(1 year, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberI am absolutely delighted to give that confirmation.
During the 2008 credit crunch, Plaid Cymru, as part of the One Wales Government, developed a mortgage rescue scheme. Through the co-operation agreement, we have now secured £40 million to support Welsh mortgage holders in difficulty. People look to Government to help them to keep their homes in a crisis. Will the Chancellor follow where Plaid Cymru led and implement direct protections for those hardest hit by interest rate increases?
We will do everything we possibly can to help people in difficulties, except measures that are themselves inflationary.
(6 years ago)
Commons ChamberI, too, had a long conversation with Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, and I echo what my hon. Friend has said; I think he was deeply personally shocked by the story. I do not think that the investigation will take a long time to conclude. All the suggestions are that it might even conclude in a matter of days. That is very important, because we need to start proper accountability through the judicial system for the people who were responsible for this terrible crime.
UNESCO reports that nine out of 10 killings of journalists go unpunished. The Foreign Secretary’s commitment to hold Saudi to account is undermined by his Government’s choosing expediency over honour and sending UK officials, diplomats, to Riyadh this week. Will he give credibility to his commitment to justice and support the call by the International Federation of Journalists for a UN convention on the safety of journalists and media professionals?
I completely reject the hon. Lady’s suggestion that we are choosing expediency. As I said in answer to the last question, I do not think any country does more than we do to champion human rights in every corner of the globe. We do that sometimes at commercial cost and often at diplomatic cost, but we do it differently in different countries. With countries such as China, if we were to raise such issues publicly, we would just lose access to the people who can make a difference. There are other countries where we raise such issues more publicly. The question is whether we raise them, and we do. The idea of a UN convention could be very interesting, and I will certainly look at it.