UK Relations with Qatar

Stephen Crabb Excerpts

Thursday 10th December 2020 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

First, I congratulate the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) on bringing this debate. He and I have been together in a few Westminster Hall debates and Qatar has come up on several occasions. It is an absolute pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess), whose constituency town is soon to become a city. I think those two camels he has will come in handy for the camel rides on the beach at Southend. Perhaps that is a new business idea. It is always a pleasure to be in a debate with him, because I can always put my heart into it.

Qatar and the United Kingdom’s diplomatic relations stretch back some 100 years. We have been friends, partners and business partners for a long time. The annual Qatar-UK strategic dialogue is an important mechanism in aiding the development of bilateral relations between Qatar and the UK. It is not all one-way traffic; it is two-way traffic. We gain and they gain, and we can all work better together. The meetings follow up on decisions and projects, support the bilateral track and explore opportunities for further co-operation that benefits both countries, economically, socially and physically. It is the kind of meeting and co-operation that it is great to see. The UK is the single largest destination for Qatari investment in Europe with, as others have said, £40 billion invested to date. Total bilateral trade between Qatar and the UK was £6.7 billion in 2019—an increase of 21% year on year. More growth is expected and hoped for. UK exports to Qatar include industrial machinery and equipment, electrical machinery, vehicles, aircraft engines, luxury goods, textiles and power generation equipment.

Qatari gas supplies now account for 31% of all UK gas demand and 79% of all UK gas imports. I am not being churlish by any means—I realise that the relationship is very important—but I ask the Minister whether it is always good to have all our eggs in one basket. We do not have all our eggs in one basket for gas supplies at this moment in time, but we perhaps do not trade with the USA or Nigeria as we did in the past. I am not saying we should not do it, but I wonder if it is the best idea.

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

The gas supplies that the hon. Member is talking about come through my constituency in Preseli Pembrokeshire, which I will refer to in my remarks later on. The point about opening up that facility was not about putting all our energy eggs in one basket. It was to give the United Kingdom new sources of energy supply, thereby diversifying our energy supplies into the country, thereby enhancing our energy security. I believe that is the correct way of looking at it.

[Jim Shannon]

I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman’s intervention, but no matter what, we need to have other suppliers and we need to make sure that they are as important. If something were to happen and we had neglected Nigeria and the United States, that would be a very backward step. We just need to make sure that we are doing it right.

There are 1,134 UK companies operating in the Qatari market and some 993 are joint Qatari/British ventures. Defence-wise, Al Udeid airbase is the nerve centre in the fight against terrorism in the middle east and host to the Royal Air Force’s Operation Shader. The RAF’s operational headquarters in the middle east is at that airbase; I was told there were 30 British officers there but, according to the Library pack, there are 160-plus there. Whatever the number may be, it underlines a close relationship, which is critically important.

Qatari and UK forces often participate in joint training exercises, which is a testament to our strong and enduring partnership. Joint training exercises take place regularly between the Qatari Emiri air force and the Royal Air Force, the latest being a joint exercise in early December 2020, in Doha, where the joint UK/Qatari Typhoon squadron participated in an exercise. As part of an ongoing programme of co-operation with the British Royal Navy, Qatari naval forces and the Royal Navy conducted joint exercises in Qatari waters in spring 2019.

In 2018, Qatar signed a letter of intent with the UK for co-operation in the field of combating terrorism, which is so important and vital. I have another question to the Minister. I am not being churlish, but I am asking a question for the record, with the hope that we can clear this up; I am sure the Minister will be more than able to do that.

It has been indicated to me that Qatar has been described as “a big supporter” of Muslim Brotherhood-linked networks in Europe and that the financial vehicle for that is through the Nectar Trust in London. Perhaps the Minister will be able to indicate who is monitoring the relationship between Qatar’s investment with the Muslim Brotherhood and projects that are happening there, to make sure that we are across all those things, when it comes to co-operating in the field of combating terrorism, so that we are all doing the same thing and working together. There is a physical and outward understanding, and working together, but I ask the question for the record and I hope we can get an answer. The letter outlines commitments on information and intelligence sharing—perhaps intelligence sharing is going on there, and perhaps that is what it is all about—as well as on law enforcement co-operation relating to terrorism activities, co-operation in tackling threats facing the transport sector, especially aviation, and co-operation in combating financial crimes. That is all good, positive stuff and what people like to see.

I am very thankful for these positive relations and for the steps taken by the Qatari Government to address labour issues such as those presented by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland about a year to a year and a half ago during a Westminster Hall debate in which I was pleased to participate. Since then, the Qatari Government have introduced several reforms. I cannot say that that was exactly a result of that debate, but I will tell the House one thing: it probably moved people to think about it. The right hon. Gentleman deserves every credit for that.

In 2017, a temporary minimum wage was set, a law for domestic workers was introduced and new dispute resolution committees were set up. In 2018, a workers’ support and insurance fund was established and the requirement for most workers to get their employer’s permission to leave the country, which was a key issue at that time, was ended. In 2019, the establishment of joint labour committees at companies employing more than 30 workers for collective bargaining was mandated and enhanced guidelines on heat stress aimed at employers and workers were disseminated—that was another issue highlighted in the debate. Although they are positive, those reforms have not gone far enough, and their implementation has been called uneven by Human Rights Watch, which we cannot ignore.

Once we solidify our relationship, I believe it will be appropriate to encourage continued improvement in those aspects while acknowledging that there is much more to be done. It is my belief that we in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland—better together—should use our influence and friendships to make a difference throughout the world. I know that we can do that, and that we are doing that, and I know that the Minister will come back on that. It is important that our friends in Qatar take this in the spirit in which it was intended—as a gentle reminder that we do the best we can for our own families, and that we expect them to do the same for theirs.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Rees. I, too, congratulate the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) on securing this debate. It is the second debate this week in which I have come in on the coat-tails of the right hon. Gentleman. It is an important and timely moment in which to secure the debate and I appreciate the way that he talked about it. He said that he is not here just to be an advocate for Qatar. I am not sure whether he used the phrase “critical friend”, but he certainly spoke in that spirit, and that is the spirit in which all right hon. and hon. Members have spoken this afternoon, which is right. The relationship between the UK and Qatar is a deepening and broad one. It is multi-dimensional and fascinating. It is a good thing that we are here this afternoon discussing that and looking in greater detail at it.

Various Members have referred to the energy relationship, the partnership, between the UK and Qatar, which will be the focus of my remarks. First, let me just say that in my time in this place over the past 15 years I have known and engaged with all of the Qatari ambassadors who have been in London, and I have found them and their teams to be excellent to work with. In my discussions with them, the point that hits home most strongly is their desire to see a genuine, deep partnership and friendship flourish between the United Kingdom and Qatar. Yes, we point to the enormous sums of money invested from Qatar into the United Kingdom, but the relationship should not just be about financial investment. It is cultural, educational and all of the other aspects that various Members have pointed to this afternoon.

As I said, I want to focus on the energy partnership. As I already said in my intervention on the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), the enormously important gas import relationship that we have with Qatar comes through Wales, through my constituency in Preseli Pembrokeshire. One of the first visits that I made as a brand-new Member of Parliament in 2005 was to the construction site in Milford Haven to see the enormous South Hook facility being built. It was one of the largest regassification projects in Europe and a partnership between Qatargas, ExxonMobil and Total, three of the world’s largest and most experienced energy companies.

At that time I also had the opportunity to visit Qatar. Sadly, I was not on the delegation last February, which sounded like a lot of fun, but I have been to Qatar. At the time, I saw the other end of the gas supply chain and the enormous plants at Ras Laffan where the gas is turned into liquefied natural gas. It is a remarkable feat of engineering. That tiny country, Qatar, sits on an enormous energy resource, and engineers and scientists have been able to unlock it and turn it into a tradeable commodity that can be shipped by sea to countries around the world.

I strongly believe that the investment made 15 years ago in the South Hook plant in my constituency has enhanced our energy security. In the same way, the facilities built in Japan to import liquefied natural gas from Qatar, at a time when it had to wind down many of its nuclear plants, have enhanced Japan’s energy security. The Qatar gas fields have enhanced energy security for numerous countries around the world.

My hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess) talked about the sheer volume of gas that has been coming into the country through the terminal. Last year, it celebrated its 10th anniversary. Up to that point, it had processed more than 65 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas. If it were supplying London alone, that is enough natural gas to keep the capital going for a decade.

As an operation critical to national infrastructure, the South Hook terminal played an important role in our country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. During the initial lockdown earlier this year, from the end of March to the end of July, the terminal received 35 vessels and processed just under 3.5 million tonnes of LNG. To put that in context, South Hook provided 85% of the UK’s LNG market and almost 20% of the UK’s entire gas market throughout that first lockdown. On most days from mid-June, 100% of the LNG delivered to the grid came from South Hook. The team at the terminal are looking at projects potentially to increase capacity and further strengthen the resilience of the UK’s energy system.

Thanks to the South Hook terminal, the positive benefits of UK-Qatari relations are felt throughout my constituency in not only the investment, skilled jobs and apprenticeships that the terminal provides, but the company’s support for schools, community activities and numerous charities. The relationship is felt in real terms and greatly appreciated.

Another aspect of the UK-Qatari relationship that I would like to draw attention to relates to Cardiff airport, from which, since May 2018, Qatar Airways has run a direct route between Cardiff and Doha. The route was a moderate success in its first year and carried about 82,000 passengers. Since then, its popularity has grown and matured with steady growth, but then came the pandemic with its severe consequences for the aviation industry. I remain hopeful that we will see the redevelopment of the route and the resumption of growth.

I was delighted and encouraged when, in September, the new British ambassador to Qatar, Jon Wilks, visited Cardiff airport and met the interim CEO, Spencer Birns, and the chair to learn more about the exciting opportunities that lie between Wales and Qatar. I was pleased that, following that meeting, the ambassador said that he will be advocating for Wales in Qatar with extra knowledge and confidence in the months ahead.

[Steve McCabe in the Chair]

Several hon. Members have referred to the World cup in 2022. It is not just England that have already qualified—I understand that Scotland still have work to do—but Wales as well. Nothing would fill me with more pleasure and pride than to be on a flight from Cardiff to Doha to watch the Wales team conquer other nations in the World cup in 2022.

We are living in a time of enormous change in the Gulf region. Hon. Members have referred to some of the diplomatic challenges in the region. Of course, the United Kingdom has numerous strategic priorities and objectives there. It is a complicated region, but I hope that the UK-Qatar relationship goes from strength to strength and flourishes. It is a time of change. I sat in on a call with the Israeli ambassador, the Bahraini ambassador and the UAE ambassador a couple of weeks ago. The three of them were talking about their new co-operation and peace agreements, and it was thrilling and really encouraging. My hope is that that change will continue and that the United Kingdom will use its diplomatic strength and networks of relationships in the region to encourage more change; and nothing would fill me with more pleasure than to see Qatar sharing in some of those changes. There is lots of work to be done, but I remain hopeful that better days lie ahead, diplomatically, for all these countries and we will all benefit from the new investments and new co-operation that flow through such relationships.