Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Helen Goodman

Tuesday 14th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. That is a very good example of some important lobbying by both me and the Minister of State for Asia, because that law is totally repugnant to us and our values. We recognise Brunei is a sovereign state, and it is for it to make its own laws, but that is contrary to British values.

[Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

Last year, the Foreign Office provided rent-free accommodation in a £20 million mansion to the Foreign Secretary’s predecessor and bought a £12 million luxury penthouse flat in New York, but in April failed to pay the cleaners at King Charles Street on time. When they did get the money, it was at the wrong rate. How can the Foreign Office claim, as it does on its website, that it supports

“our citizens…around the globe”,

if it cannot even pay them at home?

[Mr Hunt]

If we failed to pay any of our staff on time, I take full responsibility. It is the first I have heard of that issue and I will look into it rapidly. But I do think it is important that Britain has residences around the world, where we entertain foreign Governments and do our diplomacy, that we can be proud of and that reflect our role in the world.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Helen Goodman

Tuesday 2nd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

The atrocities suffered by the Copts are some of the very worst suffered by Christians anywhere, and there have been several examples of those in Egypt. However, the Egyptians are trying very hard to address these issues. They recently opened a brand-new cathedral, and that is a big step forward for any country in the middle east. We obviously want to encourage them on the journey.

[Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

It is good that the Foreign Secretary has come to the peace zone—this Chamber—this morning.

China continues to be one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian. Non-approved churches are being closed down and pastors are being jailed. How does he intend to strike the balance between valuing China as a post-Brexit trade partner and standing up for those people in China whose human rights are being abused because of their religion?

[Mr Hunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for asking that question. Of course China is an important country with which we have critical relations in the world, but having those relations means that we have to be able to raise issues of concern when we meet our Chinese counterparts. That is what I did when I visited China in August last year and raised concerns about freedom of religion in Xinjiang province. We had the universal periodic review in November last year, and concerns were also raised at the 40th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. We will continue to raise those concerns with China at every opportunity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Helen Goodman

Tuesday 30th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We look at those reports with a lot of concern. We had our own diplomats visiting the Xinjiang province in August and they concur that those reports are broadly accurate. I raised it with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, when I went to China and we continue to be extremely concerned about what is happening.

[Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

The Burmese Reuters journalist Wa Lone has still not met his 11-week-old daughter. She may be seven years old before he finally sees her. He was jailed for seeking to report accurately the Rohingya crisis. Does not the fate of Wa Lone demonstrate that the Government’s position is too weak in expecting the Myanmar Government to investigate themselves? Will the Foreign Secretary adopt the UN recommendations and refer Myanmar’s military leaders to the International Criminal Court?

[Mr Hunt]

I share the hon. Lady’s concern about what is happening. With respect to Wa Lone and to the other Reuters journalist, Kyaw Soe O, I have raised concerns directly about due process in their case with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and she assured me that she would relook at whether due process had properly occurred, but we are very concerned about that and indeed about the situation in Rakhine, where there has to be accountability. However, we have made some progress. We had the strongest ever condemnation of what happened by the Human Rights Council on 27 September. I convened a meeting at the UN General Assembly about this. The fact-finding mission has now come before the Security Council and there are lots of things that are happening.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Helen Goodman

Tuesday 8th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is very knowledgeable about mental health, and I totally agree with him. That is why we have given £700,000 to the Anna Freud Centre to train teachers in how to make possible peer support for children having mental health issues.

[Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

Durham police tell me that when there is a problem on social media, particularly Facebook, it can take six months between their asking for action and the social media company tackling it. Will the Secretary of State speak to the Home Office to get the system changed and speed it up?

[Mr Hunt]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I have spoken to the social media companies. They are brilliant technologists, and they have a duty to their customers to make themselves part of the solution, not part of the problem, when these things happen.