NATO Summit

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is considerable interest, which is to be anticipated, but I make two points to the House. First, there is a statement to follow, in which there may well be considerable interest. Secondly, we have a substantial debate on the remaining stages of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill, necessitating brevity in this session, from Back Benchers and Front Benchers alike, and the non-participation of people who arrived after the Prime Minister had delivered her statement.

[Sir Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

Although the opening of accession talks with the Government in Skopje is to be welcomed, will the Prime Minister also confirm that, irrespective of Russia’s views, future membership of the alliance is open to any other country that meets the membership criteria, including other countries in the western Balkans?

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Our NATO obligations are entwined with our other collective security arrangements. The Prime Minister has previously said:

“Thanks to the arrest warrant, more than 2,500 people wanted for crimes abroad are no longer roaming the streets of Britain…These include serious international criminals like murderers, paedophiles, human traffickers and terrorists.”

Can she tell us how she intends to defend us from these undesirables, as the White Paper does not commit to keeping us in the European arrest warrant system post Brexit?

[Mr Speaker]

Not altogether adjacent to the NATO summit.

[Dr Huq]

In parallel.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

“Parallel” says the hon. Lady optimistically from a sedentary position. We look to what might be called the geometrical dexterity of the Prime Minister to cope with the situation.

[The Prime Minister]

Although we did not discuss at the NATO summit the precise point that the hon. Lady raised, we did of course discuss our collective security. The hon. Lady can rest assured that in all our considerations on these matters we will be ensuring that we have the powers and tools necessary for our security.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I do not wish to be unkind to the hon. Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock), but I think he is geographically more challenged than his hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq), who is sitting next to him.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

The most visible sign of our commitment to NATO’s eastern partners is the deployment of our troops in the Baltic states. Were the Baltic states reassured at the summit that the United Kingdom and all other NATO countries view an attack on one as an attack on all?