North Africa and the Middle East Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateJo Swinson
Main Page: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)Department Debates - View all Jo Swinson's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(13 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberOrder. We have quite a few Members standing, so could we have shorter questions and shorter answers? Then we will hopefully get everybody in.
The scale of the foreign policy challenge in the middle east and in north Africa is immense, with the UN action in Libya and the situation in any one of Bahrain, Syria and Yemen having the potential to become a major crisis. Despite that, will the Foreign Secretary assure the House that he will not take his eye off the ball elsewhere, particularly in providing vital support to the democracy building in Tunisia and in Egypt which is crucial to the future stability of the whole region?
Yes. My hon. Friend is quite right, because overarching all that we have discussed in today’s statement is what I referred to in the House on Monday: the need for a bold, ambitious and historic programme on the part of the United Kingdom and the European Union to provide a magnet for positive change to the countries of north Africa and the middle east. Although today we are discussing the detail of what is happening in individual countries, that is all under the umbrella of a European policy towards the region that has to be drastically revised to come up with solutions and offers that match the unprecedented—in this century—challenge that we all now face.