Iran

James Duddridge Excerpts

Thursday 6th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[James Cleverly]

The last time I had face-to-face contact with a representative of a Minister of the Iranian regime was in 2021, but my officials regularly raise consular issues, including detainees, with our Iranian counterparts. I can assure her and the House that this remains a priority. I have met Morad Tahbaz’s family on a number of occasions and the Minister for the region, Lord Ahmad, met them very recently—I think within the last few weeks. This remains a priority for us, and I can assure the hon. Lady that we will continue to work with the United States of America, as he is a trinational, to bring about his permanent release and ability to come home and rejoin his family.

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

In welcoming these sanctions, may I ask the Foreign Secretary to look at Iran’s activities elsewhere? He has already mentioned the provision of Russian drones. I hear rumours that Iran has also provided drones to the Polisario in southern Algeria, which could destabilise a very fragile peace with the Moroccans in Western Sahara—a space that is governed by the UN. Indeed, it is perfectly credible that the Iranians are also involved in places such as Tigray and South Sudan, destabilising a whole continent as a lever of political power.

[James Cleverly]

My hon. Friend, who knows the continent of Africa and its politics incredibly well, is absolutely right to highlight the fact that Iranian malign activity is not restricted to its own near neighbourhood or, indeed, the United Kingdom. We look very carefully at the credible reporting of the support through military equipment not just to Russia in its attack against Ukraine, but to militia groups and other military groups in the region and across Africa. I can reassure him that we will take that into consideration when it comes to any future sanctions response that we have towards the Iranian regime.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

James Duddridge Excerpts

Thursday 6th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

I am sorry to tell you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that I have been an abject failure, but it is okay because it is not I who is going to be blamed. Sadly, it is going to be the Minister and the Secretary of State, and it is going to be on their watch that CPA International has to leave London.

Even back in 2006, when I visited India, I remember these issues being raised. In the four years that I had the privilege of being in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, working with the Minister of State, I think I had the largest number of Commonwealth countries in my portfolio, but I never took the lead, although I did advocate for making this change. When I was the chair of the CPA, prior to my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller), for around two or three years, I tried to move these things forward, but it was never the issue of the day. Let us face it: it is not the biggest issue of the day today, with Iran and what is going on in Russia, but it has to be an issue at some point.

In April, when I stood in for my right hon. Friend in a Westminster Hall debate, I said that, if we did not do something in April when everyone met in Gibraltar, the CPA would hardcode in a process that involved having to leave the United Kingdom. That process is now hardcoded in. People are coming forward—whether it is the Malaysians; South Africa, perhaps with the support of other African countries; or Canada—and there are very credible propositions to take the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association International branch away from the UK. This is not just a matter of pride. With the King being the head of the Commonwealth, it brings something closely located to the monarchy, to the British tradition and to this Parliament—a safe, secure place, through which people travel on a regular basis. It can conduct CPA business while doing other things internationally, which might not be the case if it were located in a country a little further away.

While I failed to move this forward successfully, it will be the Foreign Secretary and the ministerial team who will get the blame. There is an opportunity to grasp this nettle. The incremental change we have seen over the last decade just is not going to cut it. A few weeks ago, I asked the Prime Minister about this, and he was optimistic in his reply. I believe the Foreign Secretary wants to find a way forward, but we need to see a strong indication from the Minister today that we have a commitment to try to sort this out. In the King’s Speech, if not earlier, we need an absolute commitment that legislation is going to be taken forward to solve this problem. This really should not be what we are talking about in this House. Please, please make this my last speech on this subject, and please turn my failure into a success.

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[Sir James Duddridge]

I intervene not to compliment my right hon. Friend on his tie, but to make a more serious point on the meeting yesterday, which was attended by Mr Speaker, who, like you Mr Deputy Speaker, has a passion for these things. I am not sure how these things operate, but is there an opportunity to have some type of Speaker’s conference or an informal meeting where Mr Speaker brings together the Leader of the House and the Foreign Secretary, gives them tea and maybe chocolate biscuits, locks the door and does not let them out until we have resolved this issue?

[David Mundell]

Engagement with Speakers from across the Commonwealth is important, because at the session I attended in South Africa, the Speaker of the South African Parliament had just returned from a conference in Russia, from which overtures were being made. Honestly, if I had to go back to South Africa—it would be a great pleasure to do so again—a third time, I would have to say to South African parliamentarians, who want to be supportive of the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, that yet again we had done nothing.

As my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller) has set out, it is so straightforward to take action. It does not require Government funds. It requires a small amount of time, it has cross-party agreement and it could be done. Essentially, we are in the position of running out of excuses for why we are not doing it. There will be real implications. As has been set out, the CPA will leave London. It will leave this Parliament, and we will be diminished because of it.

Secondly, along with my right hon. and hon. Friends, I met the Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament, where we discussed our concerns about prospective LGBT legislation, and in effect asked for that legislation to be reflected on and asked him and his fellow parliamentarians to take the issue seriously. But how can we do that credibly when he says that he wants us to take steps to amend the status of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association—I suggest that is much easier for us than the changes we want him to use his influence to make in the Ghanaian Parliament—and we do nothing? That undermines our credibility. Surely we cannot allow that to happen.

I hope that the result of the debate will be different from those of previous debates and questions raised on the matter and that the Minister will take forward the Bill promoted by my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller) before the Commonwealth conference in Ghana to maintain our credibility as a nation and as a Parliament, and maintain the presence of the CPA in the UK.

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[Chris Law (Dundee West) (SNP)]

Commonwealth Day 2023 marked a new chapter in the age of decolonisation: a new monarch with a new perspective towards the Commonwealth. The annual theme was “Forging a sustainable and common future”, and intended to highlight the promotion of peace and sustainability, and the Commonwealth’s work on change. The day also marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Commonwealth charter, which sets out Commonwealth principles on human rights, democracy and development.

The head of the Commonwealth used his Commonwealth Day message to discuss harmony with nature and securing the planet for generations to come, as well as the diversity of the Commonwealth nations. That significant and historic milestone is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the impact of the Commonwealth, acknowledge the damage of British colonial history and begin to pave the way to more conscious, respectful and thoughtful relationships with Commonwealth countries.

We are already beginning to see the tides change. In recent months, people across the world are reassessing what the Commonwealth means and how it can be adapted for the benefit of all, to better match a 21st-century world. We in the Scottish National party are particularly mindful of the role of the Commonwealth as an advocate for the needs of smaller and more vulnerable states, and for the inclusion of marginalised people and communities. I wish to reaffirm the SNP’s policy of joining the Commonwealth post independence, because we want to join the world, not be apart from it. On independence, Scotland will continue to play a role in the Commonwealth and the wider Anglosphere. That will help to further unlock the potential of a powerful, international Scottish brand and worldwide diaspora.

The Scottish Government are already working on efforts to acknowledge and act on the legacy of colonialism. Their 2022 global affairs framework focuses on the need to decolonise development and reinforce the fact that projects must be partner-led rather than donor-led, as is too often the case. They pledged to appoint a decolonisation officer within an independent Scotland Department of International Development. The Scottish Government explicitly referenced their colonial past when announcing their £1 million contribution —subsequently increased to £2 million—to fund loss and damage caused by climate change. A key recipient of the fund will be the Commonwealth country of Malawi. Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon framed the contribution not as an act of charity, but as reparation for the damage driven by countries in the global north.

Through its promotion of parliamentary democracy and good governance specifically targeted at parliamentarians, the CPA provides a vehicle for us to collaborate with our parliamentary colleagues across the Commonwealth and advance these causes. However, we must recognise, as others—I think everybody—have stated, that the CPA’s status as a UK charity is not appropriate for an association of equals from across the Commonwealth and that it reinforces an out-of-date vision of the Commonwealth and the UK’s place in it. We must listen to our partners, in particular those from the African region of the CPA who hold this view most strongly, on their real concerns about the appropriateness of charitable status and the fact that their Parliaments make subscription payments from their taxpayers’ money to a UK charity. It is therefore important that the status of the CPA is changed from a UK charity to an international interparliamentary organisation, and that it is done so immediately. That would take little parliamentary time and would involve no additional cost to the UK or to UK taxpayers.

With a resolution agreed to retain the right to withdraw from the organisation should a change in status not be concluded by the CPA’s annual conference this October, there is a real danger that the organisation may fragment, which would be a serious blow to the UK’s soft power. At a time when other countries are pushing a very different version of governance in many parts of the world, this is not a time to reduce the UK’s commitments and role in the world. For while the Commonwealth adopted a charter full of laudable aspirations about justice, democracy and human rights, the organisation has an unimpressive record in enforcing adherence to those values. As parliamentarians, we must stand up for those values through the CPA.

To take just one example, the Commonwealth took no action when, in January 2021, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni clung to power after a deeply flawed election. In May 2023, the Ugandan President signed into law one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world. It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law and the transmission of a terminal illness such as HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It decrees an abhorrent 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality. The legislation also requires friends, family and neighbours to denounce people in same-sex relationships to the authorities. One Ugandan MP, Sarah Opendi, suggested that gay men should be castrated.

While Uganda is the most egregious recent example, such anti-gay rhetoric and politicking is replicated across the Commonwealth. Homosexuality remains a criminal offence in two-thirds of the Commonwealth. Brunei, another Commonwealth country, made gay sex punishable by stoning to death, with public flogging for lesbian sex, in 2019. Malaysia, a Commonwealth member, is one of only a few countries to criminalise gender non-conformity, while also penalising oral and anal sex with up to 20 years in prison and mandatory whipping, Human Rights Watch reported last year. The Commonwealth must stand for the rights of minorities, LGBTQ+ and persecuted communities in member states, and organisations such as the CPA must play a key role in that.

The UK was the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office between 2018 and June 2022. I think that we can all now recognise that this was a missed opportunity to drive meaningful social change. In March 2020, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Anne McLaughlin) spoke in this House about the fact there was little time remaining to make a positive impact. She stressed that the UK should be making haste after two years of painstakingly slow progress. We can all appreciate that there was a global pandemic, and no one will be in any doubt about how difficult that was and how it hampered these efforts. However, the lack of urgent effort by the UK Government to regain ground following the pandemic has been particularly concerning.

The UK Government should have used the extended four-year period in Chair to ensure that the Commonwealth nations, many of which are developing countries, got the covid vaccines they desperately needed, alongside the rest of the global south. Instead, the UK Government hoarded vaccines and disgracefully blocked a WTO TRIPS—Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights—waiver. Indeed, in July 2020 Commonwealth leaders from all 54 member states issued a joint statement including a commitment to ensure

“equitable access to quality health services and safe, effective and affordable medicines and vaccines for all”.

[Sir James Duddridge]

As one who was involved in that process, while accepting criticism, I do not think it is entirely founded, given the background to the vaccines we were getting. Will the hon. Gentleman at least commend the United Kingdom Government for the COVAX facility, and for actually getting the vaccine in place? Perhaps there is a slightly more balanced scorecard and I would be even more positive about our involvement than the hon. Gentleman, but will he note those successes?

[Chris Law]

I fully take on board the hon. Member’s explanation of how dealing with covid was a success in the early days, but, as we saw, as time went on, it began increasingly to fail. There are lessons to be learnt. Last autumn, for example, I was in Cape Town looking at a company called Afrigen and its hub to reverse-engineer mRNA to supply vaccines to countries that were suffering through the worst stages of the pandemic and, in many cases, had no access to vaccines from the global north. I would like to see the UK Government support that work, because there is a vital opportunity for home-grown small hubs to make vaccines for their own communities.

Most egregiously of all, during the UK’s four years as Chair, the UK Government pulled significant aid spending out of key Commonwealth nations in another sign that the UK does not—or seems not to—care about the Commonwealth nations. That sends the wrong message to all our Commonwealth partners. Let us take Pakistan, for example. For the fiscal year 2023-24, the UK Government have decided to cut bilateral aid by more than 50% compared with the previous year. Analysis by the Commonwealth Innovation Fund projected that the number of people in extreme poverty in the Commonwealth would rise from 209.9 million in 2019 to 237.1 million in 2021. That is disgraceful, and some blame must be laid at the feet of the UK Government.

The UK cannot claim to have a compassionate, co-operative and international outlook while simultaneously slashing its contributions to lower-income countries, including many in the Commonwealth. The moral and economic leadership on this from this UK Government has been wanting, as I have said repeatedly in the House. If the Commonwealth as an organisation is to continue, it must adapt and become an organisation fit for the 21st century. Bringing the CPA into line with other parliamentary organisations around the world by urgently changing its status before its annual meeting later this year would be a vital step. If we are to have the modern and inclusive Commonwealth that we all desire, action must be taken, and we need to see that action urgently.

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[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My right hon. Friend is right that I came fresh to this at midday today, but I will happily take it away. My officials in the box will support me in providing that information.

My right hon. Friend is right that finding the right way through to secure a workable change to the organisation’s legal status is important. The challenges on privileges and immunities, which may come at a cost to the taxpayer, such as through visa control exemptions, clearly have to be worked through, but it has been helpful that my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Theo Clarke) has given us some useful practical examples of the limitations of CPA International’s present UK charitable status. I thank her very much for her enormously helpful contribution.

[Sir James Duddridge]

A Speaker’s Conference on this issue has been suggested. If Mr Speaker were to invite the FCDO for tea and cake, would my right hon. Friend commit ministerial time to attending to thrash through these issues? As my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller) said, there have not been an awful lot of meetings or progress since March.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I have worked with my hon. Friend on many issues over the years, and chocolate biscuits were always an attraction. Were Mr Speaker to offer chocolate biscuits and cake, I would find time in my busy diary to join such a gathering. We are all of one mind in wanting to find the best way to solve some of these issues, but it is clearly outside my purview to set that running.

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke for tabling her private Member’s Bill, which has been designed to advance the status issue. It is extremely frustrating that there are no sitting Fridays left in this Session, but the Bill sets out a helpful basis for ongoing discussions.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My right hon. Friend pre-empts me. It was interesting to hear the expertise of my right hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley) who, in her many roles over the years, has discovered some of the perplexing and magical powers that exist within Parliament, and I know the business managers have heard the suggestion of my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke. I am happy to commit to taking this away, and to discussing with the business managers what other routes might be available.

[Sir James Duddridge]

If a ten-minute rule Bill were tabled for the end of business on every day between now and the summer recess, I am sure there would be someone to speak to it if we finished early. And if we did not finish early, the Bill simply would not be moved. I am pretty certain that we will not go to the moment of interruption every day over the next two weeks, so there is a window of opportunity.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My right hon. Friend’s extremely helpful suggestion is duly noted, by all, I am sure.

Situation in Russia

James Duddridge Excerpts

Monday 26th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[James Cleverly]

It is hard to know with any certainty what the trigger event for this advance on Moscow was. Over a number of weeks, we have seen increasingly escalating rhetoric from Prigozhin. He has complained about his troops being starved of supplies, complained about ineptitude in the Russian military leadership and made all kinds of claims. It is not possible for us to assess which one of those is the trigger point, but we have of course been watching as his comments have become increasingly critical and increasingly intense. I think that, for me, the main thing I take away from this is the fact that he makes it absolutely clear this is a war of aggression and a war driven by Vladimir Putin’s ego, rather than by any threat to Russia itself. While there is much that we do not know and much that we do not believe, I think I am willing to believe that that is very much the case.

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

The Wagner Group has a nefarious interest in a whole raft of African countries below the Sahel and across central Africa. I am particularly concerned about places such as Mali, which takes direct instructions from the Wagner Group as if it were the Russian Government; Niger, where the French get all their uranium; and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where there are many critical minerals. In these countries, we have small but excellent representation. Can I urge the Foreign Secretary to consult them to see what is happening with the Wagner Group on the ground, and whether we can fill the vacuum left by the Wagner Group in a more productive way for both their economies and ours?

[James Cleverly]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the nature of Wagner Group activities in Africa. I speak with African leaders, including those who have Wagner mercenaries in their country or near their borders, and I have highlighted that these are not people who can be trusted and that any country that relies on them for its defence is, as the Russians have now discovered, inherently vulnerable. Of course I will talk with our representatives in Africa to look at the impact of the Wagner Group activities and what we can do, in close co-ordination with our international friends and allies, to ensure those African countries are safe without the need for mercenary forces.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Duddridge Excerpts

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Paul Holmes (Eastleigh) (Con)]

8. What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on diplomacy.

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

17. What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on diplomacy.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

Artificial intelligence can bring huge economic and social benefits for the UK and our global partners. We are working with key partners to embrace the opportunities of AI, as well as seeking global co-operation on managing the risks. AI will present significant new opportunities to revolutionise how the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office operates, and how it delivers impactful diplomatic and development outcomes across the globe.

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[Sir James Duddridge]

AI represents a massive opportunity across a number of sectors, including in the diplomatic sphere, but we must recognise that there are risks. Specifically, what is the Foreign Office doing to counter the potential efforts in this space of Russia and China, which may use artificial intelligence to undermine British interests overseas?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Global co-operation will be vital to ensure that AI technologies and the rules governing their use are developed in the right way, and are aligned with our values of openness and freedom. The FCDO is working with departments across the UK’s national security ecosystem, including the National Cyber Security Centre, to ensure that we contribute to and benefit from advances in AI, while making sure that we increase our resilience against, and reduce the risk from, any threats that we face. We hope to have as many leading nations as possible involved in the AI summit.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Duddridge Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[James Cleverly]

The BBC, including the World Service, despite being a recipient of direct Government funding, is autonomous. It makes its own decisions, and those closure decisions were made by the leadership of the BBC. I was uncomfortable with those. I negotiated a package whereby we were able to give the BBC World Service a degree of financial predictability, and in return, it was able to give me assurances that there will be no further closures for the life of this Parliament of any of those language services. We value what they do incredibly highly, and I am very pleased that the BBC’s Sudan service has been able to relocate and continue broadcasting to that war-torn country.

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

In congratulating the Foreign Secretary on the evacuation, could I ask him to look at the state of the airport? My understanding is that so many heavy vehicles were evacuated that there has been damage to the airport runway, which means it will not be suitable for the World Food Programme and others bringing in humanitarian aid. Could he see what the excellent British military could do to resolve that problem, if indeed those rumours on the ground are true?

[James Cleverly]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the state of the runway. I do not pretend to be a military logistics expert, but my understanding is that the British military were doing repairs while they were using the runway to keep it serviceable. He is right that what is basically a military runway has taken an exceptionally high level of air traffic. My understanding—and I am willing to be corrected on this once we have an update later today—is that we have been able to hand back that airfield to the Sudanese armed forces in a usable state, having done repairs as the airfield has been used.

Sudan

James Duddridge Excerpts

Monday 24th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I cannot comment on rumours about the Royal Navy and Port Sudan. Obviously, the hon. Gentleman’s constituent and her family should make sure that they are registered with the Foreign Office. We will keep in touch and everyone should be receiving at least one communication per day. I am advised that today the internet has been only 2% available and so there are real issues with that, but we will do everything we can. He talks about a lull in the fighting yesterday. The Turks had a convoy with three muster points and when they were seeking to congregate their people there, two of those muster points were shot up. So the situation is extremely dangerous and it would not be possible to say that at any point yesterday, or on any of the days since this awful event took place, Khartoum was in any way safe.

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

It is always a tricky decision whether to evacuate staff. I have always felt that the Foreign Office has been a little too keen to evacuate staff rather than protect British citizens, but the EU embassy was shot at and it is directly opposite the UK compound, which shows a clear and present danger to our embassy. My question follows on from the one from the hon. Member for Rhondda (Sir Chris Bryant). Will the Minister be more specific about numbers, including on the 2,000 figure? How many dual nationals and how many mono nationals are we talking about? Although we will treat the dual nationals equally, will the Sudanese Government treat them similarly? How many of those people actually want to stay? In previous situations, dual nationals have often been safer and have wanted to stay hunkered down with their families and second communities.

[Mr Mitchell]

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. I assure him, having spent quite a lot of time with the men and women who are manning the crisis centre at the Foreign Office, that it would be wrong to suggest that their concern was for evacuating staff and not the wider public. The absolute commitment from the Foreign Office is to do everything we can for all those caught in this way, although, as I have mentioned, we have a special duty in respect of our own staff. He asked me to be more specific about numbers. I think I have been quite specific, but let me say that the published figures are about 400 for mono nationals and about 4,000 for dual citizens. He will appreciate that if someone has a British passport, they would expect to be treated in the same way whichever group they belong to. As for how many people want to leave Sudan, as I said, the Foreign Office has received registered communications from 2,000.

Sudan

James Duddridge Excerpts

Monday 17th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support and for his commitment to the unity of the House on this matter. He asked me about the risks to the refugee camps and others. The answer is that, resulting from what we have seen, there are extraordinary risks to these people. There is, I hope, a particularly hot corner of hell reserved for those who deploy and use heavy weapons in built-up areas. In terms of the additional actions we can take, we welcome the efforts of IGAD to de-escalate the situation and restore calm. We will continue to use every method at our disposal to promote that.

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

A number of individuals have mentioned the region more widely, particularly given Saudi, UAE and Russian influence, but what consideration has the Department given to South Sudan, which is itself quite unstable and relies on revenue sharing from oil? I understand the pipelines go through there. They could easily be closed off and be a problem, in addition to the problems in Tigray, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend is entirely right and has considerable experience of these matters. He will understand that this is an unstable region, particularly at this time. The events that have taken place in Sudan, in particular in Khartoum but also elsewhere in the country, have made that instability all the greater.

Commonwealth Day

James Duddridge Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Commonwealth Day.

It is a privilege and it gives me extreme pleasure to serve under your esteemed and excellent chairmanship, Mr Gray; I know you will appreciate the sincerity of my words.

I apologise for being here today, not only because of the content of my speech but because you were expecting my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller), who sadly cannot be here due to a more recent commitment going into her diary urgently. I want to facilitate a wide debate on the Commonwealth while particularly concentrating on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s international branch and some technical issues around the branch’s status that we are making progress on.

I should not have to remind the House that the second Monday in March is Commonwealth Day—a day of great celebration and a second birthday for parliamentarians across a third of the world. I am pleased to see the Minister in her rightful place; it is a pleasure to work with her in yet another format.

I looked back on previous debates on Commonwealth Day, conscious of vague memories of participating in them as a Back Bencher, as chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and, in 2021, as the Minister responding to the debate. I started by reading the first paragraph of the 2021 debate in Hansard, which was taken up entirely not with Commonwealth matters but with matters to do with covid, including how we were to behave and rules on virtual participation; how far we have moved forward since then. I skipped to the back, which is always the most interesting place, where my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset (Mr Liddell-Grainger) was summarising his comments, and something leapt out at me. Not only was there a reference to Emilia Lifaka, who at the time was chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Deputy Speaker in Cameroon and has since sadly passed away; there was also a glancing reference to the late Sir David Amess, my parliamentary neighbour. My hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset, in characteristic form, was praiseful; he said that Sir David made a lot of “good points”. He somewhat undermined that, however, by going on to say that he did not understand a word of what they were.

I leapt forward, ignoring my studies of the Commonwealth to reminisce about Sir David, who rightly started by saying to the Chair:

“Today, I will not be calling for city status for Southend, because I know that will happen in any case, but I will be celebrating with others Commonwealth Day”—[Official Report, 16 March 2021; Vol. 691, c. 65WH.]

and he did, drawing on great experience of visits and a relationship with two Commonwealth countries that are slightly off the beaten track. He made very specific points and demonstrated some of the best assets of Members of Parliament getting involved with Commonwealth countries.

While it was sad to see the trees being replaced in Portcullis House last week, it was a pleasure to see the fluttering of 56 flags of the new Commonwealth. It is always a sign that spring is coming and a chance to reflect on our relationships around the world. Of course, the Commonwealth is not a new thing; it has evolved over time. The modern Commonwealth started in 1949, when its head was the King, although the role is not hereditary; it does not move from monarch to monarch. It moved to Her late Majesty the Queen and then to the current King when he was Prince of Wales. He took up the mantle having visited 45 of the 56 Commonwealth countries, and Her Majesty visited 54. I am lagging behind enormously but hope to visit Togo in the next 24 months, having visited Gabon only a few weeks ago with my hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra)—despite not having my glasses, I think I recognise him sitting at the Parliamentary Private Secretary desk. It was an excellent visit in which we welcomed Gabon’s application. In all candour, we were a little uncertain as to whether it would be successful that time around, but we were pleasantly surprised that both it and Tonga were successful. The meeting was interesting.

Reflecting again on what Members of Parliament do when they go out to countries, I can say that this was a particularly good visit, because we and other parliamentarians went out into the forest, where there is a big issue of carbon sinks, and saw the detail of how illegal and legal logging was being monitored. In fact, we got into canoes in Gabon. That was perhaps one of my parliamentary low points: I was almost eaten by an hippopotamus. However, the hippopotamus’s loss is Parliament’s gain, as I am still here, Mr Gray.

The Commonwealth accounts for a third of the global population—around 2.5 billion—60% of whom are under the age of 30, which is a particular issue for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth works across human rights issues. There is also the sports of the Commonwealth. Sadly, in some countries, the Commonwealth is more related to sports than to the broader Commonwealth relationship, thus demonstrating that we have still more work to do.

LGBT issues are always quite prominent in any discussion, as are freedom of expression and the promotion of democracy more generally. However, having elections alone is not enough to provide democracy; it goes much deeper than that. Trade is an increasing issue: 9% of UK trade is with the Commonwealth, but for some Commonwealth members the trade with other Commonwealth countries is even more important. It is very tricky to do a trade deal with Eswatini, where I was a banker, and do that same trade deal with India, which a massive percentage have said to block.

It is great to have welcomed the Francophonie. In fact, Rwanda has headed up both the Francophonie seat and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting within the past 12 months, which shows that we can work through French groupings and English-speaking groupings. Indeed, as well as Rwanda, Togo and Gabon, there is the Lusophone country of Mozambique within the Commonwealth, thus demonstrating that the Commonwealth is growing. There were originally eight members in 1949. By the 1970s, that number had risen to 31, and by 1990, it was 50. I predict that, in another five years, the number will not be 56, but nearer 60, as people want to come together in different ways to work.

We also see the Commonwealth in the City of London. The City of London Corporation is very active through the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council. I praise its work in investment and also in its facilitation of work with the Commonwealth parliamentarians both here in this Parliament and when we have incoming delegations.

As hon. Members know, the CPA UK branch is very active. There have been some excellent chairs, including my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke, my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset, and Lord Haselhurst, who also went on to serve internationally. Recently, it held the 71st seminar here in the UK. It has done post-election work in Grenada. Next week, we are sending a delegation to South Africa. Colleagues are going to visit our partners in Canada. There has been work on violence against women and girls, an awful lot of work on modern slavery, working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and also work on the issues around overseas territories, which is a particular passion of mine. There have been election-observing missions in places such as the British Virgin Islands—good work if you can get it, Mr Gray. There is quite a lot of detailed work, particularly on public accounts committees, which are new forms of committees and new ways of working. More recently, I have been involved in trade and scrutiny work.

I said that I wanted to turn to the CPA’s international branch, which forms the core of my asks for the Minister today. I spoke this morning to Stephen Twigg, late of this parish, who, I think, was just on the way to bed. He is in Tonga at the moment doing a post-election seminar. He wanted me to thank the Department for its work on the issues of CPA status. The CPA international branch is currently based in the UK, but it has charitable status. That charitable status causes some countries around the world a problem because to a poor, small-island state or a state that is receiving money, giving moneys to a UK charity seems somewhat incongruous. However, there is a massive benefit in the CPA being located here under some such auspice, and it is good that we are working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office around those issues.

I was pleased to see the Bill introduced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke being debated on Second Reading. Sadly, it did not go through, but it did provide a place setter. I praise Lord Goldsmith for his engagement on the issue, alongside the Minister. Having been involved in these issues over a number of years—I hate to think how many—let me say that it is quite exceptional for any Foreign Secretary to engage in such detail. Therefore, it was pleasing to see the recent letter from the Foreign Secretary saying that he wanted to help and to resolve the situation to the satisfaction of both CPA international and the FCDO, and it was amazing to read that he had secured Government time for that. I would appreciate the Minister confirming that that is not just a promise from the Foreign Secretary, but something that is being worked through via the normal channels, so that if we need legislation, the time for it is there.

Time is indeed pressing because the issue is outstanding and because it has caused friction in some countries. A number of countries are looking at the 17 April meeting in Gibraltar of the CPA international executive as a pinch point for a decision. The Foreign Secretary’s letter mentions an officials’ meeting. May I ask the Minister to commit herself to holding those meetings of officials as soon as she can so we can get the best possible product on 17 April and ensure that CPA international stays in the UK? That presence is of great benefit to the CPA and to UK plc more generally.

I think we have the right people in place. I was pleased to see Jo Lomas of the Foreign Office, whom I worked with a number of times years back. I picked up the phone to her and received in response an international warble. I decided that I had probably phoned her old Burundi or Rwanda mobile and hung up immediately, not wanting to speak to the new Minister, only to find it might have been her current mobile, as she is in Fiji. I am sure that, on her return, this issue will be high up in her in-tray and the in-trays of a number of others. I am sure the work of Jon Davies—again, formerly of the FCDO—will be called upon. No doubt he will be reading Hansard closely following the debate. Jon is an excellent individual who has served CPA UK very well, and who is well disposed to help Stephen Twigg and the international branch.

As punishment—in the unlikely event of my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke and my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset not being available, although I can promise anything on their behalf, including their dropping everything and cancelling their holidays to attend whatever meeting is needed—I stand ready to serve.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge) for leading the debate, and for his dedication to the Commonwealth, including as a Minister and former chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. I also thank colleagues for their contributions. Where there are questions that are not within the FCDO purview and for which I am unable to provide a response—some of which you highlighted, Mr Gray—I will ensure that the correct Minister does so in a timely manner.

The Commonwealth is a vibrant and diverse family of nations. It makes up a third of the world’s population and around 30% of the votes on the UN, and has a collective GDP of over $14 trillion. It plays an important role in supporting an open and resilient international order, bringing together states with an interest in promoting democracy, sustaining individual freedoms, driving sustainable development and enabling cross-border trade. In an increasingly turbulent world, where autocracy is on the rise, the Foreign Secretary has renewed the UK’s commitment to what he calls “this extraordinary organisation”.

This is an important year for the Commonwealth. On Commonwealth Day, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Commonwealth charter, which enshrines our shared values of freedom, peace and democracy. We will also celebrate the coronation of His Majesty the King, the new Head of the Commonwealth, on 6 May. Last week, His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen Consort joined Commonwealth representatives at Westminster Abbey for a service that paid tribute to Her late Majesty the Queen for her tireless dedication to the Commonwealth. I think the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill) speaks for all of us in highlighting how sad we were to lose her last year. However, I think the Queen would have been so pleased that 2023 is also the Commonwealth Year of Youth. Over 60% of the Commonwealth’s population is under 30. As the previous Commonwealth chair-in-office, we championed the voice of young people, who will drive future prosperity across some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

The UK’s commitment to the Commonwealth is unwavering. We provide significant bilateral aid to Commonwealth countries, totalling over £1 billion in 2021, and we fund and support a wide range of Commonwealth initiatives and programmes. As we look towards the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa next year, the UK will work with partner nations to deliver tangible benefits in our three priority areas: trade, climate and values.

First, we need to boost trade and investment between Commonwealth countries. Encompassing over 2.5 billion consumers, the Commonwealth makes an important contribution to the global market network. Our shared language and shared institutions create what we refer to as the Commonwealth advantage, reducing the average cost of trade between members by 21% compared with trade with the rest of the world.

Building on that advantage, the UK has secured trade agreements with 33 Commonwealth countries, including economic partnership agreements covering 27 Commonwealth African, Caribbean and Pacific nations. However, we need to go further to make sure that all members feel the full benefits of Commonwealth membership, so the UK is working with partners to reduce barriers to intra-Commonwealth trade and to help developing members to attract sustainable inward investment.

The hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) raised an important point about flights between the UK and India. He is absolutely right to say that they are a tool that could open up both family and trade opportunities. The UK’s airline network is privately owned; different countries run their airlines in different ways. However, I am happy to discuss this issue with him and with colleagues in the Department for Business and Trade, to see how we can encourage the opening of new routes. I have dealt with this issue in relation to other countries, and I am happy to take it up with colleagues.

Secondly, the Commonwealth can drive enhanced action on climate change and the environment, particularly to support its more vulnerable members, including 25 small island developing states. I have had the great privilege personally, both in former ministerial roles and currently as Minister with responsibility for the Indo-Pacific, to visit nearly two dozen of our Commonwealth family countries, and in every one the challenge of climate change—the impact of more extensive and extreme weather events—is a real and present danger to the lives and livelihoods of so many people, their families and their businesses, and to the healthcare and education needs of women and young people most especially.

The UK has committed £11.6 billion to international climate finance, of which £3 billion is being invested in climate change solutions that protect and restore, and provide sustainable solutions to manage nature. The UK will continue to lead globally on this matter, harnessing all our talents, including—as the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston highlighted—the ACU, in order to help to find long-term solutions. The UK is also committed to supporting Commonwealth members to access climate finance through our funding of the Commonwealth climate finance access hub. Our investment of around £500,000 in the hub has already helped to mobilise $38 million of climate finance in three Caribbean states. At the last Heads of Government meeting in 2022, the Prime Minister announced further funding, through the new £36 million sustainable blue economies programme, to support small island states to develop sustainable ocean economies.

As Members have noted, the continued commitment by Lord Goldsmith, my FCDO ministerial colleague, has helped to deliver the 30by30 oceans commitment that was announced just a couple of weeks ago, which will afford opportunities to many of our most climate-vulnerable Commonwealth countries and others to support and sustain their ocean economies and protect their livelihoods. These are really important areas of development.

Thirdly, the Commonwealth has the potential to deliver much more on democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law. All Commonwealth member states have committed to upholding those shared values enshrined in the Commonwealth charter. The UK has worked with national human rights institutions across the Commonwealth to strengthen human rights and has supported human rights advisers to help small states engage with the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

We are ensuring that more girls are in school, pledging £217 million to support girls’ education across the Commonwealth at CHOGM 2022. The funding supports global education data gathering, teacher training in Rwanda and programmes to get girls and vulnerable children into school in Pakistan.

We have also delivered programmes for the promotion and protection of LGBT rights across the Commonwealth. Some £2.7 million of funding will continue to support grassroots organisations, such as the Commonwealth Equality Network, to defend human rights and equality for LGBT+ people. However, much more needs to be done, and we will encourage Commonwealth countries to go further to ensure the full and equal participation of all people in society.

The UK values the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to strengthen parliamentary oversight and accountability in the Commonwealth, and the FCDO looks forward to continuing to work closely with the association. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East and my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller) for their consistent and passionate voices on the legal status of the CPA. They will be pleased to know that the Foreign Secretary has tasked FCDO officials with working with the CPA secretariat to find an acceptable solution by legislative means if necessary.

[Sir James Duddridge]

Will the Minister confirm that, as well as the pledge from the Foreign Secretary, normal channels have agreed that time will be found, if needed, for legislation? Secondly, could those meetings with officials happen as soon as possible, so that there is something a little firmer to go back with to individuals at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association international executive committee meeting on 17 April in Gibraltar?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I absolutely note my hon. Friend’s comment on the need for timeliness in those discussions so that it becomes clear exactly what the right route will be. I will ensure that the Foreign Secretary and his team are fully cognisant of that time pressure so that, whatever the solution is, we can ensure that colleagues on the write-round are able to support it. The Foreign Secretary is clear in his commitment to move forward, but I note that the clock is ticking as regards that meeting.

To drive our three-pronged agenda of trade, climate and values, our mantra needs to be the continuous improvement of Commonwealth institutions, building on the reforms agreed by Heads of Government in Kigali. We will work with the Commonwealth secretariat and members to ensure quick progress ahead of CHOGM 24. In the words of His Majesty the King,

“Let ours be a Commonwealth that not only stands together, but strives together, in restless and practical pursuit of the global common good.”

We will do all we can to meet the challenge he has set us, to strengthen the Commonwealth and to ensure that it delivers clear purpose and value for all its members, whether large or small.

[Sir James Duddridge]

What a wonderful flourish to end on—I am only sorry that I have to spoil it with my final comments. It is great that the Minister quoted his Majesty who, as I mentioned, has visited 45 countries, which is a little better than the two dozen visited by the Minister—not that I have been wasting my time over the weekend, but it is 32 for me, if you are asking, Mr Gray.

However, it has been a great tour de force from the Minister, particularly on small island states, and that is much appreciated by all. I ask her to pass on our collective thanks to the Foreign Secretary, for what is being done and, more generally, for the work he and Lord Goldsmith are doing, which has been exceptional. Getting that commitment on parliamentary time if it is needed, and knowing that the whole Department—from the Foreign Secretary down to the people who do the real work—knows there is that 17 April deadline is absolutely superb. So I thank the Minister for that.

I thank the hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) for his comments. I look forward to the Mumbai-Manchester route. I am happy to support that very visibly and vocally if he supports the Manchester-Southend route connecting up with it. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill) spoke about the impact on constituencies. The Commonwealth games are really passionate, and a lot of people, such as my constituents in Southend, held events involving, for example, children celebrating the Commonwealth. In Southend, the mayor, Kevin Robinson, took part in the celebrations. There is more we can do to celebrate in our constituencies.

The hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) spoke passionately about pensions—perhaps stretching your patience with the detail, Mr Gray, although attention to detail is always admirable—and questions were raised about what type of heels I was wearing. I can reassure the House that I will be leaving my feet under the table so as not to embarrass anybody. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is always present for debates in this place, made an excellent contribution, particularly on the youth development index, and went through some of the nitty-gritty detail, which we sometimes brush over.

The hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock) touched on a few subjects on which I disagree with her, although we agree on others. I was present for a debate in the Chamber during which you, Mr Gray, disagreed with Members being allowed to use devices to look at Wikipedia. However, had I not spent a little time googling, I would not know that the hon. Lady is a product of the Commonwealth and of Australia. I suspect that, while I was at university, I watched her on “Home and Away”. The only characters I can remember are Charlene—for obvious reasons—from the garage, a dog called Bouncer and someone who went on to appear in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, whose name I cannot remember.

The hon. Lady urged me to talk about schools. We have done a lot of work on girls’ education through the Department—sorry, the Government have. I am mixing up my roles. She also mentioned COVAX, which was rather curious. She should look back on her comments, because I think she will find that it was my right hon. Friend the Minister who brought in a £420 million facility for covid, called COVAX, before the vaccine even came into place, so we had that funding ready to distribute when a vaccine came forward. At the time, I was a Minister, and I spent hours, which I cannot get back, in covid committees looking at operationalising the vaccine and getting it out to different countries, which was somewhat problematic in a number of cases.

The hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston made an excellent speech, drawing on her constituency experiences. I mused on whether there is a constituency out there containing representatives of all 56 Commonwealth countries, and Birmingham could probably muster those people. Perhaps we could all get together to celebrate the 56 nations. I fully support what was said about LGBT issues. We can both be embarrassed about how we have legislated across the Commonwealth against those communities, but we should also be proud of the progress that has been made, while acknowledging that further progress needs to be made.

There were calls for Zimbabwe to come back to the Commonwealth. Brilliant. Bring it on, Mnangagwa. We are ready for you. You just need to do the right thing. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston also discussed whether we make enough of the Commonwealth. We make a lot of it, but we certainly do not make enough of it. It is good to know that not only His Majesty’s Government, but His Majesty’s official Opposition, want to do more with this multilateral institution.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered Commonwealth Day.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Duddridge Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Gentleman is right, in that the aims of British development policy are to help people to remain in their own homes and be safe and secure and, indeed, prosperous. What we are seeing in the horn of Africa is an immense crisis of extraordinary proportions to which the whole international community must respond, not only with money but with skill and expertise, and British leadership is at the forefront of that.

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

There is much talk about the deaths on the battlefield in Ukraine, but what assessment has the Department made of the impact of grain prices caused by grain not going into east Africa from Ukraine? It is quite possible—and I should be interested in testing this assertion—that more people have died in east Africa as a result of the war in Ukraine than have died within the confines of that country.

[Mr Mitchell]

I cannot comment on the hon. Gentleman’s last point, but he is right to suggest that, as a result of Putin’s illegal brutality and invasion of Ukraine, there have been disruptions to food supplies in the Sahel in particular, but also in east Africa. Those disruptions are causing rising inflation and food shortages, and Putin stands condemned for the effect of his actions in that respect as well as every other.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Duddridge Excerpts

Tuesday 31st January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

Co-ordination on all Commonwealth issues is assisted by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s international branch, which is located in London. It is about to move, because the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not bringing forward legislation to change its status. Will my right hon. Friend speak to other Ministers to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, before we lose that important asset?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

My hon. Friend will, I hope, be aware that there was a meeting a couple of weeks ago with my fellow Minister Lord Goldsmith to discuss the issue in more detail. Officials are working closely with him to find a resolution.