interlocutors. Janet Yellen, a very robust interlocutor, has visited Beijing a number of times. The Australians, the Singaporeans and a number of others do not have to leave their values at the door if they want to have a discussion about a particular economic opportunity, or if they are worried about something; they say what they want to say in an engagement. I can promise the hon. Member that there will be no return to the golden era and a pint with Xi Jinping, but there will be a heightened awareness of our national security, and human rights will be paramount.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

The Chinese Government respect one thing: strength. So long as they continue to perceive that we are cringing, they will treat us with the contempt they believe we deserve, so how many Hong Kong officials have we sanctioned?

Bangladesh: Attacks on Hindu Community

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West]

I commend my hon. Friend for her commitment to the communities in her constituency. I want to emphasise that in my visit last month, freedom of religion or belief, the protection of minorities, and general law and order were right at the top of the agenda. The UK is at hand to support Bangladesh at this difficult time, when law and order, and stability, are at risk.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Clearly, it would have been expedient to have had a special envoy for religious freedom in place; it is all very well for the Minister to say that such an appointment is under ministerial consideration. What is the problem? Do the Government not have anyone committed enough or talented enough to do it?

[Catherine West]

I am a big believer in mainstreaming all these important responsibilities, because having a special envoy for freedom of religion or belief sometimes lets the Minister off the hook. As the representative of the UK in Dhaka, I see it as my responsibility, and mine alone, to make the case for the Hindu community or any other persecuted minority. I am not going to wash my hands of that and let somebody else do it. The responsibility is being mainstreamed across every single ministerial brief as we speak.