Strait of Hormuz

Debate between Stephen Doughty and Mike Martin

Monday 16th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the connections between Russia and Iran; having been in Kyiv when bombardments, likely from Iranian-made drones, were going on, and having seen the devastation that they cause, I think it is clear that that alliance has been in place for some time. It is causing devastation not just in Ukraine, but now across the Gulf. What Iran has been doing is appalling. I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that we will continue to put maximum pressure on Russia economically—I spoke to my Ukrainian counterpart about this just last week. Obviously, US sanctions are a matter for the US, but I have set out that the Treasury Secretary has announced that the measures in question were temporary and related to oil that was already at sea.

[Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)]

Contrary to what some less well-informed voices from the Conservative Benches have been saying, short of putting ground troops into Iran, there is no military solution that enables us to open the strait of Hormuz. The Iranians are effectively placing civilian shipping at risk with missiles, drones, subs and fast boats; it is very difficult to come up with a military solution to that problem, and Iran can therefore decide whether it wants to reopen the strait. Will the Minister tell the House whether we are getting together with our European allies to deliver a message to the Americans that they need to step down and step away from this to enable Iran to reopen the strait?

[Stephen Doughty]

The hon. Gentleman sets out the complexity of the challenge. It is why we need a calm and level-headed approach, which is exactly the approach that the Prime Minister is taking. We are in conversations with European partners on that point and with partners across the Gulf, and as I said, the Foreign Secretary has been speaking to Secretary Rubio while I have been answering this urgent question.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Debate between Stephen Doughty and Mike Martin

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

We are standing up for Britain, by defending our security and that of our allies, and we will not scrimp on that. It is critical to secure the operation of this base. It is crucial to our interest and that of our allies. As I have asked many times, if there was no problem, why did the hon. Member’s former Government start negotiating over this?

[Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)]

This is perhaps a question for the Minister for the Armed Forces, who I notice is also on the Front Bench. On the buffer zone, can the Minister state categorically that it will be sufficiently wide to protect all the capabilities on the base?

[Stephen Doughty]

Yes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Debate between Stephen Doughty and Mike Martin

Monday 31st March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the need to work with our partners. My French counterpart Minister Haddad and I convened our Quint partners and the EU institutions on Friday for a joint meeting; Minister Haddad was visiting London and we took the initiative to meet our partners, because we were deeply concerned about the situation in Bosnia. We have also been engaging with those in the region, including Serbia and Croatia. I, along with the special representative, the Foreign Secretary and others, will continue to do so.

[Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)]

One detects the hand of Russia here, much as one does across the entire periphery of Europe, from the High North, Ukraine, the Balkans and the Caucasus, which the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee mentioned, to the Sahel, the Maghreb and Libya, right over to the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap. Will the Minister describe the British strategy for rolling back Russian destabilisation across the entire periphery of Europe?

[Mark Pritchard]

In 30 seconds!