Belarus: Presidential Elections

Mary Kelly Foy Excerpts
Thursday 24th September 2020

(4 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Dominic Raab Portrait Dominic Raab
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My hon. Friend is right, and not just in relation to the UK monitors, but in relation to the OSCE election monitors. It is important that the light we are shining on Belarus via the OSCE is there, because it provides an independent, very credible basis on which to make exactly the points that he has raised.

Mary Kelly Foy Portrait Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)
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Since 2010, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has seen resources dedicated to human rights cut, due in no small part to the Government’s short-sighted austerity programme. While I welcome the announcement today to restore a small part of that funding, does the Foreign Secretary agree that the events in Belarus demonstrate that this approach has been a failure?