Iran Nuclear Deal

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Wednesday 9th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

My right hon. Friend is entirely right. That is not just the UK’s ambition but the ambition of our European friends and partners, and it remains the ambition—and, by the way, I believe that eventually we will pull it off.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Will this unilateral decision in effect mean that the United States—a country that we are setting great store by in terms of trade—will be introducing sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, against UK companies that continue to trade with Iran?

[Boris Johnson]

The hon. Gentleman will be familiar with the extraterritorial impact of US sanctions. There may be a staggered period of either 90 or 180 days before that extraterritorial impact is felt. We will have to see exactly how it plays out, but we will do our utmost to protect UK commercial interests.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The furthest that the Foreign Secretary seemed prepared to go in his response was to say that his words last week were “open to being misinterpreted”. I do not think that they were misinterpreted. Earlier, he asked from a sedentary position, “What else could I say?” He could simply say, “I got it wrong.” That would be helpful, because it would give a clear signal that the Government were serious about saying that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was not there for the purposes that he suggested last week. Will he just say, “I got it wrong”?

[Boris Johnson]

As I have said many times both today and last week, it was wrong of me to say that she was there in a professional capacity; she was there on holiday, and I apologise again for the distress and anxiety that those words have caused. The most important thing we can do now is, I think, make sure that that point is clearly understood not just in this place but around the world, and work hard together—united, rather than divided, as a country—to get her home. That is what is in the best interests of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Turkey

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Duncan]

The UK’s policy is to engage across all parties within Turkey. The hon. Gentleman should be aware of the EU Foreign Affairs Council statement yesterday, which condemned the coup and welcomed “the common position” of all

“the political parties in support of Turkey’s democracy.”

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

One aforementioned irony of this situation is that the Foreign Secretary published a scurrilous poem about President Erdogan. That is one of the glories of our democracy, but is the serious point not that, currently, if someone published a similar poem in Turkey they might be subject to arrest? What are the Government going to do to ensure that free speech is preserved, even in the current situation?

[Sir Alan Duncan]

Exactly as I have been explaining for nearly an hour now, we have to apply the maximum and optimum diplomatic pressure we can, both bilaterally and multilaterally, and we will continue to do that. This is often about relationships and persuasion; I once teased the Foreign Secretary, but I am happy to say that we are getting on extremely well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ellwood]

I am sorry to hear about the case of my hon. Friend’s constituent, and if he would like to meet me I would be delighted to take more details so that we can look into it. I will be visiting the countries shortly and I will seek in Irbil to see how a better process can be established to understand who is coming into the country.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The Minister will be aware that Cardiff, like many parts of the UK, has been afflicted by young people being attracted to fight for ISIL. What steps is the Foreign Office taking with the Turkish authorities to help to close that route into that part of the world?

[Mr Ellwood]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary attended the meeting in Paris last week, where 20 of the 60 nations came together to work on the five key themes, one of which is countering the movement of foreign fighters, including the sharing of information between countries—including Turkey.

Britain in the World

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Monday 1st June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Philip Hammond)]

It is a privilege to open this debate on Britain’s role in the world. It sends a powerful signal that Parliament is focused on this important area so early in its term.

I apologise in advance to you, Mr Speaker, and to the House, for the fact that I will not be in the Chamber for tonight’s winding-up speeches as I have to represent the UK at an ISIL coalition core group meeting in Paris. I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, and to the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) for your understanding. I also congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his appointment as shadow Foreign Secretary and look forward to a constructive working relationship with him while he is in post.

The UK is one of only a small number of countries with both the aspiration and the means to play a significant role in world affairs. Maintaining that engagement is very much in our national interest. As one of the most open economies in the world—a nation that earns its living through trade in goods and services across the global commons—we have a greater stake than most in securing: a world that operates according to a rules-based system of conduct in which international norms are respected, differences are resolved through the application of legal principles and the zero-sum game approach is rejected in favour of a recognition of mutual benefit through international co-operation; a world in which the majority of nations work together with a common agenda and resolve to isolate rogue states and suppress terrorists and others who threaten the rule of law; and a rules-based international order that is in Britain’s interest but is also in the interest of building stability, security and prosperity for the world’s population as a whole. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a leading member of the EU and NATO, as well as the G7, the G20 and the Commonwealth, Britain is in a better position to help deliver that ambition than most.

Sadly, as we look around us today, we see that we are far from that vision of the world. In Europe, where we thought the rules-based system was well established, we face the challenge of a Russia riding roughshod over it by illegally violating Ukrainian sovereignty. The middle east and north Africa are threatened by a violent Islamist extremism that by its actions has shown itself the enemy of every reasonable vision for civilisation and a travesty of the values of the religion it purports to defend. In the South China and East China seas we see China asserting territorial claims with a vigour that is alarming her neighbours and increasing the risk of escalation. Although the rise of new powers creates a new source of opportunity for greater global prosperity, it also presents the challenge of persuading those emerging powers to accept the norms that keep the peace between nations.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State mentioned in his preamble the importance of our membership of the European Union. Is it his intention when the referendum happens to vote for our remaining member of the European Union?

[Mr Hammond]

My sincere hope is that we will be able to negotiate a substantive package of reform of how the European Union works and changes to Britain’s relationship with the European Union that will enable us to recommend a yes vote to the people of this country when they make that decision in due course. If I may, I shall come back to that theme in just a moment.

Yemen (British Nationals)

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Monday 8th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Will the Minister take the opportunity to place on the record the British Government’s position on negotiating and paying ransoms for hostages, so that the House can hear it again? Will he answer the question that my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) asked on the number of British citizens still resident in Yemen, whom the Minister says should leave immediately?

[Mr Ellwood]

The hon. Gentleman gives me licence to reiterate a point that all Members of the House need to reiterate: Britain does not negotiate on hostages. We very much encourage other countries to adopt the same policy—it makes it difficult for us if other countries pay ransoms. That came up at the NATO summit, when the Prime Minister made it very clear—he was very passionate on this to other countries—that we must be united, because paying ransoms makes things very difficult. It simply encourages the taking of more hostages.

I do not know the number of Britons in Yemen. I hope that it is extremely low, but if I may, I will get back to the hon. Gentleman on that.

Gaza

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Absolutely, and the tone that I have taken today, which I think, judging by the reaction, is shared widely across the House, is exactly the tone of our discussions with Palestinian and Israeli leaders and with others in the region over the past few days. The pressure really takes that form of trying to find the formula for the ceasefire, which other nations are involved in and which we have supported at the UN Security Council—it is diplomatic pressure that is most likely to succeed and has succeeded previously—and then we have to resume the search, as the hon. Lady rightly says, to resolve the underlying causes of the conflict.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The Foreign Secretary has rightly condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas, but does he understand that his unwillingness to condemn as disproportionate the current response by the Israeli Government feeds into a view held by many of our constituents that the lives of Palestinians are not valued as highly as the lives of Israelis in this conflict and does very little to put additional pressure on the Government of Israel to act in a proportionate way when it is under attack?

[Mr Hague]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman and the constituents of all those in this House that we are clear about the equal value of lives all over the world; that applies to Israelis and Palestinians as well. I think our efforts have to be geared to trying to achieve what I set out in the statement, and I do not think it would be helpful to refine our judgment each day about the tactics of each side. We need to bring about an agreed ceasefire, and the diplomatic processes we are engaged in are the best way to do that. That is the best way to save all lives, including Palestinian lives. I do not judge that any other way of doing that would be more effective.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con)]

8. What recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Ukraine.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

12. What recent assessment he has made of threats to the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)]

We are gravely concerned about the situation in Crimea and in the east of Ukraine, where armed groups have seized Government buildings in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lugansk. There can be no justification for this action, which bears all the hallmarks of a Russian strategy to destabilise Ukraine. Russia should be clear that the deliberate escalation of this crisis will bring serious political and economic consequences.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hague]

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. The guiding principles for us are that the development of democratic institutions in Ukraine and a rules-based international system are in the national interest of the United Kingdom. For any parties or leaders in Britain to feed a Russian propaganda machine after the invasion of a neighbouring country is not a responsible position to take, particularly for anyone who professes to believe in the independence and sovereignty of nations.

[Kevin Brennan]

The authorisation that President Putin obtained in February to use troops in Ukraine did not specify that it applied to Crimea only. What is our policy in the event of such a Sudeten-like land grab in eastern Ukraine?

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right, and that was of course one of the most alarming aspects of the authority that President Putin asked for in February—that it covered the use of armed force in Ukraine in general. As he knows, the European Union and the United States have imposed certain sanctions, but the European Commission has been asked by the European Council to draw up further far-reaching measures and economic and other sanctions to be implemented in the event of a further escalation and intensification of the crisis by Russia. Any invasion of eastern Ukraine of course falls into that category.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Ukraine.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

5. What reports he has received on recent developments in Ukraine.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is a very important point. Allegations have been made about threats to the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine. I must say that I have not seen any evidence—no evidence has been presented of those threats—and I received very strong assurances from the Ukrainian authorities yesterday that they would not make any such threats. In any case, as he says, such matters should be resolved peacefully, and institutions such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe are always ready to assist with such matters.

[Kevin Brennan]

As a schoolboy, I took the bus from Cwmbran to Pontypool via the village of Sebastopol, a reminder of how long the Crimea has been of significance in our history. Will the Foreign Secretary ask all Ministers to refrain from any superficial blame games for party political purposes, which are not in Britain’s interest, and to work with the Opposition to develop a united diplomatic response from Britain in the face of Russian aggression?

[Mr Hague]

I hope that when I present my statement to the House later we will see strong unity on many aspects of this crisis. It is of course the Government’s responsibility to frame this country’s policy and the Opposition’s job to hold us to account for that, as the shadow Foreign Secretary often reminds me. I hope that there will be very strong unity on the key aspects and key principles involved in this crisis. We must debate coolly and calmly, across all parties, the measures we should take in response to it.

Ukraine, Syria and Iran

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, I hope and believe so. I think we are all clear that what I set out earlier is our primary interest here—a Ukraine with democracy and freedom of expression that respects human rights. That is then the basis of everything else. It can then make its own decisions about how it wants to work with the EU and Russia. I will certainly continue to make this point, and I think we have it in common with our EU partners.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I take it from what the Foreign Secretary said earlier that he did not seek any specific assurances from Foreign Minister Lavrov about the possibility of military intervention. Will he explain why that is the case and who the UK Government recognise as Head of State in Ukraine?

[Mr Hague]

I put it to Foreign Minister Lavrov that Ukraine would benefit from reassurance from Russia about this situation and about how we will all try to work with the new Government in Ukraine. As I mentioned earlier, he was very clear, as I was, about the importance of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Those points were made very clearly. We are working with the new Government in Ukraine. There is, of course, a dispute constitutionally about who is the President, but in this situation it is clear that whatever the constitutional provisions, the authority of Mr Yanukovych as President is no longer widely recognised. In order to achieve the objectives that I have just set out it is necessary for us to talk to the Speaker, who has been declared the acting President.