Tunisia, and European Council

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Literally dozens of colleagues are still seeking to catch my eye, and I am keen to accommodate as many as time reasonably allows, for which purpose brevity will greatly assist me.

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

First, I would like to take this opportunity to agree with the sentiments of this House in condemning the barbaric attacks in Tunisia—sentiments that are shared across the country in all communities. What we need at home are strong communities, not divided communities. To this end, will the Prime Minister agree to engage in solidarity with all communities? Will he recognise that Prevent is failing in its attempt to engage? Will he today commit in this House to a systematic review of the Prevent strategy?

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A single, short sentence question could now represent a parliamentary triumph. I call Mr Bernard Jenkin.

[Mr Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister explain how a mere promise of treaty change can be made legally binding?

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am afraid that we have no time for questions with preambles, but if colleagues are willing to imitate the admirable example of the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin)—the hon. Gentleman is beaming at his recognition—I shall do my best to accommodate them.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Following last Friday’s terrorist attacks in Tunisia, my constituents John and Janet Stocker are still unaccounted for. May I have assurances from my right hon. Friend that all NHS records that may be required by the Tunisian authorities to identify victims will be made available?

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[The Prime Minister]

Let me join in the tributes to Bruce Wilkinson and the way that his family have handled this terrible tragedy. My hon. Friend’s point about Islamic State is well made. He spoke about making sure that we continue with the help and counselling. Part of that will be in how we commemorate and remember these dreadful events. We are just coming up to the anniversary of 7/7, which is a reminder of how important it is that we mark these things properly, because relatives go on mourning for years and decades into the future.

[Mr Speaker]

I have not forgotten the voice of Kettering, whose patience is now rewarded.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

With regard to the desperate and growing wave of human misery that is taking to the Mediterranean in leaky boats from the north African shore, what advice have Her Majesty’s Government and the European Union taken from the Australian Government about the successful way to tackle large-scale, organised, seaborne human trafficking?

[The Prime Minister]

We have looked at what the Australians have done, and we have also looked at what the Spanish did in respect of migration from west Africa to the Canary islands. In one year they received 36,000 migrants, but just a few years later that was down to zero. They broke the business model of the smugglers and found a way of returning people to the African states and working with those states. That, I think, is the model that we need to adopt. It is obviously more complicated in this case, but that is the long-term answer.

[Mr Speaker]

I am most grateful to the Prime Minister, to the Leader of the Opposition, and to the 70 Back Benchers who contributed in the 70 Back-Bench minutes.

[Stewart McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Points of order come after statements. We are saving the hon. Gentleman up, if I can put it that way.