Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The position on recognition is as I set out a few moments ago. However, my hon. Friend is right to stress the importance of returning to negotiations. The Quartet meeting last week did not reach agreement on a statement paving the way for that, but I discussed the matter with Tony Blair at the weekend and with my EU colleagues yesterday, and we remain hopeful that the Quartet can arrive at a statement that will form the basis for Israelis and Palestinians to resume negotiations over the coming weeks and months. That has to be the way forward.

[Mr Speaker]

Lisa Nandy—not here.

[Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)]

14. What his objectives are for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

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[The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington)]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I visited the headquarters of the Committee on Missing Persons and its laboratory while I was in Cyprus a few weeks ago, and I was impressed by the work that it is doing to discover the fate of those missing people, both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot. That is morally right, because it helps the affected families to come to terms with what has happened to their loved ones, but, as my hon. Friend has said, it is also a good measure for building confidence between two communities that, sadly, have become separated by the events of recent decades.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Lisa Nandy. Not here.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

On the morning of 13 August 1961, the people of Berlin woke up to find a wall being built across their city. That wall remained in place for some 30 years before it came down and allowed the unification not only of Germany but of the east and west. Will the Foreign Secretary, together with the Secretary of State for Defence, use that anniversary as an opportunity to remind Europe that that would not have been achieved without the help of the Americans, and to remind the Americans that Europe remains important to them?

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We need very brief questions and answers.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Will Ministers say what reports they have received on the economic situation in Greece, on whether there has been any intelligence on the likelihood of a default and on the likelihood of Greece remaining in the euro?

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[Alistair Burt]

The hon. Gentleman is right about the concerns that the world shares about the development of Iran’s nuclear programme, on the subject of which it is being deliberately opaque. New sanctions were introduced only two weeks ago in relation to targeted individuals. The pressure of sanctions will continue from the world, and the determination of the world to see the nuclear programme opened to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has already expressed its concern, will continue until such time as Iran turns away from what appears to be a very dangerous course.

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, I call Jeremy Lefroy.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Some of the fastest-growing economies in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa. What steps is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office taking to help our exporters and investors in those countries?