Hong Kong: Electoral Reforms

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Nigel Adams

Wednesday 10th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

The hon. Gentleman needs to be congratulated for the work that he has done in the first place, working cross party, to allow and help the Foreign Secretary to deliver our own sanctions regime. Again, we continue to hold China to account. We lead international efforts in that regard. We work very closely with not just the US Administration. We have a huge opportunity this year through our presidency of the G7. What I will say to him—I will try to use slightly different language from that in the answer I provided to my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Ms Ghani)—is that we are carefully and closely considering further designations under our global human rights regime. They were introduced, as he knows, in July, and we will keep all evidence and potential listings under very close review.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con) [V]]

What assessment has the Foreign Secretary made of the impact of the national security law and the further dismantling of human rights in Hong Kong on freedom of religion or belief, particularly in the light of the raid on Good Neighbour North District Church, the freezing of its bank account, and the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong’s instructions to clergy to be careful in their sermons? What implications does the proposed national security education curriculum have for FORB in faith schools there?

[Nigel Adams]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work as the Prime Minister’s envoy for freedom of religion or belief. We are deeply concerned about the issues that she has raised, and about the severity and scale of violations and the abuses of freedom of religion or belief in many parts of the world, including China. Religious intolerance and persecution are often at the heart of foreign and development policy challenges. Where freedom of religion or belief is under attack, other human rights are often threatened too, as she knows full well. The prosperity of Hong Kong and the way of life relies on respect for those fundamental freedoms. We are committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for everyone.

Persecution of Ahmadis

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Nigel Adams

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

The hon. Gentleman raises a good point. We regularly communicate our concern about these issues. People should be able to practise their religion and belief freely, without persecution. We regularly raise this matter with the Pakistan authorities. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister knows the Ahmadiyya community well and knows his holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the spiritual head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. The Prime Minister made it clear in this House, on 11 November, that we frequently raise our concerns about freedom of region or belief in relation to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community with the Pakistan Government.

I can also attest to my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield’s love for all, hatred for none maxim by which the Ahmadiyya community lives. In my constituency, we had horrendous floods in 2015. The town of Tadcaster had its bridge destroyed and the town was separated. Many people came to support that community, not least members of the Ahmadiyya community, who came all the way up from London, at their own expense, and provided a fantastic resource for the community in bringing succour and support to families who had been flooded. I am incredibly grateful for all the support that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association provided to the people of my constituency, and I was more than happy to visit them at their mosque in south London shortly afterwards.

Earlier this month, officials from the British high commission in Islamabad visited Rabwah in Punjab province to meet representatives of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. They were able to hear at first hand about the community’s experiences and challenges, as well as the concerning rise of persecution and the tragic rise of killings of members of that community. We also provide support to civil society organisations working on freedom of religion or belief issues in Pakistan. Our Aawaz II inclusion, accountability and reducing modern slavery programme will spend £39.5 million over five years in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is worth pointing out that followers of other religions, including Christians and Shi’a Muslims, also suffer discrimination and violence in Pakistan.

Let me take this opportunity to underline the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s due diligence in providing funding. We ensure that all organisations that receive funding have procedures in place to tackle any discrimination, including against religious minorities such as Ahmadi Muslims. We continue to urge the Pakistani Government to guarantee the fundamental rights of all their citizens and strengthen the protection of minorities in accordance with international standards. As part of that, we continue to raise our concerns about the implementation of blasphemy legislation and the misuse of anti-terror laws to discriminate.

My hon. Friend rightly raised the issue of trade. The EU’s generalised scheme of preferences plus tier includes provisions that make preferential market access conditional on compliance with human and labour rights, environmental standards and good governance. On 1 January 2021, the UK will introduce its own generalised scheme of preferences. We are committed to securing Pakistani businesses’ ability to trade freely with the UK through an independent unilateral preferences scheme that will offer the same level of tariff-free access as the EU’s generalised scheme of preferences plus. The UK’s trade preferences scheme will replicate the EU conditions for the enhanced framework, similar to the EU’s generalised scheme of preferences plus tier, of which Pakistan is a beneficiary.

We work closely with United Nations agencies and civil society organisations to ensure that the immediate needs of any displaced refugees are met. We raise issues of Ahmadi Muslim persecution regularly with other Governments, including in Algeria, Thailand and Malaysia, and we engage with representatives in those countries.

My hon. Friend raised sanctions. Our global human rights sanctions regime is a powerful tool to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations and abuses. That could potentially include those who target individuals on the grounds of their religion or belief. As he will understand, we do not speculate on who may be designated, as to do so might reduce the impact of those designations. To return to the issue of aid, our relationship with any Government is based on an assessment of commitment to our partnership principles, including human rights.

I turn to our counter-extremism work at home. We are committed to tackling those who sow hatred and division against any community in this country. Our counter-extremism strategy seeks to address all forms of extremism by challenging those who spread extremist propaganda. We need to strengthen communities and disrupt the most dangerous extremists. As the House will be aware, policy on this issue is being led by the Home Office.

My hon. Friend mentioned the media and how they can play a negative role in propagating harmful views, as can social media. Propaganda also finds its way into more traditional channels. We are working to tackle that by using existing legislation, and we are countering those damaging narratives with a range of civil society groups, including overseas groups. We are working with tech companies, law enforcement and our international partners to tackle the abhorrent exploitation of online platforms. As I said earlier, our online harms White Paper sets out plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. It will also introduce a new duty of care on companies and will be overseen by an independent regulator.

This has been a timely debate on an incredibly important issue, and I thank my hon. Friend for bringing it to the House.

[Fiona Bruce]

Before the Minister draws his remarks to a close, can I ask whether officials are raising concerns about an issue that the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western) touched on—the fact that Ahmadis do not have an equal right to vote in Pakistan or to stand in elections as candidates, and that there is a separate electoral list kept of Ahmadis, which can unfortunately be used as a source of intimidation or harassment?

[Nigel Adams]

My hon. Friend, who is a long-time champion on issues of freedom of religion and belief, raises an incredible point. We see that issue in other parts of the world too, including with the Rohingya population in Myanmar. I struggle to see how any election could be called free and fair when large sections of society are denied the opportunity to participate.

Hong Kong

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Nigel Adams

Thursday 12th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his considered question. He is absolutely right to raise the issue of academic interference. UK universities are international at their core, and we warmly welcome overseas students, including from China, and the valuable contribution that they make, but we will not tolerate any attempt to interfere with academic freedom, or freedom of speech. As I have said before in the House, if any universities experience any attempts to undermine free debate, we encourage them to get in touch with the Government.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned data infrastructure. The long-term security and enduring resilience of our telecoms network are incredibly important, and we are taking difficult decisions to protect those interests. The position in January on high-risk vendors was based on the need to balance security with the need for us to level up and be a world leader in our digital infrastructure. I hope that answers the hon. Gentleman’s point, but I am more than happy to have a direct meeting with him when he returns to London, as I have said to the Lib Dem and Labour spokespeople, the hon. Members for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) and for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock).

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

First, the Minister says that our Government continue to hold China to account. Has the Chinese ambassador been summoned to meet the Foreign Secretary following the most recent developments? If so, with what results, and, if not, will the ambassador be summoned? Secondly, it is clear that human rights safeguards have effectively collapsed now in Hong Kong. One of those, of course—a key human right—is freedom of religion. We have seen what has happened with the attacks on freedom of religion in China. Have the Government considered how that can be protected in Hong Kong? What calls have they made to ensure that the right to worship remains there?

[Nigel Adams]

I can confirm that the Chinese ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office this morning. Freedom of religion or belief is a key issue for this Government. My hon. Friend has spoken on this matter on many occasions, and I have had the pleasure to be in such debates. We are very concerned by what has been going on in mainland China—particularly in Xinjiang—but we are concerned by all restrictions placed on freedom of religion or belief in China.

Persecution of Christians and Freedom of Religion or Belief

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Nigel Adams

Wednesday 21st October 2020 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I not only congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti) on securing this debate, but commend him for his long-standing commitment to freedom of religion or belief. I also thank him for his incredibly hard work over the last year as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief. He gave us a fantastic run-through of his work over the last year—an exhausting year, by the sounds of it—and it was well worth the over-run on his time, Mr Hollobone, to be able to hear about all the work that he has done. There sure are big boots to fill in that regard. My hon. Friend’s commitment to this agenda has contributed hugely to the Government’s work in this area. It has been instrumental in the implementation of more than half the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations.

I also extend my gratitude to colleagues for their impassioned speeches today. I will try to respond to all the points raised, although I suspect, given the time, that that is wishful thinking. But I do have, to coin a phrase, an open-door policy at the FCDO and I will be more than happy to meet individual colleagues to go through some of the issues that I am not able to respond on today. We have a great team there, working on this agenda, and we will be more than happy to work with everyone collaboratively where we are all on the same page.

I can start by reaffirming the Government’s unwavering commitment to freedom of religion or belief. The commitment was further underlined by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s appointment last year of my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham, who succeeded my ministerial colleague Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, who continues to champion this cause in his capacity as FCDO Minister responsible for human rights, in the House of Lords.

The Prime Minister is resolute in his commitment to freedom of religion or belief, and I can confirm that a new special envoy will be appointed in due course. I thought that the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) was making a fantastic pitch for the job until he pivoted and gave a great reference for the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). I ask colleagues to “bear with”, as my kids say. An appointment will be made by the Prime Minister shortly; he is absolutely committed to there being that role. Diplomacy and development go hand in hand. Religious intolerance and persecution are often at the heart of foreign and development policy challenges. Where freedom of religion or belief is under attack, other human rights are often threatened too. The newly merged FCDO is using all its diplomatic tools to ensure that no one suffers because of their conscience.

As the House is aware, the then Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Jeremy Hunt), commissioned an independent review into the scale of Christian persecution globally. It produced a set of challenging recommendations on what more the Government could do to support people of all faiths and none everywhere around the world. So far, as we have heard, we have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, 17 of the recommendations. I will run through just some of them.

Recommendation 11 focuses on the religious literacy of our officials. I am pleased that work is under way to ensure that British diplomats and officials have access to enhanced religious literacy training to help them understand the role that religion plays in many people’s lives and in the decisions that they make. That training will help us to develop more religiously literate policies and to engage more effectively.

Recommendation 9 is about the establishment of a John Bunyan fund. In August last year, we launched the fund successfully. In the first year alone, we funded 15 research projects looking at the challenges faced by different communities, including Christians, Yazidis and humanists, as well as at cross-cutting issues such as migration and the double vulnerability experienced by women from minority faith backgrounds.

Recommendation 20 encourages us to use our position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to seek a resolution calling on Governments in the middle east and north Africa to ensure protection of Christians and other faith minorities. The Foreign Secretary remains absolutely committed to delivering that recommendation, recognising freedom of religion or belief as a force for good. Lord Ahmad has been working tirelessly on this and met our mission in New York a fortnight ago to review the opportunities presented by our presidency of the Security Council in 2021. We are working harder than ever to support those who are persecuted on account of their religion or belief and to implement the recommendations of the Bishop of Truro.

Today’s debate highlights why our efforts are so urgently needed. We have stepped up our work internationally as one of the founding members of the new international religious freedom or belief alliance—we have stood together alongside 31 other states to protect freedom of religion or belief. Again, I have to extend my gratitude to my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham for his leadership on that. We have heard about some of the excellent work that the alliance has delivered.

We will continue to use our influential voice to raise FORB at the United Nations, including urging the international community to work together—we have heard today how important that is—to face the challenges presented by covid-19. It is particularly important at this time to ensure that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society are actively included in response and recovery efforts.

Turing to some of the references made by right hon. and hon. Members, we heard an excellent opening speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham, as I said. He asked whether we would host the inter-ministerial global conference on FORB in 2022. We will announce a date for that conference in the coming months.

My hon. Friend also talked about sanctions. One or two other Members mentioned our sanctions regime and asked why we are not already implementing it against certain individuals who are oppressing the Uyghur population. We introduced the sanctions regime in July. It gives us a powerful tool to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations. We are constantly considering further designations under the regime but, as hon. Members will appreciate, it would be wrong to speculate exactly who may be designated, because to do so at this stage reduces the impact of any sanctions.

The hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron) referred to the excellent work of Open Doors, as did the spokesperson for the Opposition, the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), who has worked with that organisation himself. He and other hon. Members also referred to what is going on in Nigeria. We are aware of the reports of recent human rights violations involving the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, and recent incidents have prompted serious and widespread protests. Our high commissioner in Abuja has raised that with the Nigerian Government. We condemn all incidents of inter-communal violence in Nigeria, which continue to have a devastating effect on communities of all faiths.

The hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow also referred to Pakistan, and I very much look forward to receiving her letter. As I said earlier, I am happy to meet her with my team to go through that.

My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) is a constant champion on this issue, and we thank her for all her work on it. She rightly mentioned the genocide definition. Genocide has a specific definition in international law, and any judgment about whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a judicial decision, but I thank her for rightly referring to it again.

[Fiona Bruce]

Will the Minister give way?

[Nigel Adams]

I will, but I will probably end up not covering everybody’s points.

[Fiona Bruce]

Will the Minister reassure us that he will consider the amendment to the Trade Bill, to which more than one Member referred?

[Nigel Adams]

Yes. With regard to the Trade Bill, we have a strong history of safeguarding human rights and promoting our values globally. Strong economic relationships with our partners allow us to have open discussions on a range of important issues, including human rights. We continue to encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations.

The hon. Member for Coventry North West (Taiwo Owatemi) spoke passionately about her personal experiences of meeting constituents who have been discriminated against. I thank her for welcoming the pace at which the recommendations are being implemented. I can assure her that the full set of recommendations will be implemented by July 2022. We are very concerned about reports that some communities are being denied access to aid. My colleague the Minister for human rights raised that issue during the UK’s closing statement at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

I thank the hon. Member for Strangford and my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Imran Ahmad Khan) for their passionate contributions. I congratulate the hon. Member for Strangford on the birth of his grandson. My hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Alexander Stafford), who is no longer in his place, rightly raised the issue of Pakistan and China. The hon. Member for Glasgow East made a well-thought-out and passionate speech, which was almost a great pitch for the special envoy’s role.

Before handing back to my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham, I want to assure the House that the Government will continue to be a long-standing champion of human rights and freedoms. We have a duty to promote and defend our values of equality, inclusion and respect at home and abroad. We will continue to stand up for the rights of minority communities around the world and defend the right to freedom of religion or belief for everyone everywhere.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Nigel Adams

Monday 18th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Nigel Adams)]

As the hon. Lady will know, the Government have been consulting on that very issue. We are absolutely committed to reducing homelessness, and we will be able to provide further information in due course.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

T9. Will the Minister provide an update on the Housing First pilots?

Fixed Odds Betting Terminals

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Nigel Adams

Wednesday 8th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

Some 400,000 people in this country are problem gamblers and 3.5 million are at risk of developing a gambling problem. These are not small numbers. Furthermore, 50% of problem gamblers reporting to the National Problem Gambling Clinic say that fixed odds betting terminals are a disproportionate cause of problem gambling. We can understand why that is when we hear that these high-stakes machines can take bets of £100 per game and that up to £1,800 can be lost in an hour. Every year in the UK, people lose more than £1 billion on FOBTs, of which problem gamblers lose £300,000.

Users do not need to be addicted for catastrophic problems to be caused to them and their families. It is not just an individual problem, but a grave social and public health issue that we need to recognise and deal with. Phill Holdsworth, head of external affairs at Christians Against Poverty, says:

“Where we work with families…where one member…has a problem with gambling it is very difficult and often impossible to provide any form of debt solution. It is not possible to put forward a solution without them receiving help or support for their addiction. This means the other family members”

continue to suffer. He continued:

“A debt solution is very difficult to apply when gambling problems are present.”

Problem gambling costs society £3.24 billion a year, and the addition of each problem gambler severely affects the lives of about eight individuals around them. As such, about 3 million people are now affected by problem gambling—every one an individual, every one a blighted life, many of them children. We urgently need a concerted Government approach and—I believe—a cross-party approach to address the economic, social and health costs associated with problem gambling. The Salvation Army, whose work I pay tribute to in this respect, says:

“Problem gambling particularly affects the young… Problem gambling amongst young people is an emerging public health issue. In the UK, over 10% of children who gamble are problem gamblers, whilst 18% of them are at risk gamblers.”

I agree with the phrase used by the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Tom Greatrex), when he said that many people viewed gambling as anathema. I do. We need to review our whole approach towards gambling. The average treatment for a problem gambler costs £675, meaning that £274 million would be required to treat all problem gamblers in the UK, yet the gambling industry’s contribution is just £5 million.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

I understand that the terminals generate about £300 million of tax revenue. Given my hon. Friend’s comments, has she considered the impact that Labour’s proposals might have on the Exchequer?