China

Debate between Dominic Raab and Caroline Lucas

Monday 20th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is right. In relation to Hong Kong, it is proving how counterproductive this step is, not just for the residents there, but for the broader people of China, given the economic, financial and reputational issues at stake.

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

I welcome the Government’s new measures on Hong Kong, but I want to press the Foreign Secretary on the gross human rights abuses in Xinjiang. We said that never again would the world stand by while a state set out to eliminate an entire culture, yet it is happening again. As well as accelerating the Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese officials, will he accept that giving out investment opportunities in new nuclear to the state-owned CGN is giving out the wrong signal and that, if he wants to be able to demonstrate real seriousness about gross human rights abuses, he could start by reviewing that policy?

[Dominic Raab]

I share the hon. Lady’s horror and shock at the appalling human rights abuses in Xinjiang and more broadly. Of course, we carefully assess not just individual investment decisions but the integrity and resilience of the processes, and we keep that under constant review.

British Citizens Abroad: FCO Help to Return Home

Debate between Dominic Raab and Caroline Lucas

Tuesday 24th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I suggest that my hon. Friend contacts me or one of the junior Ministers and we will look into that case directly. Obviously, that creates something of a challenge, but not one that should be insurmountable.

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

I have around 20 constituents affected, one of whom is in Peru with his Irish partner Niamh, who has lived and worked in England for around 19 years. Last night they got an email from the FCO saying that it will try to help him but that it does not think it will be able to help her. At this hugely stressful time, they face being separated, in spite of the fact that Niamh was advised by the Irish embassy that their best chance of getting out together was to go via the UK Government. I wonder whether there is anything the Foreign Secretary can do to help those constituents.

[Dominic Raab]

That is a plight that quite a few people have found themselves in. When we have talked to the Peruvian authorities, we have been clear that we will bring back UK nationals and any foreign national dependants who are with them. We have had excellent co-operation with the Irish authorities. I have spoken to Simon Coveney in the last few days. We are always willing to share the burden of getting UK nationals, Irish nationals and European nationals back home, including their dependants, who may not be of the same nationality. I will look into that case.

Global Britain

Debate between Dominic Raab and Caroline Lucas

Monday 3rd February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I can reassure my hon. Friend, and not just with the campaign for media freedom, which we are leading along with our Canadian friends; we have that emphasis on protecting journalists and whistleblowers, who shine a light on the worst injustices in the bleakest corners of the world. I do not know whether he is in the Chamber, but I pay tribute to the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti), and we will be taking that work forward. We are also introducing a separate new autonomous sanctions regime to make sure that the worst human rights abusers in the world can be held to account, through visa bans and asset freezes.

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

Tackling the climate emergency must be core to trade policy, yet the lack of specific Government proposals looks miserably weak compared with the European Commission work on carbon border tariffs and the European Parliament ruling out trade deals with countries not signed up to the Paris agreement. The Foreign Secretary keeps going on about how Britain is going to be leading the world in tackling climate change, so let us prove it: can he say whether or not the Government will commit to going at least as far as those two EU proposals? No more waffle, no more rhetoric—will he or will he not?

[Dominic Raab]

We have set out our proposals, and we are committed to that ambition: reducing to net zero by 2050; continuing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; and bringing together innovation, technology and entrepreneurs to provide British answers to the climate change challenge. Of course, with our Italian co-hosts, we are also leading the COP26 conference in November.

EU Withdrawal Agreement: Legislation

Debate between Dominic Raab and Caroline Lucas

Tuesday 24th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that aspect of the arrangements. We are working closely with all the other arms of Whitehall, including the Department for International Trade, and we are ensuring that we have the right flexibility. The advantage of the implementation period in the White Paper is that it is finite, so that those who want to see an end to the eternal haggling with the EU and want some clarity about the end-state relationship will have that provided. During the implementation period, we will be free to negotiate and to conclude free trade deals with other countries beyond the continent.

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

Is the Secretary of State aware that he has just set alarm bells clanging in the homes of around 3 million EU citizens living in this country? When he answered the question about what would happen in the event of no deal by saying that there would be no wholesale removal of rights of EU nationals in this country, what did he actually mean? Will he put in writing what he means in the next 24 hours so that those people do not have a horrendous summer thinking the worst about what could happen in the event of no deal, with their rights not being protected?

[Dominic Raab]

I do not share the hon. Lady’s gloomy assessment. When the detail of the White Paper is made clear to EU nationals here, the focus will be on their substantive rights and the mechanism by which they will be able to rely directly on them in UK courts. There will be an independent monitoring authority not just to take up complaints, but to take legal action. If the negotiations do not reach fruition, separate legislative provision will be made in the normal way through the Home Office. However, we will move quickly to secure the position of EU nationals.

UK Extradition Arrangements

Debate between Dominic Raab and Caroline Lucas

Monday 5th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Raab]

My hon. Friend is of course right. That must be a point of principle, even when serious allegations have been laid.

The proposed change in the law might not even necessitate amendment of the treaty. Nevertheless, given its disproportionate value to our American friends, it is inconceivable that they would refuse if pressed to change the treaty. I also note that in the US’s extradition treaties with Brazil, Mexico and Australia, to name a few, those countries retain the right to decline extradition in those and far wider circumstances as it affects their nationals. Is it so unreasonable for Britain, a stalwart ally, to ask for that rather modest adjustment?

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

With regard to an earlier intervention, it might be helpful to the House if I explained that the legal advice I have received—I know that there is plenty of legal advice on all sides—indicates that if it can be demonstrated that there were original flaws in the Babar Ahmad case, as I believe it can, the outcome of the vote could be particularly relevant to that case.

[Mr Raab]

I thank the hon. Lady for shedding light on some of the legal advice on that.

In my view, the regime in place under the European arrest warrant suffers from far more serious and widespread flaws than the UK-US arrangements, despite the important concerns that have been raised in that regard. If we consider the appalling treatment of Andrew Symeou, we will see the egregious nature of the flaws in the system. Greek police beat identical statements out of witnesses, which were later retracted, and Andrew spent practically a year in appalling prison conditions. He was left with a flea-ridden blanket in a baking-hot cell crawling with cockroaches and was abused by guards. He witnessed a prisoner being beaten to death for drug money. The trial proceeded at a crawl, with translators who spoke little English. Eventually he was cleared after a two-year ordeal.