Paul Sweeney
Main Page: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)Department Debates - View all Paul Sweeney's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(5 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dominic Raab
As my hon. Friend will know, we are very careful about talking about sensitive intelligence. I can tell him that contrary to the Houthi claims that 10 drones were used, imagery of the damage caused clearly shows that there were not just 10 but between 16 and 19 strikes on the Abqaiq facility. Imagery from the site also shows the remnants of Iranian-made land attack cruise missiles and, frankly, attacks of this scale and sophistication could not have been done by the Houthis.
Mr Paul Sweeney (Glasgow North East) (Lab/Co-op)
Although I welcome the Government’s commitment to the International Maritime Security Construct, the British capacity to contribute to it has been impaired by the Government cutting the Royal Navy surface fleet by a third. What are the Government going to do to enhance British capacity to contribute to the protection of freedom of navigation in the Persian gulf, including British merchant shipping?
Dominic Raab
We have assets in the region. We are contributing to the IMSC and we—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman says not enough, but what we actually need to do is get the broadest international support for that and a bit more support from our European partners. We need to bring the Europeans and the Americans together—Australia is already involved, as are other partners—and to have a burden-sharing arrangement that means we can police the strait of Hormuz and the other freedom of navigation areas in the region as effectively as possible.