Oral Answers to Questions
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(11 years, 3 months ago)
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Mark Simmonds
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the length of time the case has taken. He is correct to point out that the police filed a report to the court in July 2012 but that the formal judicial process has not concluded. He will also be aware that the time scale for the proceedings is, of course, a matter for the Indian courts, but I can give both him and the company the assurance that we sympathise with the position it is in and will continue to raise the issue with the Indian Government.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
8. What recent representations he has made to the Chinese Government on human rights. [R]
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)
Foreign Office officials last raised our concerns about human rights issues with the Chinese Government on 23 July. We have also proposed dates for the next UK-China human rights dialogue and are waiting for the Chinese Government to respond.
Nic Dakin
I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Chinese Government’s response to Tibetan self-immolations is of grave concern. Will the Foreign Secretary raise concerns about Dolma Gyab’s treatment and take steps to ensure that his human rights are respected by the Chinese authorities?
Mr Hague
Yes. According to state media reports, Dolma Gyab was sentenced to death on 15 August. We urge the Chinese authorities to commute the sentence and give a reprieve. We firmly believe that all trials should be free and fair and in line with international standards. We remain extremely concerned about reports of self-immolations and call on all parties to use their influence to bring them to an end.
Oral Answers to Questions
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(11 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Hague
Yes, absolutely. The tragic events in Boston are a reminder of that, as is this morning’s news about the operation in Canada to prevent a terrorist attack. We must always be vigilant about these matters and work closely with other countries. I explained, in my speech to the Royal United Services Institute in February, how we are extending our co-operation on counter-terrorism with many more countries in the world, given the more diffuse nature of the terrorist threat.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
T9. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s comments about Syria at the start of Topical Questions. Will he update us on what representations he has made with the international community to put pressure on Russia in relation to Syria?
Mr Hague
Putting pressure on Russia is a constant effort. We discussed it at the G8 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, and I discussed it with Sergei Lavrov when he was in London last month. The Prime Minister speaks regularly, and will shortly speak further, with President Putin. Our diplomatic efforts with Russia are continual, but we have to say clearly that those efforts have not been successful so far and that therefore it is necessary to give greater support, in various ways, to the Syrian National Coalition on the ground in Syria in order to try and save lives and increase the incentive for the Assad regime to come to a political settlement.
Oral Answers to Questions
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(11 years, 11 months ago)
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Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
11. What recent assessment he has made of the UK’s relations with countries in Latin America.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)
We are striving to broaden and deepen our relations in Latin America—after years of neglect, I have to say. There were 23 ministerial visits to the region in 2012. We have opened new posts in El Salvador and Recife, Brazil, and will do so in Paraguay this year. We will host the first UK-Brazil strategic dialogue in London on 4 February.
Nic Dakin
Now that the Falkland Islands Government have announced a date and wording for the referendum, what discussion have the Government had with Argentina and its South American neighbours about respecting the Falkland Islanders’ right of self-determination and the outcome of that referendum?
Mr Hague
Of course, we regularly discuss with countries all around Latin America the importance of self-determination for the Falkland Islanders and our absolute commitment to that. I believe that one of the most effective impacts on public opinion and Governments in Latin America in recent months has been the fact that Falkland Islanders themselves have been going to many countries and explaining the history of their islands and their attachment to self-determination.
Baha’i Community (Iran)
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(12 years, 1 month ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main. I thank the hon. Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long) for the way in which she put her points across and congratulate her on securing the debate. I recognise what she said at the beginning of her speech; she has a long record of engaging with such matters and of encouraging those of minority faiths in Northern Ireland to work with others. Her record with Open Doors, which I know very well, and other organisations is consistent in seeking religious freedom for many different faiths in often difficult contexts. For that reason in particular, it is a pleasure to thank her for what she has already done and to respond to the debate. I thank the other hon. Members, who share such concerns, for the impressive turnout from both sides of the House.
As the hon. Lady made clear, the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran is appalling, as is the wider human rights situation. That any state can treat its religious minorities in this way is shocking, and all the more so given the religious underpinning of the current regime and its oft-stated claim to respect human rights. What the hon. Lady set out clearly today is only a small part of the daily struggle of ordinary Baha’is and the continual and serious abuses they suffer in Iran. Sadly, such experiences are all too familiar to me; I have stood before the House on many occasions to express my deep concern and have met on a number of occasions representatives of the community in the UK who display their support for those in Iran.
In a sense, the hon. Lady and others have made the point that the issue is indivisible. Today, we are talking about the Baha’i community in particular, but we know that we could be talking about other minorities in Iran. An indivisible link brings all together—a attack on one is clearly an attack on all.
To set some context on Iran: there have been more than 300 executions so far this year; more journalists and bloggers are imprisoned there than in any other country in the world; numerous human rights defenders and lawyers languish in prison; opposition leaders are kept under house arrest; and religious and ethnic minorities are systematically persecuted. It is not a job half done.
Let me give an assessment of the current situation and explain what the UK is doing and will continue to do. For many years, Baha’is in Iran have experienced harassment, discrimination and violence in a systematic attempt by the Iranian state to repress their community. Iran justifies such actions on the basis of “national security”, “maintaining public order” and other such empty claims. As the hon. Lady mentioned, the Baha’i community points us to what appears to be a secret Iranian Government memorandum from 1991 that calls for the machinery of government to block the progress and development of the community. Whatever the origins of the memo, an observation of what has happened on the ground since then demonstrates that the objective of the Iranian Government and their attitude towards the Baha’i faith amounts to systematic persecution.
Events on the ground confirm a pattern of Baha’is being systematically deprived of their rights as Iranian citizens. They have been excluded from private and public sector jobs, denying them the ability to earn a living. They have been prevented from holding positions of influence in Iranian society. Their properties and businesses are seized and their homes, businesses and cemeteries attacked. Baha’i children are harassed in schools and their right to higher education is denied. Students are banned from universities if it becomes known that they are Baha’is, and those attempting to establish an alternative, through the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education, about which I have issued statements in the past, are arrested on charges of threatening national security.
Arrest and imprisonment is, sadly, a regular feature of Baha’i life. The seven Baha’i leaders arrested in 2008 remain in prison. They are serving lengthy prison sentences of 20 years, having been subjected to unfair trials that did not comply with even Iran’s laws. Many others have been arrested and imprisoned, often on spurious charges and in defiance of the rule of law. The experience of the Baha’is in being let down by Iran’s judicial system reflects a situation that is all too common for the Iranian population as a whole. The use of violence and incitement to violence by fellow Iranians against the Baha’is sadly appears to be building. Reports received by Baha’is from followers in Semnan province in the north of Iran suggest an escalation of persecution by the Government and intensification of the existing policies of monitoring, discrimination and harassment.
There are alarming signs of a clampdown on Baha’i economic activity there, such as the raiding and closure by Intelligence Ministry officials in May of two factories that were fully or partially owned by Baha’is. On 17 October we received worrying reports of the arrest elsewhere in Iran of a further 17 followers of the Baha’i faith. As yet, it is unclear why they were arrested and whether they will be charged with any crimes.
The situation of the Baha’is in Iran is just one illustration of Iran’s many human rights failings and its lack of respect for the rule of law. This is a regime that appears unconcerned by the absence of a fair trial and that detains and mistreats people at will. Such shameful behaviour lies at the root of many of the abuses perpetrated by the regime.
Challenges to the Iranian authorities on its record have been dismissed or met with silence. The effect is a growing impunity for the perpetrators of human rights violations. That is having a further chilling effect on respect for human rights in Iran. Iran’s continual refusal to change course, or even to engage on the issue in a meaningful way, is simply deplorable.
In terms of what we have been doing and will continue to do, and our interaction with other international agencies, the British Government do not let such things pass. We will continue to monitor closely, and speak out against, persecution of religious minorities in Iran, including the Baha’is, which flies not only in the face of international law, but does not comply with Iran’s own laws or professed values.
I and my ministerial colleagues condemn all instances of violence and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their religion. We strongly support the right to freedom of religion or belief, as defined by the UN’s major human rights treaties. The promotion of human rights, including religious freedom, is central to British foreign policy. We regularly make clear to overseas Governments the importance we place on religious tolerance and eliminating all legal provisions and policies that discriminate against religious believers.
Accordingly, we remain, and will continue to remain, at the forefront of international condemnation of Iran’s behaviour against the Baha’is and other religious minorities such as Christians and Sunni Muslims.
On the wider human rights situation, the UK has played a leading role in introducing EU human rights sanctions against 77 individuals responsible for human rights abuses in Iran. We will review those again next year with EU partners.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long) on securing this important debate. The Minister spells out clearly the firm actions that the UK Government have taken and they are to be commended. Does such action have any positive impacts on the treatment of Baha’is in Iran?
Alistair Burt
The honest answer is that it is genuinely difficult to tell. It is a closed society and it is difficult to get information, but the objective information we get is not good. However, what it does have an impact on is the population. The UK is not so daft as to believe that the Iranian regime speaks for all the Iranian people. We monitor carefully what the Iranian people say to each other, on social network sites and the like. The Iranian people are a savvy internationally based people. They are actually more aware and concerned about their human rights position than perhaps they appear to be in relation to, say, the nuclear file and the nuclear issue. They are disturbed that there is a sense that as a good Muslim nation they are put in the dock for offences committed by their own Government that they feel very keenly about. Accordingly, although there may not be an impact every day on the day-to-day life of Baha’is or other minorities, the sense of outrage of the Iranian people is building up. That is why it is so important to raise such issues, for us to talk about them in Parliament and for us to do things through the international agencies—as I shall come to—in order to ensure this is known to the Iranian people.
Oral Answers to Questions
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(12 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Hague
We believe that this issue should have massively more attention in the international community, which is why, on 29 May, I launched a new initiative of the British Government. We are assembling a team that will gather evidence of sexual violence being used as a weapon of war and can be deployed in different parts of the world. We encourage other countries to do the same. It will be a major theme of the foreign policy part of our G8 presidency, and I welcome my hon. Friend’s support.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
5. What recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the eurozone crisis.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
14. What recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the eurozone crisis.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)
My ministerial colleagues and I have regular discussions with our eurozone and European counterparts. It is in the UK’s interests to have a stable eurozone, the countries of which must do all they can to stand behind their currency.
Mr Hague
We might be drifting away from foreign policy, Mr Speaker. The fact that the United Kingdom has its safe haven status, with the lowest interest rates in our history, is an important point that the hon. Gentleman ought to remember. When our Prime Minister put his name to the letter ahead of the March European Council, along with 11 other Heads of European Governments, calling for measures to stimulate growth—improving the single market, free trade agreements with other nations and removing barriers to business—it received a strong endorsement from many European nations. Clearly we influence the debate very strongly.
Mr Hague
My hon. Friend speaks with a great deal of experience and I certainly take that point and agree with it. Should we come to that eventuality, we will try to do that. Having heard our earlier exchanges, he will be conscious that our efforts are devoted to a peaceful political transition in Syria and to a cessation of violence. At no stage have we advocated a military intervention, but we recognise that the situation is so grave and deteriorating so quickly, and that such crimes are being committed, that we cannot take any options off the table at the moment.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
T3. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Two Nobel peace laureates are in the United Kingdom today: Aung San Suu Kyi and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to update the House and the country on what steps the Government are taking to work with those Nobel laureates and the authorities in Burma and Tibet to address ongoing human rights issues?
Mr Hague
I mentioned a few moments ago our support for democratic change and human rights in Burma, including the resolving of the conflicts that continue, such as that in Kachin state. Ethnic conflicts have continued although there is a ceasefire in place in many of them. All that work will continue. We have a regular and formal human rights dialogue with China. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we, like the previous Government, recognise Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China—let there be no mistake about that—but we certainly speak up for human rights in China, as we have done regularly and will continue to do.
Foreign Affairs and International Development
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(12 years, 7 months ago)
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Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
This has been a wide-ranging debate touching on all parts of the globe. There have been many brilliant insights into what is going on in the world and the UK’s role in the changing world. My contribution, in contrast, will focus on my constituents’ response to the issues in Her Majesty’s Gracious Speech and will therefore be wide-ranging in a different way.
I have listened carefully to what people in the Scunthorpe area have said in the weeks leading up to the Queen’s Speech and beyond. It is a real shame that the Government have failed to capitalise on the cross-party agreement to legislate to meet the UN’s target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on international aid. That will disappoint Marilyn Woodrow, who e-mailed me recently asking that I urge the Prime Minister to take action to address the terrible problem of world hunger. She pointed out that 300 children die from hunger each and every hour. UNICEF’s figures show that 10.9 million children under five die in developing countries every year, and that malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60% of those deaths. The Prime Minister should show leadership on that issue at the forthcoming G8 summit.
I was extremely pleased to join the children of Scunthorpe Church of England primary school for their “Go for Gold” assembly, in which they drew attention to the 67 million children worldwide who never get the opportunity to go to school and are denied education and opportunity. The Scunthorpe children recognise their privileged position, which is why they are involved in the “Send My Friend to School” campaign. They asked me to call on the Prime Minister to back the campaign.
Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)
Has my hon. Friend raised with his local schoolchildren, as I have with mine, the fact that although we are told primary education is free in many developing countries, hidden charges often stop children going to school? They cannot afford to pay for their lunches, extra lessons or uniform, and that precludes their getting a basic education.
Nic Dakin
My hon. Friend is right and makes her point extremely well.
Eliminating world hunger and helping get 67 million children to school can be driven through global leadership, which we could have shown by taking advantage of the cross-party consensus and legislating for 0.7% of gross national income to be spent on international aid from 2013. That would have resonated around the world, to the benefit of us all in the developed and developing worlds.
Let me deal with other matters. I welcome the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill. I and other hon. Members have urged action on the matter for some time. As Alex Godfrey of the North Lincolnshire branch of the National Farmers Union writes,
“thank you for your help on the groceries code adjudicator. Finally it was in the Queen’s Speech! I was really pleased to hear that complaints from third parties will be allowed.”
Alex puts his finger on a key issue, and I will keep my eye on it as the Bill progresses to the statute book. The Government need to provide the adjudicator with the powers to ensure a fair deal across the supply chain. That means an adjudicator with the power to investigate the claims of trade associations or whistleblowers, and to penalise companies that breach the code.
Sadly, the welcome for the grocery adjudicator is more than outweighed by the disappointment felt by the woman in her 80s who rushed to see me last week because she was so downhearted and dispirited by rumours that the reform of adult care and support was to be delayed. Thirty years ago, her son had an accident that left him severely paralysed. He is strong willed, intelligent and resilient and so, despite his disabilities, he managed to continue to make a contribution to society. However, he needs full-time, round-the-clock care, which his mother provides. She has done that with no support forthcoming from the state. Uncomplaining and determined, she was nevertheless distressed to learn that the Government were putting the reform of adult care and support on the backburner—on the “too difficult” pile.
Another local woman writes movingly of her experience of supporting her mother, who suffers from dementia:
“What I want to know is which agencies are out there for us to call on to support us to care for our Mum. It doesn’t seem right that an adult as vulnerable as my Mum is not under the care of a social care or mental health team or a Memory Clinic. I don’t care whether she has dementia or Alzheimer’s or not. What I do care about is that her needs are not being met.
I have no desire to take any of the individual services to task. I just want to move forward in a positive way with caring for my Mum and know where to turn to receive the necessary support when problems arise. Surely there should be a clear sign-posting to people who like me find themselves in this stressful and difficult position. Where we have Sure Start we should also have Sure End…There is a desperate need for a service like this and this need will become greater.”
Adult care and support is one of biggest challenges for us. We should not play politics with it, but we should all put our shoulder to the wheel and use our united, combined and determined efforts to find real solutions. A draft Bill is disappointing, but it is also an opportunity. The hopes and fears of many people throughout the land, with stories like those of the ageing mother with the paraplegic son, and the caring daughter with the severely ailing mother, are focused on us all. We owe it to them to step up to the plate.
The issues in the Gracious Speech about which people have contacted me are therefore international aid, the grocery adjudicator and adult care and support. However, what most people wanted and talked to me about was absent from it. Where is the plan for jobs and growth? Where is the industrial policy that manufacturing areas such as Scunthorpe badly need? Where are the plans to help energy-intensive industries such as the steel industry? Sadly, the Business Secretary was right that the Government have “no compelling vision” to address those issues.
Like my constituents, I am underwhelmed by the Government’s programme for the forthcoming Session. It is a missed opportunity, a damp squib and a disappointment.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)
I call Seema Malhotra, who must resume her seat no later than 9.30.
Iran (Human Rights)
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(12 years, 11 months ago)
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Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op)
I am pleased to be conducting this Adjournment debate under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea.
This debate draws attention to Iran’s horrendous human rights record. The abuses affect a wide range of people—women, gay people, dissidents and the human rights lawyers who try to defend those people, including the lawyer Abdolfatah Soltani, held since September 2001 for creating propaganda against the system. Last September, three Iranian men were executed after being found guilty of charges relating to homosexuality. Last week, the daughter of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former President of Iran, received a six-month jail sentence for allegedly spreading propaganda against the regime. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman who was due to be sentenced to death by stoning for alleged adultery, may now be hanged; we are told that the change of punishment from stoning to hanging is some kind of progress.
However, I wish to focus on an area of persecution that has received too little public notice and attention: the long-standing and ongoing persecution of the Baha’is, adherents of the Baha’i religion founded in Iran in the mid-19th century. The persecution is not widely acknowledged, although it is pervasive and is escalating dangerously. There are thought to be more than 300,000 Baha’is in Iran and 188 Baha’i communities worldwide.
Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, 200 Baha’is were expelled and thousands were imprisoned. The 1991 memorandum of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution set out what still remains official policy towards what is ominously called the Baha’i question. The memorandum makes it clear that official policy is repression of the Baha’is in an effort to crush the religion and its adherents—in the words of the Iranian Government’s official policy, to block their progress and development. The repression takes a number of forms in an ongoing and systematic persecution. It means arbitrary arrest and imprisonment and the denial of access to higher education and areas of employment. The homes and businesses of Baha’is have been subject to arson attacks, cemeteries have been destroyed, and children have been harassed.
There are 102 Baha’is imprisoned in Iran. One current issue of major concern is the trial of the seven former leaders of the Baha’i community of Iran: Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm. They were detained in 2008 without charge and were denied access to lawyers for a year. In January 2010, they appeared in court on charges that could have led to their execution. In August, they received sentences of 20 years. Although the sentences had been reduced to 10 years following international condemnation, the length has since been restored.
In May 2011, another series of raids was held on 39 Baha’i homes in Tehran, Karaj, Shiraz, Gohardasht, Sari and Zahedan. In the ensuing weeks, eight people were released, but 11 remain imprisoned. The charges were of conspiracy against national security and conspiracy against the Islamic Republic of Iran by establishing the illegal Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, an online programme to support Baha’i youth barred from universities. I have raised the persecution of the Baha’is previously.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for securing this afternoon’s debate. Canadian Senator Dallaire, a former commander of the UN mission in Rwanda, recently drew attention to the escalation of attacks on Baha’is and others in Iran, which he described as
“a slow-motion rehearsal for genocide”.
Does my hon. Friend agree that such comments from such a distinguished observer of human rights are a great cause of concern, as are the issues that my hon. Friend outlines?
Mrs Ellman
I agree with my hon. Friend. Those comments show how the situation is escalating. They should lead not only to increased concern but to increased action. I intend to refer to that comment later, and will say what I think should be done to address the situation.
Tibet
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(13 years ago)
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Simon Hughes
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. He and his party have always been good on the issue, which has united people throughout the parties and the United Kingdom. I have had the privilege of meeting His Holiness three times in this country and the Tibetan peace garden, which he opened on a previous visit, is in my constituency—in the grounds of Geraldine Mary Harmsworth park over the river from Parliament.
I appreciate the presence of the Minister, the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (Mr Bellingham), and hope that he can give a positive response to the request made not only by the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards) but by all of us together.
I have not been to China, other than to Hong Kong when it was still under British rule, although I would very much like to go. I have therefore not been to Tibet, although all my life, since I was a little boy—I just about remember the uprising in Lhasa, the Chinese invasion and the flight of the Tibetan people from Tibet—the country has mattered to me and to many in the UK.
Not surprisingly, in 1959, the same year as the uprising, the Tibet Society was formed in this country to argue the case for the proud and historic nation of Tibet and its people and for their rights to be upheld. I pay tribute to the Tibet Society, which has done consistent and effective campaigning work, and to its president, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (Norman Baker). I also pay tribute to its chair, Ricky Hyde-Chambers, who is a constituent of mine, and to its chief executive, Philippa Carrick. With their staff, they are a really effective team. They supported us in our visit to Dharamsala this year and have done so at other times in the past.
I want to come to history and politics in a second. When we were in Dharamsala, we were privileged to meet the new Kalon Tripa. This year, for the first time, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced that he would give up all political authority, while retaining spiritual authority. There was an election among Tibetans worldwide and, on 8 August, Dr Lobsang Sangay was elected as the new political leader. We had the privilege of welcoming him only recently, as part of his tour of Europe and the States; he had been living in the States, but is now back in Dharamsala.
An important issue for our country is to keep in constant dialogue with such elected representatives, who are enlightened and engaged in their international contacts. I salute them, together with His Holiness, for what they have done already. In a way, we are in the Chamber to pledge our commitment to go on and to work better with them.
I do not pretend to be a great historian of China or Tibet but, put simply, Tibet has a proud independent history. We can argue whether it was completely independent but it was perceived as effectively independent by the British, who have had a particular link over the years, especially in the previous century. It was only in 1959, after the Chinese invasion, that the people of Tibet turned their loyalty to the Dalai Lama, who had to flee the country. They have remained loyal to him.
All the evidence is that the overwhelming majority of the people, not only in what the Chinese call the autonomous republic of Tibet, but in greater Tibet, which goes beyond what the Chinese recognise, have an independence that is both ethnic and cultural, in language and in faith. It is one that they want to be able to exercise. The present view of the Dalai Lama, which he has held for many years, and of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, is not that they want total independence—they are not making that argument—but that they want to have the autonomy that already exists in other parts of China.
For example, Hong Kong and Macau have a certain autonomy, which was negotiated, and parts of mainland China have a certain autonomy. The Tibetan Government-in-exile are asking for that autonomy, as well as for the freedom not to be told how to live their lives, how to worship and who to worship, and how to go about their own cultural activities.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
I am pleased to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gale. I also declare my interests set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
The right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) is clearly outlining a difficult situation in Tibet. Does he agree that in all the representations from Lobsang Sangay and the Dalai Lama there is clarity about the desire for a peaceful settlement, and recognition that everything that can be done to cease the troubles in Tibet, particularly self-immolation, should happen peacefully? People are being urged to cease those terrible events in Tibet.
Simon Hughes
Not only—[Interruption.] I welcome my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, who was with us in October.
Not only is my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe right about that, but the whole ethic of Tibetan Buddhism is peacefulness, non-aggression and non-violence. That is why it is such a terrible indictment of the Chinese regime that it will not allow those peaceful people to express themselves in their peaceful way. I have nothing against China and its people; I represent one of the largest Chinese communities in this country. That is not the issue. The issue is how the Chinese behave at home towards that different group of people in its territory.
Over the years, a number of colleagues have persistently raised the issues here, and I pay particular tribute to the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes, who, when he was not a Minister, was able to raise these matters. He did so in March 1999, on the 40th anniversary of the 1959 uprising; on 28 June 2005, just ahead of the EU-China summit, which was under our presidency; and on 1 April 2008, when he opened by saying that he was angrier, sadder and less hopeful then than ever before.
That was before what was probably an understandable, but in the end rather unhelpful, clarification of policy by the then Foreign Secretary. It was not well received in Tibet. Whatever our politics and understanding of how we want to build and cement links with China, the fact is that the then Foreign Secretary said:
“Our ability to get our points across has sometimes been clouded by the position the UK took at the start of the 20th century on the status of Tibet, a position based on the geopolitics of the time. Our recognition of China’s ‘special position’ in Tibet developed from the outdated concept of suzerainty.”
He hugely disappointed people among the Tibetan community in exile and in Tibet when he then said on behalf of the then Government:
“We have made clear to the Chinese Government, and publicly, that we do not support Tibetan independence. Like every other EU member state, and the United States, we regard Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China.”
The statement was, of course, more balanced, because it went on to say:
“Our interest is in the long-term stability, which can only be achieved through respect for human rights and greater autonomy for the Tibetans.”—[Official Report, 29 October 2008; Vol. 481, c. 30WS.]
I pay tribute to the fact that Ministers have gone on arguing that case under the Labour Government and the present Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition Government. I also pay tribute to the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), and to the Minister on the Bench, as well as to the Foreign Secretary, who has been robust about human rights issues.
I want to take the Chamber to where we might go. Many hon. Members have persistently expressed their concern. A litany of colleagues on both sides have asked questions, including, from the Conservative party, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kensington (Sir Malcolm Rifkind) and my hon. Friends the Members for Banbury (Tony Baldry), for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab), for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti), for Oxford West and Abingdon (Nicola Blackwood), for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson), for Ealing Central and Acton (Angie Bray) and for Witham (Priti Patel); from the Labour party, the hon. Members for Bassetlaw (John Mann), for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey), for Hampstead and Kilburn (Glenda Jackson), for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley), for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn)—he is in the Chamber—for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds), for Leeds North East, for Glasgow North East (Mr Bain) and for Scunthorpe, all of whom I am happy to call my hon. Friends; and from the Liberal Democrat party, my right hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert) and my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood). There is a real desire in this place to try to make progress.
I want to end by making some suggestions to the Minister on ways in which we might be able to take on the debate and to influence the outcome. We must try to persuade the Chinese that it is in their interests to deal with the issue because it clouds and affects all the perceptions of China in the democratic world.
Oral Answers to Questions
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(13 years ago)
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Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
3. What representations he has made to the Chinese Government following recent self-immolations in Tibet.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), raised our concerns about the increasing number of self-immolations in Tibetan areas with the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister in Beijing earlier this month.
Mr Hague
We are seriously concerned about recent reports that young monks and nuns in Tibetan areas of Szechuan province have immolated themselves. As I said, we have taken that up with the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, and with the Chinese embassy in London. We encourage, of course, the resolution of grievances that have led to that situation. We will continue to encourage the Chinese Government to take that constructive approach.
Human Rights on the Indian Subcontinent
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(13 years, 3 months ago)
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Andrew Griffiths
The hon. Gentleman articulates the views of so many of my constituents. They ask, “Why isn’t it on television or in the newspapers? Why is what is happening in Kashmir not being reported here in Britain, and why is the international community not doing something about it?”
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
The hon. Gentleman sets out his points very well. Does he agree that today’s debate demonstrates that we are listening to the concerns of our constituents, and that we are keen to move the issue forward so that proper progress can be made on it internationally?
Andrew Griffiths
I agree, and I know that the hon. Gentleman does a great deal in this House on these issues. I congratulate him on that.