Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Robert Largan

Wednesday 22nd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con)]

Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 22 September.

[The Deputy Prime Minister (Dominic Raab)]

I have been asked to reply on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. As the House will know, he has been at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he has held meetings with world leaders, in particular leaders from countries vulnerable to climate change. He has also met President Biden for discussions on climate, covid and international security.

[Robert Largan]

GPs have done a brilliant job delivering the vaccination programme. They have had to work very long hours in the most challenging circumstances, and now they are having to deal with a huge covid backlog. As a result, many of my constituents have contacted me, frustrated by how difficult it is to see their GP face to face. Just this week, I have been contacted by someone who was diagnosed with cancer after being taken into hospital. She said to me: “I can’t help but wonder if they’d have caught it sooner if I’d been able to see someone in person, instead of trying to describe my symptoms over the phone.” I therefore ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Government are doing to tackle the covid backlog and get face-to-face GP appointments back as soon as possible.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a huge champion of his local NHS and I know of his incredible work on the reinstatement of breast cancer screening clinics among other things. I join him in thanking GPs for the heroic job they have done in seeing us through the pandemic. Although appointment numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels, of course patients and the public rightly expect to see their GP face to face when necessary. As my hon. Friend will know, the Chancellor has funded a £36 billion package to deal with the NHS backlog as well as pursuing our plan for social care.

Human Rights Update

Debate between Dominic Raab and Robert Largan

Monday 22nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Lady raises a perfectly legitimate question, but we have a long tradition in this country of keeping politics and sport separate. Of course, she will also know that that is an independent decision made by the sporting authorities, and not one for the Government.

[Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con) [V]]

Last year, along with many other Members, I signed a joint letter organised by my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Ms Ghani) condemning China and calling for sanctions and an independent investigation, so I welcome the sanctions announced today. The Chinese Government continue to issue denials. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that for Beijing’s denials to have even a shred of credibility, China must give the UN Commissioner for Human Rights full access to Xinjiang immediately?

[Dominic Raab]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I certainly agree with that statement. Indeed, the UK, alongside the United States and Canada, has reiterated the calls in a common statement today to precisely that effect.

Counter-Daesh Update

Debate between Dominic Raab and Robert Largan

Thursday 4th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman: there is a whole range of international collaboration that goes on. I have to say that the principal cause is not some sort of underlying, opaque set of socioeconomic conditions; it is the fact that there is a tyrant in Syria, Daesh is feeding on the instability, and Iran is promoting proxies and militias in the region.

[Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con) [V]]

I welcome the statement and the Government’s commitment to tackle the lingering threat of Daesh. On Monday, a Syria relief report was published, authored by my constituent and Chapel-en-le-Frith resident Charles Lawley. The report found that 99% of internally displaced people in north-west Syria have symptoms compatible with post-traumatic stress disorder, yet only 1% were aware of any mental health support available to them. With this in mind, will the Foreign Secretary assure the House that the UK will continue to be a major donor to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and look carefully at support for mental trauma for victims of conflict?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We obviously focus on the material support—hygiene, water, sanitation and the like—but the scale of PTSD and wider mental health issues in those theatres, in the internally displaced persons camps, is legion. We need to keep our focus as best we can, in the incredibly difficult conditions that the aid and humanitarian workers operate in, to try to alleviate that suffering too.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Robert Largan

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con)]

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)]

Since the last oral questions, I have visited east Africa. I have also visited Cyprus, where I met President Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader in support of the peace initiative and the UN talks. On 18 February, I met our E3 partners in Paris and also the new Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, to co-ordinate our approach to Iran. Finally, I am sure the whole House will be pleased to hear that the international community has elected not just the first British female judge in the International Criminal Court but the first British chief prosecutor.

[Robert Largan [V]]

The Prime Minister has rightly condemned the UN’s Human Rights Council for its disproportionate focus on Israel, which he said was

“damaging to the cause of peace”.

As the UN Human Rights Council meets over the coming weeks, will the Government commit to voting against one-sided resolutions singling out Israel, including those outside permanent agenda item 7, in order to send a clear message that such blatant anti-Israel bias will not be tolerated?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have stood up for Israel when it has faced bias and, frankly, politicised attacks in the UN and other forums. We will continue to press for the abolition of item 7, because it is the only country-specific standalone agenda item and it focuses on Israel, and that cannot be right.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Robert Largan

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

An important part of the work we do involves promoting all four corners of the United Kingdom. We do that in our post through a celebration of St David’s day, as well as other national festivals, and we do it all round the world. Through the GREAT UK Challenge Fund, the FCDO promotes Welsh businesses and Welsh culture. My hon. Friend might be interested to know that in the last financial year we supported 40 projects promoting the devolved nations, including 14 in Wales, and with the Department for International Trade we helped to attract 62 foreign direct investment projects, creating 2,736 new jobs. That demonstrates the value to the people of Wales of the United Kingdom Government, including in their foreign policy.

[Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con)]

    The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is building an underground nuclear facility, and that its enriched uranium stockpiles are now more than 12 times the limit set out in the 2015 nuclear deal. Given those facts, will the Minister confirm to the House that in the event of continued non-compliance by the Iranian regime, the UK is prepared to consider sanctions?

[Dominic Raab]

I was in Berlin yesterday for an E3 meeting with my French and German counterparts on exactly that issue, and on how we are taking forward accountability within the scope of the joint comprehensive plan of action. More than 200 EU sanctions are listed in place against Iran, and with our E3 partners we are continuing the JCPOA to maintain and constrain Iran’s nuclear programme as best we can. We are looking to re-engage with the new US Administration, to see how we can strengthen that even further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Robert Largan

Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I have to say that if the hon. Lady looks at the package of measures that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has put in place in the round, she will see that we are not only dealing with small businesses but helping larger businesses. They are important too; they are large employers. We are doing everything we can to support innovative firms, which will now benefit from the offer of £1.25 billion for high-growth firms. Frankly, I think we should take some of the partisan baggage out of this, focus on targeting the businesses that will create the growth that will drive us through this crisis, and support the workers up and down this country who rely on those crucial businesses.

[Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con) [V]]

The current crisis has shown just how important it is to have sufficient urgent care capacity in the NHS. I have been campaigning for new urgent care centres at both Stepping Hill Hospital and Tameside Hospital, to help NHS staff provide world-class care to people in High Peak and across the region. Can the First Secretary assure me that the Government remain committed to building these badly needed new urgent care centres?