Europe

Debate between Margot James and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 30th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I have just pointed out many of the things that we have achieved. The reason we have had such strong support from Germany, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands on the EU budget is that we have built alliances. The reason that the EU patent regime has been brought in is that we have built alliances. I hope that that is well understood by Members from all parts of the House.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend talks convincingly about the need for the reform of Europe being respected by many other member states. I met Japanese officials yesterday and they made the point that many Japanese investors who invest in this country support what the Prime Minister said last week and are keen for some of the EU regulations on their businesses to be lifted.

[Mr Hague]

Absolutely. Such people come to the UK because there are many cultural and linguistic advantages, and because of the corporate tax rate, which we are bringing down progressively. They want to see Europe reformed. There is no doubt about that.

Britain is not alone in calling for powers to flow back to member states.

Balance of Competences

Debate between Margot James and Lord Hague of Richmond

Thursday 12th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The review will, inevitably, look at costs in most of the areas that I have described, but that is a different exercise from trying to arrive at a single figure for cost and benefit. There are many aspects of our relationship with the EU to which it is difficult to attach a financial benefit or cost. In the work that I do in respect of a common policy towards sanctions on Iran or Syria, for example, it is beneficial to the UK that we act with our partners, but it is hard to attribute a financial benefit to that. So I do not think one can arrive at a single number, which my hon. Friend may be looking for, but it is, of course, possible within this analysis across many different policy areas to look at costs and benefits, and it is absolutely possible in the work the Home Office will do to look at migration responsibilities and issues, and I know that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is very keen to do so.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I very much welcome the positioning of this review as an outward-facing exercise. My right hon. Friend states that the relationship between the EU and the member state is a subject of intense debate in many member states, so will he take every opportunity to bring like-minded member states with us in our bid to recast the balance of power, so that the competitiveness of Europe as a whole improves in relation to the growth markets in the world?

[Mr Hague]

We are, of course, already engaged in trying to persuade like-minded member states that we must do the essential things in respect of permitting growth to take place in the European economy. That includes doing everything we can to limit the further application of the working time directive, and it means that directives currently being debated—the pregnant workers directive and the posted workers directive—that are further unnecessary burdens on businesses must be resisted. So we are already engaged in that work, quite separately from this review and analysis.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margot James and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 17th January 2012 Commons Chamber

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

This week, I am visiting Brazil as part of our efforts to transform our engagement with emerging powers in Latin America. I will also co-chair the UK-Caribbean ministerial forum, which will reinvigorate our historic ties with those countries.

[Margot James]

Islamic fundamentalist violence has been increasing in Nigeria for more than a decade, and has now erupted beyond the northern region. What does my right hon. Friend think can be done to counteract this threat to Nigeria and to sub-Saharan Africa as a whole?

[Mr Hague]

We are focusing on that threat. We are sharing with Nigeria our expertise on counter-terrorism policy and on legal frameworks. We are also providing assistance with specific capabilities such as managing the consequences of a terrorist attack. In all of this, we are in close touch with our partners in the European Union and the United States. We are also supporting programmes in the north of Nigeria to address the root causes of insecurity, such as poverty and social inequality.

Future Diplomatic Network

Debate between Margot James and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 11th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The right hon. Gentleman has been a long-standing champion of the interests of this House in Yemen. I am sorry that I did not get to the place of his birth—where I presume there is a statue and all kinds of other tributes to him; I look forward to seeing that one day. I might have misheard him, but I think he said that the embassy in Sana’a had closed. I can assure him that it has not closed; it is functioning. I visited it in February and it was working, albeit in difficult security conditions—there is no doubt about that. As he knows, two attempts were made last year on the lives of our diplomatic staff in Sana’a. The embassy works in the most difficult security conditions of any of our embassies abroad, but it is still functioning and has an important influence on events in Yemen. In the current security situation it is not possible to open additional diplomatic posts in Yemen. However, we have the flexibility in our plans to open further consulates and reinforce our presence in the middle east. That remains a live issue for the future.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I congratulate the Foreign Secretary on strengthening our diplomatic network at a time of such economic austerity. I strongly agree with his view that embassies play a vital role in world trade. In that context, I congratulate our embassy in Japan on its sterling work on behalf of British business, which I observed on a recent visit to Tokyo last November. Could he advise the House on the workings of his Department with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which is essential to our country’s ability to maximise trade opportunities in the newer markets that he mentioned?

[Mr Hague]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s reference to the great work of our embassy in Japan. At the UKTI strategy launch last night I met someone from a very innovative new business who was immensely enthusiastic about the support that it had received from our embassy in Japan, so I can absolutely confirm what my hon. Friend says—[Interruption]—although I have slightly forgotten her other point.

[Margot James]

About relations with BIS.

[Mr Hague]

Relations are very good. As I have said, the Business Secretary and I launched our UKTI strategy together last night. Lord Green works equally—half and half—in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to ensure that we are absolutely in step on pursuing the strategy, and he is already doing a great job.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margot James and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 15th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Both of those, to some degree. Certainly, the information on the list was inadequate. This is a matter that is handled by the Treasury. It is important that the House has an update on it, but both of those factors are present.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

During last night’s Adjournment debate on the future of the BBC Hindi service, the House was pleased to hear that discussions are taking place between the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development that could lead to World Service expenditure being considered as official development assistance. Does my right hon. Friend agree that everything possible should be done to protect this very important part of British soft diplomacy?

[Mr Hague]

It is possible for some of the expenditure of the BBC World Service to be classified in the way that my hon. Friend describes. In the Foreign Office we have done everything we can to give financial support, including transitional support, to the BBC World Service. She will be aware of the fact that in three years it will be funded by the BBC licence fee, and that transfer of funding will give new opportunities for the future. But every part of the public sector must contribute to improving its efficiency and saving money; there is no getting away from that.

Libya and the Middle East

Debate between Margot James and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 7th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

It is probably beyond the scope of this statement to go into the last point that the hon. Gentleman raises, but he is right to point to the huge numbers of people involved. The latest figures that I have seen show that more than 200,000 people have passed those borders. My right hon. Friend the International Development Secretary stresses that, at the moment, this is a logistical crisis of getting people to where they need to be, rather than what we would term a humanitarian crisis. Clearly, if the conflict in Libya becomes even more protracted and violent, such a humanitarian crisis may develop on top of that. That is why we are seeking to help and why we are already engaged in helping. Yes, the Black Watch would be available to assist with such humanitarian activity, but that is why it is on that degree of stand-by.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that strong civil societies with democratic freedoms will come about in the middle east and north Africa only if there is greater equality for women in those countries? Will his Department work with the Department for International Development to support all the efforts that will bring that end about?

[Mr Hague]

Yes, I think that is absolutely right. We have to work with people in those societies without us in the western world telling them what to do. We have to work with the grain of their cultures and traditions, but the building up of civil society, improvements in human rights and the development of more open political activity should—certainly in my view and clearly in my hon. Friend’s view too—include a much increased role for women in those societies. That is something that, in the right way, we should certainly promote.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margot James and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 14th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I am proud of the fact that wherever the Prime Minister goes he forges very strong relationships with the countries that he and I visit, and they often find his diplomatic good sense, his openness and his ability to talk to people a very refreshing change from his predecessor.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

T8. With the continuing focus on Afghanistan, we must not be distracted from the other countries where al-Qaeda is reported to be active. To that end, could the Minister update the House on the progress that might have been made with the Friends of Yemen initiative, which Britain is leading?