Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mark Field]

There are obviously great concerns. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, a number of cadets were killed taking important action as human rights defenders. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Europe and the Americas has raised this issue at a bilateral level, and we will monitor the situation carefully.

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

Will the report to which my right hon. Friend has referred focus on the plight of Christian Churches in China?

[Mark Field]

It will indeed. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) speaks avidly, repeatedly, and, if I may say, persistently on this matter—and indeed extremely effectively. My right hon. Friend can be assured that we will address that along with other issues about Christian persecution across the world.

Institute for Statecraft: Integrity Initiative

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Duncan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for both what he asked and the tone in which he asked it. He has experience of these issues and I share in pretty well everything that he just said. The integrity initiative, in its activity abroad, endeavours to deliver exactly that sort of transparency to counter fake news and disinformation, in the way that I think the hon. Gentleman and all of us would hope. Indeed, the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury said in her opening remarks that she would support that sort of activity.

What is more, this charity is incorporated in Scotland, so it is subject to the Scottish Charity Regulator, and that kind of non-partisan activity is required. Within the UK, the charity does some automatic retweeting of stories that relate to Russia. Of course, on some occasions that includes mentions of the right hon. Leader of the Opposition; equally, there could be mention of a Conservative, as indeed has happened on many occasions. It has been judged to be no more than non-partisan repetition of stories that relate to Russia.

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

I am reassured to know that we are taking on Russian misinformation. I am right to be, aren’t I?

[Sir Alan Duncan]

Yes, my right hon. Friend is right to be. The whole House should appreciate that this is an ever-increasing challenge, and one that we need to meet in the cyber field, as we do in the information field. That is what we are doing.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2018 Ministerial Corrections

The following is an extract from Foreign and Commonwealth Office questions on 4 December 2018.

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

Exactly what are we signing up to at Marrakesh?

[Harriett Baldwin]

We are signing up to the global compact on refugees. I should clarify for the House that it is a different document from the one that has perhaps generated more controversy: the global compact on migration.

[Official Report, 4 December 2018, Vol. 650, c. 647.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Africa:

An error has been identified in the response I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne).

The correct response should have been:

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

Exactly what are we signing up to at Marrakesh?

[Harriett Baldwin]

We are signing up to the global compact on migration. I should clarify for the House that it is a different document and has perhaps generated more controversy than the global compact on refugees.

Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 4th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am glad that the hon. Lady welcomes the UK’s role, and I assure her that the UK has been fully engaged throughout the whole process since the United Nations agreed to move forward on this issue. We have been working on the wording and the direction of travel, to make sure that it is an agreement that can work for the whole world.

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

Exactly what are we signing up to at Marrakesh?

[Harriett Baldwin]

We are signing up to the global compact on refugees. I should clarify for the House that it is a different document from the one that has perhaps generated more controversy: the global compact on migration.[Official Report, 5 December 2018, Vol. 650, c. 9MC.]

Ukraine-Russia Relations

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 27th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Burt]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s question; no one could be a more determined supporter not only of the rights of Christians in other countries, but of freedom of belief and religion for all, which he champions. The United Kingdom believes that Russia must uphold its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, and we call on Russia to release immediately over 70 political prisoners detained in Russia and Crimea. I will ensure that his comments about minority faith prisoners and detainees are conveyed to the Minister responsible.

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

Who benefits?

[Alistair Burt]

No one benefits from actions that are contrary to international law. No one benefits from disruption. The only people who benefit are those who can demonstrate a clear and concise response to such aggression in an effort to return the world to a rules-based system, where there will be de-escalation, and collective security for all because it is not provoked by unreasonable actions.

Yemen

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Wednesday 21st November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her question. I did talk a lot about what was happening in Yemen when I was in Iran, but she is absolutely right to say that I spent a long time on the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. I have to answer truthfully: I did not detect any signs of an immediate change in Iran’s position. I want to say very plainly that this is an innocent woman, and she has been separated from her daughter for more than half her daughter’s life. It is an appalling situation, and Iran cannot but expect, if it continues to detain people to create diplomatic leverage—sadly, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is not the only person in this situation, and Britain is not the only country affected—that there will be very serious consequences if Iran continues to behave this way. We will stop at nothing to make sure that justice is done and that this brave lady is released.

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

Effective UN action is so often prevented by the deployment of a protected veto on behalf of one or other of the combatants. That will not happen in the case of Yemen, will it?

[Mr Hunt]

We have to be very clear that that must not happen and should not happen. That is another reason to be very careful with the wording that we are putting forward. What we actually want is a ceasefire, backed up by a UN Security Council resolution that does pass and is respected on the ground. I do not think we can get to that point in the next couple of weeks, but we want to make a step in that direction.

Interpol Presidency Election

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I hope that I have already set out for the House both the character of the role of the presidency and the checks and balances that exist within this international organisation, Interpol, in terms of geographical balance, the ability to query domestically any particular request that might come through Interpol processes, and the protections of article 3. I expect the matter to remain under scrutiny in this House in the foreseeable future, but I reiterate that the UK Government’s and the National Crime Agency’s view is that the safeguards I outlined earlier, and the ability to question some of the procedures, are checks and processes that we believe are working well. Of course that will be kept continuously under review.

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

What action has the organisation taken to challenge Russia over its recent abuse of the rules?

[Harriett Baldwin]

Without my right hon. Friend being more specific about the examples to which he alludes, I can only say that I think he will be aware that we are talking about two different processes. There is the one relating to Interpol, where I have outlined the way in which the National Crime Agency is able to invoke checks and balances and to ensure that article 3 is not violated. Separately, as he will also be aware, the UK has very much been leading the international efforts at the OPCW to challenge the egregious use of chemical weapons and violations of the chemical weapons convention, including the use of chemical weapons on UK soil that has been attributed to Russia. We have, as he knows, worked very closely with the OPCW to ensure that a special conference of the state parties has been held and that the state parties can now attribute responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria and, if needed, elsewhere in the future.

Ebola Response Update

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We will now have an exemplification of brevity—I call Sir Desmond Swayne.

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

Victims are at their most infectious when they are dead. A key intervention in Sierra Leone was burial teams; are they being deployed in the Congo?

[Harriett Baldwin]

My right hon. Friend is always a model of brevity. I can assure him that in my perhaps too verbose statement, I drew attention to the fact that we are supporting safe burial practices.

Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Tuesday 30th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Saudi Arabia is a human rights country of concern for the Foreign Office. We have regular discussions with the Saudis about our concerns—the guardianship system, freedom of expression, the death penalty and a range of other issues—but it is because we have a relationship with them that we are able to raise these concerns both privately and in public, and the hon. Gentleman should rest assured that that is exactly what we do.

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

Do we have any regret about seeking the election of Saudi Arabia to the Human Rights Council?

[Mr Hunt]

All sorts of issues with respect to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record are in sharp relief at the moment, but I think I have spoken more clearly than perhaps any other western Foreign Minister in saying that if the Khashoggi stories turn out to be true, that will be inconsistent with our values.

Death of Jamal Khashoggi

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I completely reject the hon. Lady’s suggestion that we are choosing expediency. As I said in answer to the last question, I do not think any country does more than we do to champion human rights in every corner of the globe. We do that sometimes at commercial cost and often at diplomatic cost, but we do it differently in different countries. With countries such as China, if we were to raise such issues publicly, we would just lose access to the people who can make a difference. There are other countries where we raise such issues more publicly. The question is whether we raise them, and we do. The idea of a UN convention could be very interesting, and I will certainly look at it.

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

How stable is the Saudi regime?

[Mr Hunt]

That is a question that I would not want to answer in a hurry at the Dispatch Box, but I echo the answer I gave to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee: autocratic regimes are inherently less stable.