Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Heather Wheeler and Dominic Raab

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank my hon. Friend. He makes a powerful point about the agility and the autonomy that we have with our new Magnitsky sanctions regime, and also some of the latitude we will have now we have left the EU. Equally, I co-ordinate closely with our European partners. He is right to say that the UK, with Canada, proceeded first, on 29 September, to impose targeted sanctions on Lukashenko’s son and six other senior Belarusian officials. I can, though, reassure my hon. Friend that the EU has followed our lead and, at the latest Foreign Affairs Council, announced that it will now follow that lead and impose sanctions on Lukashenko.

[Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)]

What diplomatic steps he is taking to strengthen UK relations with ASEAN countries.

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

I visited Vietnam last month, where we held the first UK-ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting, discussing collaboration on covid, the green economic recovery and the UK’s application for dialogue partner status with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer so far. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to support new growth markets in the ASEAN region, such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, to ensure that the UK economy and UK businesses, especially South Derbyshire firms, feel the full benefit of global Britain?

[Dominic Raab]

First, I must congratulate my hon. Friend on her appointment as trade envoy for Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. She will know that UK-ASEAN trade is already worth over £40 billion in 2019. There are huge opportunities to strengthen that. The International Trade Secretary was meeting ASEAN Economic and Trade Ministers last month. I have been out to ASEAN to talk about our partner dialogue status. We also have a broader ambition to join the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership. All that, through our Indo-Pacific tilt, will increase opportunities for businesses and consumers in her constituency and across the whole United Kingdom.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Debate between Heather Wheeler and Dominic Raab

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that each of those strands is a critical element of the integrated review.

[Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree with me and my South Derbyshire constituents that as we lead the world’s efforts to recover from the coronavirus pandemic now is the right time to move to the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as it will allow us to seize the opportunities that lie ahead and bring our international effort together?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is right, and I pay tribute to the work she did as Minister for Asia. She has seen at first hand why this is so important. Covid actually reinforced the case: the ministerial groups that brought together all aspects of international decision making in relation to covid, from repatriation of nationals through to the purchase of PPE and the search for a vaccine, showed how effectively we could work when we worked closely together and the gap in the absence of integration, which is what the merger will deliver today.

DFID-FCO Merger

Debate between Heather Wheeler and Dominic Raab

Thursday 18th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

May I thank my right hon. Friend and say what a fantastic Minister he was in the Foreign Office? I worked very closely with him and he was exceptional. He will know from his brilliant work on Yemen the importance of bringing together conflict resolution foreign policy objectives with the aid and development budget and programme that we have been delivering. We will come forward with the details he described as soon as practical so that this House can scrutinise them, but I can certainly tell him that we will want to maintain, if not increase, maximum scrutiny over the aid budget and the functioning of this merger.

[Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con) [V]]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer to the urgent question. This move mirrors similar situations in countries such as Australia, with its well respected Aussie Aid. In the merger of the FCO and DFID, what importance will be attached to the provision of sexual and reproductive health rights and family planning as a key component of ODA going forward?

[Dominic Raab]

May I thank my hon. Friend and say what a fantastic Minister she was for the Asia-Pacific region? She will know first hand what can be done when we combine all the resources, expertise and efforts right across Government in the international sphere. On the public health goals she mentions, we will not be diluting or dimming the development goals in any way, shape or form.

Covid-19

Debate between Heather Wheeler and Dominic Raab

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

Anyone in those circumstances will feel anxious and distressed. We will certainly see if we can provide as much support as possible, consular and otherwise, to the hon. Lady’s constituents. If she would like to contact me afterwards, or any of the ministerial team, we will take up that case directly. More generally, it will always depend on the restrictions being imposed, partly by the Governments themselves, including in Morocco, and on the availability of commercial airlines coming out.

What we want to do and what I have been working with the Transport Secretary to achieve is to give clear advice to our constituents as consumers of travel services, but also to make sure that we are leaving the window open for commercial airlines to operate, because that is the surest means of getting people back from difficult or vulnerable positions. That is the only way we are going to be able to achieve it, so we need to keep those commercial lines operating.

[Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend and all the team are working so hard, as are our consular services, but unfortunately we are hearing about certain embassies being shut. The embassy in Kiev is shut and it is £1.80 a minute to phone the FCO hotline and there is a 58-minute delay. Is there anything else that my hon. Friends can do to help my constituent who is stuck in Kiev?

[Dominic Raab]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work at the FCO, where she was a doughty Foreign Minister. There is a whole range of practical details about how we can support our constituents who find themselves in difficult positions. I can certainly ask the Minister covering the wider European neighbourhood to see what further can be done in her case. There is travel advice online and a specific hotline for parliamentarians. I do not know whether she has had a chance to access that yet. If any further support can be given, I am very happy to ensure that I and the ministerial team provide it.