Situation in the Gulf

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and James Morris

Monday 22nd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his eagle eye in spotting that detail, but I want to reassure him that when HMS Duncan arrives HMS Montrose will not be going out of service immediately. There will be a period, particularly the extremely dangerous period in the next few weeks, when they will be operating together. Secondly, we will get HMS Montrose back into service as quickly as we can. Thirdly, HMS Montrose is based in Bahrain, so it will stay in the region for its refitting and refuelling. It will not be far away.

[James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) (Con)]

I commend the Foreign Secretary for his tone during his statement, but does he agree that this act of piracy represents a pattern of behaviour from the Iranians, both directly and through its proxies, in an overall strategy to achieve regional hegemony in the middle east? What we urgently need is a strategy that restores balance, so the Iranians cannot take advantage of our strategic weaknesses.

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. People who have been studying the region for longer than I have would say that there is no issue with Iran being a regional power and a great regional power; the issue is whether it is a great regional military power. It is Iran’s military presence in so many other parts of the region that is so destabilising and is the root cause of many problems. He is absolutely right to focus on that.

Sri Lanka

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and James Morris

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I would of course be happy to do that. Sadly, what happened in Sri Lanka will colour the review and make us consider the issues around terrorism more fully. When we originally set up the review, we were perhaps not thinking that that would be such a big focus, but I think it must be.

[James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) (Con)]

Having visited Sri Lanka several times over the past 30 years, I am acutely aware that what makes Sunday’s events even more tragic is the progress that has been made in that country over the last 10 to 15 years, including prosperity, national unity and the real prospect of it becoming a tiger in south-east Asia. Will the Secretary of State reiterate our commitment to work with the Sri Lankan Government and people to ensure that they build on the progress that they have made over the past 10 to 15 years, so that they can become that prosperous and unified country?

[Mr Hunt]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. We are the penholder for Sri Lanka on the United Nations Security Council, so we have a particular responsibility to ensure proper accountability and reconciliation as part of the progress that is being made. I thank him for pointing out that progress. In these dark moments, it is important not to forget that there is actually a lot of hope in the country given the progress that has been made over the past 10 years.

Counter-Daesh Update

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and James Morris

Monday 11th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I completely share the frustration that the hon. Gentleman has expressed about the role of Russia. We were on track, with the potential for a political settlement that could have removed Assad and meant the people of Syria did not have to suffer from someone who was prepared to use chemical weapons against his own people to impose his bloody rule. However, the Russians then intervened in the process, and it now looks as though Assad is here to stay, to put it very bluntly, so I think the Russians have to take responsibility for the way in which they have changed the situation. Like us, they have a veto at the Security Council, and we cannot stop them exercising that veto. What we can do is to support the work of UN special envoy Geir Pedersen, who has just started and will I think do a very good job. We hope that he can find a way forward, but we do not underestimate the challenges.

[James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) (Con)]

I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement, and I particularly welcome the progress that has been made on degrading Daesh. Does he agree with me that the continued influence of Russia and Iran in Syria and across the middle east actually presents the biggest threat to the rules-based international order that we have seen for a long time and that Britain needs to redouble our efforts to try to rebuild that rules-based international order over the long term?

[Mr Hunt]

I absolutely do agree with that. I think we have to be aware of the limits of our power and of the mistakes that we have made in our own foreign policy over the years in the middle east. As a new Foreign Secretary, I am very conscious that this is not an area of the world that someone can come to understand quickly, so we need some humility as we approach policy in this area. He is right, however, that one of the challenges we have is the involvement of Russia, which has become a more influential player in the region, and we should also say that about the activities of Iran. Taken together, these do present real risks to stability in the region of which we need to be aware.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and James Morris

Tuesday 8th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) (Con)]

16. What steps he is taking to protect children’s mental wellbeing from the harmful effects of social media.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

We are worried about the effects of social media on children and young people, which is why we have asked the chief medical officer to undertake a systematic review of all the international literature, to help us understand what further steps to take.

[James Morris]

I recently met a group of headteachers in Halesowen, who expressed real concern about the effects of social media on the health of their pupils. Does the Secretary of State agree that peer-to-peer support among young people in the classroom and in our communities is a vital way of benefiting young people through the positive aspects of social media and combating the negative effects on their mental health?