Syria

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 12th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I think we are very clear about what we are doing here, and I hope the whole House is united on it. In the last few days circumstances have changed significantly, with the Russian position changing. I take it from what was said by the shadow Foreign Secretary that we are agreed in the House—and there should be strong unity on this—that we should test to establish whether what we are proposing can be successfully brought about. It needs to be credible, it needs to be reliable, and it needs to be prompt. The change in the position has come about because of the international pressure over this issue—because of the pressure on the Assad regime—which includes the debate about military action in the United States. That is what has brought about the change in the Russian position.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

While I welcome the fact that the Russians have come to the table as far as a diplomatic solution is concerned, and their donation of—I understand— £20 million in overseas aid, we cannot forget that they have been partly responsible for the arming of the Assad regime. Can my right hon. Friend tell me how much money we are putting in, and what it is being used for?

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the arming of the regime. If he is asking about the money that we are giving to the opposition—to the National Coalition—I can tell him that it amounts to more than £20 million so far, for non-lethal equipment. It is predominantly equipment that saves lives: for instance, water purification kits, generators, communications equipment that makes it easier for people to find out about regime attacks, and body armour. I think that, together with our humanitarian work, shows that the United Kingdom is at the forefront of the attempt to save lives and alleviate suffering in Syria.

Oral Answers to Questions

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I will try to remember the sequence of that question. I speak regularly to my Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and I think I last spoke to him on Wednesday last week. That was before our deliberations in this House and therefore not since the vote, but I speak to him regularly and I spoke to him twice last week. The Prime Minister will meet President Putin later this week at the G20, so our intense contact with Russia over Syria continues. They know our positions well, and we will continue to try to work with Russia to bring about a conference in Geneva and work towards a political solution in Syria.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

T6. Following Robert Mugabe’s re-election—or supposed re-election—as President of Zimbabwe, what discussion has my right hon. Friend, or other hon. Friends, had with the Southern African Development Community, and would he be willing to make a statement on potential sanctions?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mark Simmonds)]

I assure my hon. Friend and the House that the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I have engaged closely with leaders of SADC countries, the African Union, the EU and the US in support of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. In the light of the serious allegations of election irregularities, our message has been consistent: a peaceful election is not enough. I assure my hon. Friend that I will be visiting three SADC countries over the next week. On sanctions, I confirm that we will continue to work with EU partners to ensure an appropriate and robust EU response to the political and democratic situation in Zimbabwe. It is important that the EU shows leadership.

Afghanistan

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

It is easy to obey your request, Mr Speaker, by giving a short answer to this question because it is not relevant to the subject we are discussing. This statement is about Afghanistan, and we do not forget our responsibilities to our forces there just because there are controversies about other conflicts in the past.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his precise report, and I welcome the idea that we are going to be very supportive of governance in Afghanistan. The key to that is ensuring that an independent judicial system and a corruption-free police force are in place, so is he happy with the progress being made on that? Does he think that when we eventually come out of Afghanistan next year, that will be able to continue?

[Mr Hague]

It would be going too far to say that I am happy with all the progress made, because a lot more needs to be done to tackle corruption in Afghanistan. At the Tokyo conference last July, the Afghan Government entered into 164 specific different commitments about fighting corruption, and it is very important that they implement all of those. They have started implementing them, and we have seen some prosecutions following the Kabul bank scandal, but more work needs to be done on that as well. My hon. Friend draws attention to a very important subject, on which a beginning has been made—but it is only a beginning.

Falkland Islands Referendum

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman]

I entirely endorse that point.

It is also right to remember those who passed away during the conflict 31 years ago, when 255 British troops died, 650 Argentinean troops passed away and three female islanders were also killed.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend pay tribute to those members of the armed forces who gave their lives, especially those members of 3 Commando Brigade, which is based in my constituency and includes Royal Marines and the Royal Navy? They went out to the south Atlantic and did a deeply courageous job, and they should always be credited for all their hard work.

[Guy Opperman]

I entirely endorse that point.

Able Seaman Derek Armstrong, from the town of Prudhoe in my constituency, died when HMS Ardent was sunk on 22 May 1982. He was only 22 years of age. His memory is still celebrated by the fact that the most important award of the year given by his school, Prudhoe community high school, is the Derek Armstrong memorial award, which is presented each year to the best sportsperson. All troops, on all sides, should be remembered. We should pay particular tribute to those who are serving there and giving up their time to look after the Falkland Islands on an ongoing basis.

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[Guy Opperman]

That was the problem in 1982, was it not? A President struggling to maintain domestic order was trying to divert attention from the realities of problems at home by attracting it to matters abroad. One is nervous about the potential for that to happen again.

[Oliver Colvile]

Is my hon. Friend aware that Ewen Southby-Tailyour, who was very much a member of 3 Commando Brigade, did all the mapping around the Falklands in 1978, and that it could then be used by the troops when we went in? It was a very good job that he ended up doing.

[Guy Opperman]

Preparation is essential to all future military endeavour, as my hon. Friend rightly makes clear.

Under United Nations resolution 2065, which is linked with UN resolution 1514, it is crucial that the interests of the population of the Falkland Islands are observed. That has to be the most important consideration. Resolution 1514 states:

“All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development…All armed action or repressive measures of all kinds directed against dependent peoples shall cease...and the integrity of their national territory shall be respected.”

Europe

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Wednesday 30th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jack Dromey]

They have come in as a consequence of our membership of the European Union and the move towards a single market based on clear ground rules, including the fair treatment of workers. I will say it once again: if Government Members want the repatriation of the legislation that protects workers’ rights so that they can cut that protection, they should say so.

My final point relates to the immense economic damage that this debate will cause. I have worked with the automotive industry for many years.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman is making his case very eloquently, and I congratulate him on doing so. I do not agree with him, but that is another issue. I am curious as to which way he would vote in a referendum if we had been able to negotiate the return to the United Kingdom of some of those regulations.

[Jack Dromey]

What I certainly will oppose is the madness of saying now that we are going to have a referendum on an in/out basis in five years’ time, for exactly the reason that 82% of the cars that we produce in this country, through our world-class success story that is automotive, are exported—and half to the European Union. Key to the future of the industry is inward investment, and key to inward investment is continuing membership of the European Union. There is already a chorus of concern from Ford and BMW, for example, about the grave consequences of prolonged uncertainty, while the director general of the Engineering Employers Federation has said that this is the worst possible way to go about negotiations, as it will weaken any negotiating leverage we need rather than strengthen it.

That is why I believe that the good Lord Heseltine is right and the Prime Minister is fundamentally wrong. With an economy bumping along the bottom and a triple-dip recession possible, this is the worst possible time for prolonged uncertainty, which will inevitably impact on crucial investment decisions. Far from standing up for Britain, as the Prime Minister says he is doing, he is putting party interest before the public interest, and he runs the risk of doing great damage to the economy of our country.

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[Neil Carmichael]

That is an excellent question. I shall talk about three areas where reform needs to take place and will take place under this coalition Government and the next Conservative Government.

Ironically, the first area is the common agricultural policy. It needs to be radically changed so that farmers face less bureaucracy and are able to farm more easily; for that, the strictures of the CAP need to be altered. The chamber for such a change is, I think, the Council of Ministers.

[Oliver Colvile]

Does my hon. Friend agree that we should also make sure that we bring UK fishing waters back under UK control, so we need a big reform of the common fisheries policy?

[Neil Carmichael]

We would also need to look at—I think—the Marine Act 1986 if we wanted to make that a consistent strategy. I agree with my hon. Friend’s important point, but we should not overlook the other legislation that governs our access to our waters.

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[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

The shadow Foreign Secretary is absolutely right to say that the big political news stories from this House last week were the cuts and redundancies in our armed forces, the shrinking of the economy, and the Government’s failure to deal with the economy. However, the Prime Minister and sections of the media wanted to concentrate on Europe.

Europe is an obsession for the Conservative party. Only last Friday I spoke to former Conservative party activist who had agreed with the Prime Minister when he said that it was the “banging on” about Europe that put people off the Conservative party, and why it had not been elected to Government since 1992. That was what some Conservative people were telling me only last Friday. This obsession confuses me, because it was a Conservative Prime Minister who took us into the European Union; it was Mrs Thatcher, when she was Prime Minister, who signed the Single European Act which gave away many powers and vetoes; and it was Mr Major who signed the Maastricht treaty. He was very unkind to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood) and others at that time—I would never be as rude as the former Prime Minister.

[Oliver Colvile]

Does the hon. Gentleman recognise that John Major was able to negotiate a number of opt-outs? Unfortunately, those opt-outs have been given away by Labour Governments.

[Albert Owen]

The then Prime Minister was very rude to the right hon. Member for Wokingham and doubted his parentage. He was angry and frustrated at being bounced by his Back Benchers, in the same way that the current Prime Minister has been bounced into making his speech. The Prime Minister could never be accused of being consistent on Europe. As recently as October 2011, I joined him in the Lobby to support the view that a referendum would cause all sorts of uncertainty. The Conservative party’s obsession is damaging the British interest.

I want today to make a pro-European speech. Although I totally disagree with the right hon. Member for Wokingham, I respect the fact that he has always been in favour of our leaving the European Union. He has been clear on that point, and he was clear again today. I believe that our strength lies in the EU. The title of today’s debate is “Europe”. We are in Europe; we are part of the continent of Europe. As a Welshman, I am proud of Wales being a part of the United Kingdom. I do not go to the UK and I do not go to Europe—I am in both and I want to remain in both. I believe that the interests of my constituents are better served by our having a strong voice in the United Kingdom in this Parliament, and in the European Union. I trust our representatives to fight for our interests. That is what the Prime Minister should be doing—talking not about our going somewhere closer to the exit of Europe, but about going to the centre of Europe and fighting for the interests of my constituency.

Identity is important. I am proud to be Welsh. I support Wales. Last year, 2012, was a great sporting year—Wales won the grand slam in rugby union, beating England on the way. Our British athletes won gold medals and I was proud to shout for Britain in the Olympics in the same way that I was proud to support the European win in the Ryder cup. The Welsh people are as proud as anybody of being at the centre of events, and Wales has benefited from being there.

I do not believe in an emotional approach towards Europe; I believe in practical, social and economic policies, and we have had good policies for Wales. Being a member of the European Union has been a net benefit to Wales. It is estimated that £40 per person per year extra comes into Wales from our membership of the European Union. We benefit in many other ways. Social and economic regeneration has happened through structural funds. Extra money has come from Europe, on top of what the UK Government have given, for real, social and economic regeneration that is sometimes difficult to quantify because it has built village halls and the structure of social cohesion of Wales and the UK.

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[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

I am pleased to follow a thoughtful contribution by the hon. Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer). The debate has had a more welcome tone, perhaps because, with one or two honourable exceptions, it has been boycotted by some of the more extreme Europhobes on the Government Benches—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) walks in on cue. Perhaps they have boycotted it because they think they have the Prime Minister cornered.

I certainly agree with the hon. Member for Ipswich in congratulating the Prime Minister on the opening remarks in his speech last week. I thought it went rapidly downhill, but he was right to remind us of the big picture, of the wider national interest, of the bigger strategic goals and of the peace dividend from the European Union, which has been complacently disregarded by many. My father was a pilot in the second world war and my grandfather was in the trenches of the first. I am a member of the first generation of my family since the 19th century not to have been called up to one of the bloody conflicts that have engulfed our continent for centuries, because the European politicians who survived the last war said, “Enough,” and recognised that if we created economic and political interdependency among the countries of Europe, we would stop killing each other. And we have, for the longest period in our history.

Peace, safety and freedom: those were the objectives for post-war Europe that Churchill described in Zurich in 1946 and they have been delivered by the European Union. How has the Conservative party been transformed from the party of Churchill to one in which outright hostility to the European Union has become almost an article of faith for so many of its members? It has clearly not been helped by the tabloid press. As the Leveson inquiry reported:

“At various times, readers of these and other newspapers may have read that ‘Europe’…is intending to ban…kilts, curries, mushy peas, paper rounds, Caerphilly cheese, charity shops, bulldogs, bent sausages and cucumbers, the British Army, lollipop ladies, British loaves…and many more.”

[Oliver Colvile]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Paul Blomfield]

I have been asked not to give way because of the time available—I would otherwise have been delighted to do so.

All those claims by the tabloid press were nonsense, but there are more sophisticated myths, too. One, which was most recently reported during this debate by the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood), is that the people of Britain were misled about the Union we were entering and were not told that we were signing up for anything more than a single market. Again, that is simply not true. The Conservative Government’s 1971 White Paper was clear that the aim was

“an ever closer union among European peoples”

and went on to say:

“If the political implications of joining Europe are at present clearest in the economic field, it is because the Community is primarily concerned with economic policy. But it is inevitable that the scope…should broaden as member countries’ interests become harmonised…what is proposed is a sharing and an enlargement of individual national sovereignties in the general interest”.

The prospectus for the 1975 referendum was clear and so was the result.

Of course, the rhetoric of repatriating powers will sound attractive to some, but, as a number of Members have pointed out, we must be clear about exactly what powers we mean. Top of the list for many Government Members are the powers on employment. They need to be honest with the people of this country. Why repatriate those powers if not to abolish the rights for working people that come with them? We deserve an answer.

I do not think that Government Members want to abolish social Europe. They want the other 26 member states to keep it, but they want the UK out so that our USP in Europe is offering the lowest labour costs, leading a race to the bottom and offering companies the chance to boost profits at the expense of hard-working families. Why would the British people vote for that and why would the rest of Europe allow it? The single market is about a level playing field, not about skewing the market to the advantage of one country at the expense of its people. How will the British people be persuaded by a Prime Minister who cannot even win an argument in his own party? As he struggles and fails to control his party, he is undermining business confidence, damaging our economy, limiting the chance for growth and weakening the creation of jobs.

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[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I am very supportive of the Prime Minister, who has changed the climate to make sure that we are going to have a proper debate about Europe for the next few years. I have a little lesson for Labour Members who might think it rather strange that we want to talk about Europe. In my constituency in the south-west, I am for ever being talked to about the whole issue of Europe. A lot of people come to see me on a regular basis, and they clearly perceive that Europe is now the bogeyman. We as politicians have to be seen to be taking some action, and the Prime Minister is certainly showing the way.

Britain’s role in Europe has been to maintain the balance of power within Europe—that has been our island story for the past 1,000 years. It has been very much about trading issues to do with imperial preference, the corn laws and so on. These issues come along every 100 years or so, and we need to react to them. The Conservative party has been having this debate because we are the party that represents the whole country and understands what people feel about such issues.

[Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

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[Oliver Colvile]

I will not, I am afraid, because we have only a short time to speak.

In terms of trade, Britain has been far too dependent on Europe. It is very important that we have a relationship with Europe, but we need to do more about trade with other countries as well. This whole debate sparked off as it did because shortly before the Berlin wall came down Jacques Delors made a speech in which he made it very clear what the European vision was, and we did not agree with it.

The eurozone is having to go through a complete reappraisal of where it will end up. The countries in it are going to have to become closer. We are not part of the eurozone, and nor should we be. I very much welcome the job that the Foreign Secretary did when he was leader of the Conservative party. We in Britain must demonstrate that we are taking the lead in all this. We support a free market. The difference between us and Labour Members is that they have thought that it is a way of maintaining regulation sent down from Europe whereas we think that we can change the situation.

We must have an agenda that sets out what we want. I will set out my personal view; if the Prime Minister is listening, I would be very grateful if he took it on board. We need to bring UK fishing waters back under UK control. We need to make sure that we are able to negotiate back all the opt-outs that John Major was able to deliver during his time in office when he dealt with the Maastricht treaty. We must be able to control who is allowed to come into our country. We must be able to decide who should be charged and who should be prosecuted. That is how I want us to end up. If we can achieve that, we can do what Drake set out to do in the first place—a great Plymouth boy who went out and beat the Spanish armada. We have a real opportunity of securing a big victory for our country under the current Prime Minister.

Antarctic Bill

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Friday 18th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mark Simmonds]

I am grateful, Mr Deputy Speaker, for your guidance. I was trying to put the implications of new clause 1 into context. The Antarctic treaty has 50 signatories, and the UK is one of the core 28 countries that play a positive role, and we intend to continue to do so.

I shall turn now to the amendments. On new clause 1, I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) that the Government have prepared and made available a full impact assessment for this Bill. The impact assessment was independently reviewed by the Regulatory Policy Committee, which determined it was fit for purpose and that the costs and benefits of the Bill had been adequately assessed.

The most likely monetised costs to arise from the Bill were identified as additional premiums for insurance cover, which my hon. Friend rightly mentioned, and one-off costs to any operators who will need to update their equipment or plans to deal with an environmental emergency. The insurance industry was consulted, and it was suggested that additional insurance premiums to cover the costs of responding to an environmental emergency would probably either be minimal or non-existent. My hon. Friend the Member for Stroud made that point. Given the level of insurance already required by operators and vessels in Antarctica, it was suggested that that was the case for both small and large operators.

The one-off costs to operators of updating their equipment or plans was also deemed small, given that the vast majority of UK operators already meet the requirements.

[Oliver Colvile]

Has my hon. Friend considered how many people might want to visit Antarctica, and what the various consequences might be?

[Mark Simmonds]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. We have carefully assessed the number of scientists and tourists who might visit Antarctica, and if my hon. Friend is patient, I will address his point in detail later.

It is also essential to ensure compliance with the Bill’s provisions. As that will be achieved through the existing permitting system, the additional administrative costs will be negligible.

One non-monetised cost of the Bill might be that operators adjust their plans to avoid highly sensitive or remote areas. Training time may also be needed in respect of any equipment obtained for potential response action. Again, however, such non-monetised costs are not expected to be significant. The main non-monetised benefit is that the Bill will reduce the likelihood of an environmental emergency occurring in the Antarctic through effective forward planning and providing a deterrent to potential irresponsible behaviour. The Bill will also reduce the environmental damage caused by any environmental emergency that does arise; simplify permitting procedures for non-UK nationals; and improve the conservation and preservation of UK historic monuments and sites in Antarctica.

--- Later in debate ---

I also have to say to my hon. Friend that the UK has demonstrated clearly its commitment to the implementation of marine protected areas in the Southern ocean. Earlier this year, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands announced one of the largest sustainable marine protected areas in the world, covering its entire maritime zone. I must put on the record the fact that that process was begun under the previous Government, and we have continued that important focus. So I hope that I have reassured my hon. Friend on his points about new clause 1.

[Oliver Colvile]

Last night, I was at the Royal Geographical Society attending a reception and talk by a number of the military who had just come back from a trip to Antarctica. If new clause 1 was introduced, would it not do quite a lot of damage by discouraging the military from going down there and doing research? What about those scientists who go down, too? Will it have an impact on them?

[Mark Simmonds]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. He will be aware that one of the exclusions under the Antarctic treaty concerns military operations in the Antarctic, although we have a presence there. We have a rescue vessel in case anything goes wrong and aspects of the Navy are there in relation to the Falkland Islands and the assistance we provide to them. There might well be problems for scientific research and the military if new clause 1 were implemented, which is one of the reasons I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North will withdraw it.

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[Neil Carmichael]

I thank my hon. Friend very much. I appreciate that, not only because the Liberal Democrats are part of the coalition Government, but because it is good to know that all parties support the Bill. I am grateful for the shadow Minister’s comments earlier on the Opposition’s support for the Bill. The Bill is important precisely because we all care about the future of Antarctica and recognise its vulnerability, as well as its awesome size and climate. The widespread agreement on the Bill is therefore impressive and reassuring to me and to others who have worked on it.

I also appreciate the number of people who have congratulated me in one way or another on the work that we have done thus far. I reassure the House that I will not stop trying to ensure that the Act—if the Bill becomes an Act—is used as an instrument to encourage other nation states to do what we have done and underline the need to protect Antarctica for the foreseeable future. In my book, that means a very long time.

As I have informed the House, I visited Antarctica at the beginning of the new year. I went with the British Antarctic Survey, supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I was pleased to have the opportunity to go there for several reasons. The first was, funnily enough, to understand more about why this measure really matters. That became increasingly obvious the closer I got to Rothera, the main base of the British Antarctic Survey, where we have up to 90 people working in various ways.

This is a good opportunity to pay tribute to the work of the British Antarctic Survey. What it does really matters. I would like to emphasise the extraordinary amount of scientific research that is undertaken at Rothera and on other bases. We were there for only five days, but we looked at all sorts of research projects. For example, there is research into the future of the Southern ocean, its role in absorbing carbon, its changing food chain and the changing temperatures of the water at different levels. All of that matters because we need to know how our changing climate is influencing things and what the consequences might be for that continent and the various crustaceans, fish and other wildlife living in and around Antarctica. It was impressive and encouraging to see that the work being done to study the ocean is of such huge value in terms of science, research and commitment.

[Oliver Colvile]

I do not know whether my hon. Friend is aware of this, but in the very depths of the waters of Antarctica, creatures are still being discovered. I do not know whether the British Antarctic Survey talked to him about that. It is important not only that we carry out a large amount of research in that area, but that we do not endanger those species.

[Neil Carmichael]

Absolutely, and I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. Not only is he right about the new discoveries, but another interesting point is that existing marine life is taking a different shape in terms of breeding and growth and so on because of the changing temperatures. All that is part of the science that we need to see, which, of course, has been helped by really interesting technology, most particularly a glider—for gliding through the ocean, not the air—that is able to co-ordinate its own pathway and send valuable signals back to Rothera about what it is finding throughout the ocean, from top to bottom and along the bottom. We should be taking note and celebrating that kind of research and science. There was other scientific work as well.

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[Neil Carmichael]

I thank my hon. Friend for his generous intervention. I must emphasise the pride that I take in Britain’s leadership in this area. We have led from the front, and we continue to do so. If my Bill is passed, I will ensure that that work continues through the activities that I will undertake. I will do that even if it is not passed—although I hope it will be—because I am determined that Britain’s leadership should continue in all the areas that I have described. I am very proud of it.

I was particularly proud to visit the British club in Antarctica, where Sir Ernest Shackleton based himself during his attempt to rescue his men nearly 100 years ago. That whole building is laden with history. It was fascinating to walk into a room that had remained relatively unchanged since he was there making those decisions and bold moves to save his men, and showing exemplary leadership and commitment to those he led. It was quite moving. Sir Ernest Shackleton is another example of the tremendous leadership that this country has demonstrated, both personally through people such as him, and nationally through our overall direction of travel on that continent.

We must also salute Captain Robert Scott. Yes, his reputation took a slight dip, but people are quite properly recognising the sheer enormity of his achievement in getting to the south pole. Also, while he was going there and attempting to come back, he was still committed to carrying out scientific research. It is not often remembered, but it should be noted that temperature changes and other data were being collected right up to the end.

[Oliver Colvile]

Is my hon. Friend aware that Plymouth was Captain Scott’s home town? The Plymouth marine laboratories have done an enormous amount of research on climate change, and there is a great tradition in Plymouth of ensuring that that continues to happen.

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[Neil Carmichael]

I have no immediate plans, but it is important that we are properly represented at such gatherings. I know that the Government will ensure that their views are expressed and their contributions made—given the Minister’s excellent performance, we can be confident of that—but my hon. Friend makes a good point. As I have said already, I am committed to ensuring that other nation states do the right thing, behave in the right way and take the appropriate steps to improve and protect Antarctica.

Political leadership is extremely important and it is right that Britain plays a significant leadership role, because we were one of the first nation states to show an interest in Antarctica and have been consistent on it ever since. We have always conducted ourselves responsibly—I do not expect to be contradicted on that—and we should be encouraging others to follow that example.

We debated the Bill in detail on Report, but it is important briefly to canter through its key parts.

[Oliver Colvile]

Has my hon. Friend had any discussions with the Irish? I understand that they have not been quite as quick to sign. They have accepted what they need to do, but they have not signed. I am concerned about why they have not done so. Have there been discussions with the Irish Government?

[Neil Carmichael]

That is one Government whom I have not spoken to about Antarctica. I met an awful lot of Irish people yesterday, but we did not actually talk about Antarctica—we talked about art. My hon. Friend is right, however, that we need to encourage nation states to do the same. There is a question not just of quantity, but of quality. We are legislating thoroughly on our agreements under the treaty, but some countries have not been as thorough, and we need to ensure that they become more so. The example of the Netherlands and ourselves is the right one.

Where we are seeing, basically, expressions of commitment to the treaty, we need to see more, and we certainly need to see nation states such as the United States ensuring that they, too, take action. I have already been in touch with environmentalists in the United States to see how we might encourage a proper debate about the issue in Congress. I am working on these things. I intend to encourage all nation states to take the right action at an event later this year, when I hope to gather their representatives and explain what we have done, why we have done it and why they should do the same. That is absolutely right.

Let me continue with my brief canter by underlining the importance of encouraging operators, visitors, tourists and everybody else involved not just to plan for their trip, but to plan contingency measures, to recognise that they have to behave in a properly responsible way and that insurance is necessary just in case things go wrong. If things go wrong, we need to be sure that tidying-up operations can take place in a timely, efficient and comprehensive manner. That is one part of the Bill that we effectively discussed in our debate about clause 5, and quite right too. I think we all agree that it is a good clause and part of that whole process.

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[Oliver Colvile]

Let me start with a quote:

“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”.

Those are the words that appear on the Scott memorial at Murdo Sound in the Antarctic. They appear, too, on the statue here in London, and, I am delighted to say, in Plymouth overlooking the Sound.

I am most grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) on introducing the Bill and on encouraging and allowing me to serve on its Committee stage, helping it to reach its current position. I feel that we are within inches of the final yard we need to travel to get over the line and get the Bill on to the statute book.

I have to declare an interest. I am a trustee of a charity that deals with the Antarctic, and I was invited to get involved by Dr David Wilson, the great nephew of Dr Wilson who, along with Captain Scott, Bowers, Evans and Oates, died on the ice on 29 March 1912. As I said earlier, yesterday was literally the 101st anniversary of the Scott expedition’s arrival in the south pole. I am also a vice-chairman of the all-party group on the polar regions, of which my hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) is chairman. Until recently, there was, sitting downstairs in the passageway here, an exhibition of a medal called the polar medal, which was produced after Scott’s activities on the ice. When I have walked past it, I have always been delighted to take a little time to look at it.

I pay tribute to Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers for renaming, in the jubilee year, that part of Antarctica unofficially known as the Edith Ronne Land as Queen Elizabeth Land. I think that shows a clear commitment that our country has demonstrated to Antarctica. I am told that the area is situated in the Weddell Sea between longitudes 20°W and 80°W, stretching from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf to the south pole. That was a very useful thing to do in that year.

I became interested in Antarctica because Captain Robert Falcon Scott, born in 1868, was brought up in Stoke Damerel—as well as being born there—and attended what is now Stoke Damerel community college in my Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, a great son of Plymouth, along with Sir Francis Drake and other great, wonderful naval sailors. Quite rightly, Scott has been rehabilitated as one of Britain’s great national heroes. I know that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has been greatly interested in what has been taking place and has watched it very closely. Last year, when my hon. Friend the Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb) was the Minister of State at the Department for Education, he visited the school to see for himself some of the Scott memorabilia, including a pair of his skis. I am told that quite a large number of them were littered around the world, but I am delighted to say that we have some in Plymouth.

Scott’s tragic expedition was principally to undertake scientific environmental research. There has been a great deal of discussion about whether it was a race between him and Amundsen. I am told, very firmly, that it most certainly was not. Scott conducted his environmental research very effectively. As my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud told us earlier, the last message that he sent his wife before he died was about his son Peter Scott, the well-known environmentalist and founder of what is now the World Wide Fund for Nature. He asked his wife to

“make the boy interested in natural history”.

Last year the Natural History Museum organised a very interesting and worthwhile exhibition which showed what Scott had been doing during his time in Antarctica.

Yesterday evening I went to a reception and lecture at the Royal Geographical Society. Some members of the military who had been on a very similar expedition to Antarctica explained to me how difficult the climate is down there. They said that people must be incredibly fit in order to survive. I am delighted to learn that there are now a number of global positioning systems so that we can have much better records of what is happening to the atmosphere.

Captain Scott’s legacy is highly commendable, and it is a very big legacy as well. Should the Bill become law, I shall be proud to be able to play a small role in the safeguarding of our environment in one of the most important parts of the world.

Last spring, shortly before the Scott centenary memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral—it was addressed by the Bishop of London, who did an incredibly good job—I went to the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert), where I visited the British Antarctic Survey and looked at some of its work. I am delighted that it has been decided not to get rid of the British Antarctic Survey and merge it with the Natural Environment Research Council, and that the BAS will retain its own distinctive identity.

During my visit, I learnt that—as my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud said earlier—the BAS had drilled 800,000 years into the ice, taken out that ice, and was analysing what had happened to the climate over those 800,000 years. It is still conducting that analysis. I even had an opportunity to touch some of the ice, which made me feel that I had touched 800,000 years’ worth of our climate. That work has had a major impact on the whole climate change story, which I find incredibly interesting. It convinced me that things are indeed happening to our atmosphere which are having significant effects.

The BAS concluded that for the vast majority of those 800,000 years there had not been much climate change, although there might have been some global warming, mainly owing to slight tilts in the earth’s axis. However, it also found that during the 300 years since industrialisation began, there had been a significant amount of acidification of the atmosphere, which had produced much of the climate change. Acidification produces rain, which falls on to the earth or into the sea, where it is having a major impact on our fishing stocks. There are signs that some of the plankton and krill on which fish feed are moving. The Bill is important because it seeks to ensure that we are much more environmentally friendly, and I hope that the Foreign Office and the British in general will be taking the lead in that.

When I was a child, I was always taught that the difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic was that the Antarctic was land surrounded by sea, whereas the Arctic was sea surrounded by land. Moreover, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud will know, penguins live in the Antarctic and polar bears live in the Arctic. Those are quite good ways of remembering which is which. I do not know whether my hon. Friend has read “Penguins stopped play: eleven village cricketers take on the world”, a book about a man who played cricket in every continent, including the Antarctic. I believe my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock) has also played cricket in the Antarctic. Recently, devotees of Sir David Attenborough will have watched the much-acclaimed “Frozen Planet”, which was very informative, too.

There is an enormous amount of tourism in the Antarctic, and unless we are very careful, at some stage there will be an accident. If so, the ferry or cruise ship operator involved should be held responsible for clearing up all the damage. We must not, however, discourage scientists from going to the Antarctic, and we should encourage parts of the Government to use it for training purposes.

I am delighted this Bill will be enacted, and that it will ensure tourism operators are held responsible for any accidents under on their watch.

--- Later in debate ---

[Oliver Colvile]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is very important that children learn about Antarctica—not only about Captain Scott and Shackleton but about the environmental requirements? Should we not be pushing the Secretary of State for Education to ensure that that is very much included in the national curriculum?

[Jake Berry]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I certainly will not be pushing the Secretary of State to ensure that it is included in a very crowded national curriculum, but he makes a valuable point and I commend him for the work he has done with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to ensure that we recognise Captain Scott, who is, of course, one of Plymouth’s most famous sons. My hon. Friend has been a real champion of ensuring that that legacy, that great British history, gets into schools, and that we talk about and take pride in it. We should take pride in it because we are a buccaneering, adventurous nation and I like to think that spirit still lives on within us. By telling young people about that great history, we ensure that we shall be the people who cross the frontiers in the future, whatever they may be.

Speaking of frontiers, when I was putting down some thoughts about what I might say this afternoon, I happened to be watching an episode of “Star Trek”, which I noted has a very similar form of governance to that of Antarctica—global co-operation not driven by money, and demilitarised. I am pleased to say that it is not science fiction; we actually see that co-operation—everyone working for the good of an area—today. We do not have to look for “Star Trek: The Next Generation”; we can see it today.

I note that our territories have their own money. The Minister spoke about the profits from that going to support the British Antarctic Survey. I am an avid collector of coinage and I was going to make an offer to any Member who has been to Antarctica to swap me, pound for pound, some currency. I look particularly at my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud, who I am sure came back with pockets full of it. I have never seen any currency from our territory there and I would be pleased to have a look at it.

I shall focus on two further aspects—first, the work of the British Antarctic Survey. We heard earlier about its fantastic work on ice cores, which provides the most persuasive evidence of the problem of global warming in this country. The problem is man-made, created by the burning of thousands of years’ worth of carbon within 200 years of industrialisation. I encourage those nay-sayers who say that global warming is a myth and unproven to look at the work on ice cores showing the changes in our atmospheric make-up and global warming.

Scientists with the British Antarctic Survey were the first to discover the hole in the ozone layer. I was a young man when that was discovered, and it aroused my first interest in environmental issues. I thought I was making a great contribution when I invested in a Vidal Sassoon hairspray that, rather than using chlorofluorocarbons, was operated by pumping. I was pleased to see just a few years later that CFCs were banned. That was an enormous contribution and shows that a continent on the other side of the world can make a huge impact on environmental policy and thinking in our country. The continued work of the British Antarctic Survey is to be welcomed.

My final point is about the hugely important “polluter pays” principle in the Bill. When the Environmental Protection Act 1990 came into force, there was a great kerfuffle among lawyers about whether environmental surveys of properties would devalue them and make them unmortgageable. To some extent that has happened. That is a case where the “polluter pays” principle has failed. I can give an example from my constituency. Brenbar crescent in Whitworth, the site of an historic town gas works, was thought to be polluted and there was concern about the value of properties there. Given that the town gas site closed some 80 or 90 years ago, it was not possible to find the original polluter.

One of the great advantages of the Bill is the speed at which we will be able to act to get the polluter to remediate the damage that they do to a pristine environment. That is particularly important when we see the increasing tourism to the Antarctic. In 1992 there were fewer than 9,000 tourists. In 2012-13 there were 26,000 tourists. That is a huge increase in the number of people visiting the amazing and awesome place that my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud described. I can see that it is attractive, but we cannot let that attraction and the commercial gain of tourism companies degrade the environment.

That is why the insurance clause, clause 6, is so important. Any of us who have booked a holiday know that it is not unheard of for travel companies, operators and shipowners to go out of business. We cannot allow self-insurance and the Bill does not do so, but if we look to the proper international shipping and insurance market to ensure that we get protection, we can enshrine the “polluter pays” principle and make sure that when an incident occurs—they happen too regularly already—the money is readily available and we do not have to argue about which country should clean up the pollution. If it is in the British Antarctic Territory, should it be cleared up by Britain or the Chilean Government? We are not having such arguments. There is a clear line of liability leading back to someone who has the resource, the desire and the ability to pay.

With 100,000 bird species, flora and fauna, the Antarctic is not a desert or a desolate land. It is somewhere we must work hard to protect. My hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) spoke about the new discoveries of creatures there this year. It is amazing to think that on a planet where we think we know everything about everything and all the animals under heaven, we can still be surprised to find things in this amazing environment that are new to us. We have to be very careful that we are not losing species before we even know they exist, because then we will not know we have lost them. It is important that the Bill proposes a ban on commercial fishing, because there is a danger that that will take hold in the area because it is such a rich resource.

Finally, I want to speak about the Royal Navy’s contribution to the area. We all believe in this House, I am sure, that we have the finest armed services in the world. I have been involved with the armed forces parliamentary scheme and have had the great privilege of seeing some of the work undertaken by members of our armed forces, particularly the Royal Navy. We might be complaining today about the icy conditions outside, but the lowest recorded temperature in the Antarctic is minus 85°. We must pay tribute to those serving on HMS Protector, who are spending long periods there, on HMS Endurance, on HMS Scott and on other Royal Navy ships that go to the area to police it and to rescue people who find themselves in trouble. I want to record my personal thanks to and admiration for members of our armed forces who ensure that the global co-operation on keeping Antarctica safe, non-politicised and demilitarised continues.

Zimbabwe (Blood Diamonds)

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Westminster Hall

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate, and it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Havard. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Neath (Mr Hain) on securing this debate. Much of what he said was incredibly interesting and important, and I am grateful to him for the lesson that he gave.

My own involvement in southern Africa began in 1979 when I spent four months in Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa. I had two great uncles working for the Colonial Service in Nyasaland, which is now Malawi, and a cousin who ran a fruit farm in the east highlands. In 1994, I gave advice to one of the political parties involved in the general election campaign in Malawi. Such experience gave me a good understanding of the political and cultural differences between this country and the west and southern Africa.

I will not pretend for one moment that I have a better knowledge of southern Africa than the right hon. Gentleman. None the less, my understanding of the region’s culture, coupled with my experience as a Conservative party agent, means that I understand the need for organisation within places. Added to that, my first ever job was working for the Diamond Corporation, so I have a little understanding of how the diamond world operates and how important southern Africa is to the whole industry.

Let me explain where Zimbabwe is at the moment and how it has got there. In 1965, as the Federation was falling to pieces, Ian Smith declared independence. From that moment on, with perhaps a short period of respite, Zimbabwe has had a very chequered career. UDI lasted for about 15 years and only became unsustainable following a bloody and difficult civil war. Zimbabwe was always considered to be the bread basket of Africa, and was able to deliver food to a part of the world that desperately needed it.

Zimbabwe is a country of strategic importance, as it is the gateway to South Africa, which is the principal regional power in this part of the world. We need to be working very closely with the Southern African Development Community and other countries in the region to deliver the route map that has been agreed. We also need to ensure that the international community begins to prepare for life after Mugabe has gone. Indeed, my understanding is that Mugabe is not well. He is thought to have prostate cancer and is spending a lot of time in Singapore. Therefore, we need to ensure that we have a solution for the future that enables us to get close to the region. We need to encourage the moderates within ZANU-PF for the time when Mugabe has gone.

Although the west views Mugabe as a demon whose regime is most certainly responsible for a series of murderous and bloody attacks, he is still seen, in many parts of southern Africa, as one of the great heroes of the struggle for independence. When the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) and I were in Zimbabwe last year, we heard the story of how President Zuma took Mugabe into a crowded football stadium, with some 50,000 people, and welcomed him as a war hero. That is one of the difficulties facing President Zuma; how does he keep on side the balance of those people in his country on whom he depends for election but, at the same time, help to deliver this route map as well?

I will not pretend for one moment that Mugabe’s presidency has been a success; it most certainly was at the very beginning but unfortunately, as he has become more isolated, he has turned to more and more violent activities. I am concerned that the proceeds from the Marange diamonds have ended up being used in a corrupt way to fund the ZANU-PF coffers as it prepares for the general election when that happens—probably in the next year.

We must build relationships with the more moderate elements of ZANU-PF and ensure that we work with them to develop a governance process that will lead to an independent judicial system and a police force that is not corrupt. That is incredibly important. I have been talking with my hon. Friends in the Foreign Office about how we might develop a staff college to help those people from the emerging countries, especially places such as Zimbabwe, and show them how to set up a proper judicial system and a police force that is not corrupt. If we do not do that, people will not be willing to invest in Zimbabwe. They will say to themselves, “What is the point of us putting money and investment into Zimbabwe, if it is just going to end up being filtered and dealt with in a corrupt manner?”

When the hon. Member for Vauxhall and I were in Zimbabwe last year, we heard that some investments from South Africa were under a real threat of being confiscated. If that happens, frankly it will be very difficult to encourage anybody to invest in Zimbabwe.

One of the things that we need to do is to work very closely with South Africa to deliver a route map, and I hope that the Minister will take note of that point. We need to ensure that there is decent registration, and that we have observers in the country during the course of the registration process and before the election. If we do not do that, once again—unfortunately—ZANU-PF and Mugabe will go and steal the election, which would be very difficult to accept. We also need to have an approach that recognises that those people in what is probably the medium part of the military feel that if there is somebody else in power they are going to lose all of their assets. Adopting that approach is going to be another thing that is very difficult for us to go through.

I am also very keen to ensure that we recognise that southern Africa has a fundamental part in the whole of the world political strategy. Indeed, the Cape routes have always been incredibly important to us, because by using them we can ensure that we can export a lot of our goods. It would be most unfortunate if the submarines bases down in Simonstown were to fall into the wrong hands. That could be a threat as far as we are concerned.

As I say, having a judicial system that is free and independent is absolutely vital. I have recently heard stories of some Dutch farmers who have made quite a large investment in Zimbabwe. They have been in a court case and they are having real difficulty in trying to ensure that they can get the moneys that they are owed paid to them.

In conclusion, we need to ensure that there is support for the route map, and also that the more moderate people in ZANU-PF will have the opportunity to find a way out and do not feel that the west has totally and utterly turned its back on a lot of people. It would be helpful if the Minister could set out the Government’s attitude towards Zimbabwe.

Falkland Islands Referendum

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

Having Latin American monitors is a sensible and creative idea, and, if the hon. Lady would like to share with my Department the particular instances that she knows about in terms of the obstruction of trade and so on, we will be happy to look into it further.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

May I congratulate this House on sending a firm message about how important the Falkland Islands are? May I also suggest that in the future White Paper on the British dependent territories my right hon. Friend considers offering them an opportunity to vote for a Member of the House of Lords, when it is eventually reformed, so that whether to Spain or to Argentina we can send the very clear message, “Hands off the British dependent territories”?

[Mr Lidington]

That is certainly an innovative idea, which I shall draw to the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Somalia

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to participate in the debate.

I am not going to pretend for one moment that I know an enormous amount about Somalia; the nearest I have been to it was probably when, as a member of the Addis Ababa division of the barmy army, I flew down to South Africa to watch some cricket. Waking up at six o’clock in the morning to the sound of the imam certainly gave the whole place an enormous cultural feeling.

A lot of the issues we are dealing with at the moment, especially in Somalia, are very much a legacy of the cold war. When the cold war came to an end, it was clear that there were no longer two superpowers that could argue the case, so places such as Somalia ended up falling through the cracks a bit.

If the walls of this Chamber were able to talk, they would no doubt tell us that similar debates took place 175 years ago. After the Napoleonic wars, there was a sense that a great deal of piracy was taking place in north Africa, as well as in the Mediterranean.

In 2008, nearly $1 million of trade travelled to the EU through the Gulf of Aden. The UK therefore has a keen interest in making sure that we support and look after our maritime position in the world, and it is important that my right hon. and hon. Friends in the Government are playing the part they are in leading the great debate on this issue.

Our shipping industry is worth about £10.7 billion to the UK’s GDP. I am told, however, that piracy could cost as much as £12 billion a year. Surprise, surprise, I will be speaking for the Navy in a moment or two, as hon. Members would expect, given that I am the Member of Parliament for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, which I would claim is one of the Royal Navy’s major homes, although others might disagree.

Some 23,000 ships go through the gulf of Aden each year, and that is a good example of how important it is that we, as a nation, do not become sea blind. I am reminded of the story of a frigate that went into port in Sierra Leone and out again. For six or nine months after it left, the terrorists and people in Sierra Leone who wanted to create lots of trouble were convinced that if they started misbehaving, it would come straight back into the port to make sure they did not have another opportunity to create trouble.

Can hon. Members imagine what it would be like in this country if we no longer had any petrol or any groceries in our food stores? That is why the Royal Navy has a significant part to play and why I want to make sure that Somalia is seen as an international issue, and one that we are looking after.

Last summer, I travelled on one of the Type 23s travelling from Malta to Majorca. I had an opportunity to talk to the crew and to see how they operated. They had just come back from dealing with piracy issues off the coast of Somalia. It was very interesting. The first thing I learned was that all naval ships now have a legal officer on board to make sure that any decisions that are taken are compliant with international law. That is a very different story from the days of Captain Bligh sailing around the south Pacific. He would not have worried about such things. Nevertheless, it shows how much things have moved on.

The crew were concerned that their Royal Marines could not go on land to take out terrorist and piracy camps. I hope that Ministers will consider that point at the welcome Somali conference, although it must be taken forward on a firm United Nations basis when a lot of people are around.

[Bob Stewart]

I was spurred into action by my hon. Friend’s comments about Royal Marines going ashore. As part of our initiative, I think we should plan to put anti-piracy headquarters, protected by Royal Marines, in Somalia, perhaps Mogadishu, so that we can get a grip on piracy along the coast. That is the only way to do it. At the moment, we are fiddling around in the large ocean. We want to get a base onshore and sort it out. If possible, that should be considered at the London conference.

[Oliver Colvile]

In the main, I agree with my hon. Friend, although it is important, if we are to do that kind of thing, that we take with us the people who are in a position to make those decisions. There would be nothing worse than putting troops on the ground, only to find ourselves in a similar position to that in Iraq and other places where we have not been welcomed.

I pay tribute to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines based in my constituency, especially HMS Cornwall and HMS Chatham, both of which were port-based Type 22s that unfortunately have had to go. They did an excellent job and I was incredibly impressed when I had the great opportunity to go to the Mediterranean last year. The other big issue was people’s concern at not having the opportunity to earn a medal like those in Afghanistan and Iraq. I urge the Minister to take that point onboard because they make a significant contribution to protecting this country’s trade routes.

If we are to be in the business of nation building, which potentially we should be, we must give advice to potential new leaders. Our universities could provide opportunities to would-be leaders to learn about international relations and, more important, about creating structures of government, such as the judiciary, policing and governance. That would be an effective way of exporting our knowledge.

This country has a proud—in my opinion—reputation for empire, and we still have structures in many countries. As we all know, Somaliland used to be a British dependency, and in seeking to work with it would it not be wonderful if, in the year of the Queen’s jubilee, Somaliland could be encouraged to rejoin the Commonwealth and thereby continue this great relationship?

Zimbabwe

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Tuesday 6th December 2011 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Selous]

I welcome the comments of the hon. Lady, who is chair of the all-party group on Zimbabwe. She is right; the current regime has concerns about the sanctions. I think that they are partially effective. Her comments are wise, and I hope that the Minister will heed her words.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Does he recognise that South Africa is vital to getting a political solution in that part of southern Africa? A very big problem for President Zuma is that President Mugabe is still seen as a war hero and as the last war hero from the great struggle in the first place. That has made life difficult for President Zuma in trying to deliver.

[Andrew Selous]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and on hearing the remarks of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, with which I intend to conclude, he will hear that he is also in agreement with him on that point.

Our own Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, was born in Uganda in 1949. A former lawyer, he incurred the wrath of the dictator, Idi Amin, because of his judicial independence, and was locked up for 90 days three weeks after his marriage. In a speech in 2007, he described how he had been

“kicked around like a football and beaten terribly”.

He is a man who has suffered in a similar way to many Zimbabweans. He went on countless marches to campaign for the end of the unilateral declaration of independence of Ian Smith and calls Zimbabwe

“a scourge on the conscience of the entire world”.

He is disappointed by the African Union’s response to Zimbabwe. He calls for the UN to make Zimbabwe a priority, saying:

“If it does not, the blood that is spilled will also be on their hands.”

He has also called for President Mugabe and his officials to be brought before the International Criminal Court.

Desmond Tutu is Archbishop Emeritus of South Africa. He said that the incomprehensible greed, appalling lack of compassion and unspeakable cruelty demonstrated by the Zimbabwean elite contradict the classical African concept of ubuntu—the essence of being human. He described the

“state-orchestrated crimes against humanity on a massive scale countrywide”

and said that Zimbabwe’s plight is all our plight and that

“to ignore its suffering is to condone it.”

I look forward to hearing what action the UK Government will take, particularly on election observers, the outstanding SADC legal judgements, action in the United Nations, the integrity of the sanctions regime and the Marange diamond fields.