Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 5th December 2018 Ministerial Corrections

[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

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Harriett Baldwin

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.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 21st November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I pay tribute to the right hon. Gentleman’s work on the issue. We have seen the important report today that drew that conclusion. He will be aware that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will make a statement on Yemen later today. The right hon. Gentleman can be assured that the UK Government are doing everything we can, not only to fund the humanitarian response, but to resolve the logistical challenges that face those who want to deliver humanitarian aid.

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

8. Will the Minister make the 250 million children who live in conflict zones a priority?

[Harriett Baldwin]

Yes; I reassure my right hon. Friend that children in conflict zones—there are so many of them—will continue to be a priority. I reassure hon. Members, who may have read reports that the figure was as low as 2.5%, that we do not recognise that figure. Our response to protecting children in conflict zones goes way beyond that and forms a core part of what we do.

Ebola Response Update

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Harriett Baldwin

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[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.

Interpol Presidency Election

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Harriett Baldwin

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.

Yemen

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Harriett Baldwin

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing today’s urgent question and finding time to discuss these important issues on the Floor of the House. He is absolutely right to pay tribute to the work of Martin Griffiths. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the UK holds the pen on this matter at the United Nations, and it is really important that Martin Griffiths has been appointed as a United Nations special envoy. As colleagues will know, he brought the debate to the floor at the United Nations last month. The UK strongly backs his work, and his outline of the process that will lead to a political solution and peace in Yemen. In fact, I am glad to have the opportunity to reiterate a point that he made: we urge all parties to the conflict to exercise restraint and continue to facilitate access for essential imports of food, fuel and medical supplies into the country, including through Hodeidah and Saleef ports. I agree that further military action is not the way forward. The way forward towards peace is around the negotiating table.

The hon. Gentleman made some points about the important role that the UK can play in the peace process, in addition to the role as penholder at the United Nations. Clearly our role is also to be a candid friend to those involved in the Saudi-led coalition; to encourage the process of the investigative joint incident assessment team and the publication of its reports, 55 of which have been published so far; to recognise that the UK is not involved in any way in the targeting chain; and to reiterate the importance of the UK having the most rigorous export controls, which involves the observation of international humanitarian law.

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

Is the Minister absolutely convinced that President Hadi is not an impediment to a political settlement?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I will not fall into the temptation of commenting on any of the individual players concerned. Clearly, President Hadi needs to be involved in the discussions about the way forward. The United Nations special envoy, after publishing his outline and road map towards peace in Yemen, will need to engage a wide range of counterparties.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Harriett Baldwin

Monday 10th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

16. What progress there has been on the programme to build four Dreadnought submarines.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Harriett Baldwin)]

Thanks to the vote a year ago, the Dreadnought programme to replace the four Vanguard-class nuclear-armed submarines is on schedule. Construction on Dreadnought, the first of her class, commenced as planned in October 2016 at the BAE Systems yard in Barrow-in-Furness.

[Sir Desmond Swayne]

Will the handover from Vanguard to Dreadnought be seamless?

[Harriett Baldwin]

Certainly if I and the 80% of people who took part in the vote a year ago have anything to do with it, it will be. I gently draw the House’s attention to the fact that both the shadow Defence Secretary and the Leader of the Opposition voted in the opposite Lobby on that day.