Business of the House

Keith Vaz Excerpts

Thursday 6th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I have had the opportunity to see early-day motion 189, which relates to this.

[That this House believes that prior to any decision being taken to supply arms to the Syrian National Coalition or any other groups in Syria, a full debate and vote should be held in Parliament and in addition to this, if Parliament is in recess, it should be recalled to facilitate this important debate; notes the division and sensitivity that this issue evokes both with colleagues and the general public; believes that it is a matter that needs to be subjected to full parliamentary scrutiny and debate before the UK potentially becomes further involved in another Middle Eastern conflict; and further notes that in some matters of defence, time does not always allow for parliamentary debate, whilst not however believing this constraint applies to this potential course of action.]

My hon. Friend will recall what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said yesterday, when he was absolutely clear—in the same way that he was careful to ensure that on 21 March 2011 the House had an opportunity to debate Libya on a substantive motion—that any decision relating specifically to the arming of the Syrian National Coalition or others in Syria would be the subject of debate and an opportunity for a vote in this House.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

In evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Cressida Dick, the head of counter-terrorism at the Metropolitan police, told the Committee that, on one hand they were proposing to assess protection for Anjem Choudary, but on the other they were considering prosecuting him for racist and inflammatory statements. He is a former member of a number of proscribed organisations. May we have a statement on any guidance that the Home Secretary has issued about the protection of people who go out of their way to inflame tensions?

[Mr Lansley]

The right hon. Gentleman will of course understand that I am not in a position to make any comment about any individual case. I am sure that the Home Secretary—as the right hon. Gentleman knows, she has done this before and will do so again—will keep the House fully updated about any actions she is taking relating to tackling violent extremism and tackling those who seek to propagate views promoting violent extremism and terrorism in this country.