Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Gethins and Anneliese Dodds

Tuesday 26th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)]

Scotland’s international brand is used to boost our economy throughout the world, selling Scottish products and experiences and boosting our soft power, so can the Foreign Secretary tell us how his Department will be marking St Andrew’s day on Saturday?

[The Minister for Development (Anneliese Dodds)]

I am delighted to be able to take this question, as one of many Scots in the House. We are incredibly proud of brand Scotland, and our Scottish Secretary has been driving that forward and really pushing the case for Scotland’s place in the world, working as part of the UK. We will most certainly be celebrating St Andrew’s day—I certainly will.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this. The Foreign Secretary recently co-led a resolution on the protection of civilians in Sudan. Unfortunately, despite 14 votes in favour, Russia vetoed that resolution. We will continue to push on these issues, and we have doubled our aid to Sudan because of the dreadful crisis there.

[Stephen Gethins]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Earlier, my hon. Friend the Member for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber (Brendan O’Hara) raised the very serious case of the detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a British passport holder whose family are with us in the Gallery today. In his response, the Foreign Secretary said that my hon. Friend has a problem with having a British passport. There are Members of the House who have very different views about the constitutional future of this country, be they from Scotland, Ireland or Wales, so will you, Mr Speaker, reassure me and my colleagues that regardless of our views about the future, everybody who holds a British passport has the right to be stuck up for by their Member of Parliament?

Jailing of Hong Kong Pro-democracy Activists

Debate between Stephen Gethins and Anneliese Dodds

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the need for co-ordination. Obviously, there has been co-ordination among parliamentarians, which has been very positive to see, and the UK Government will continue to co-operate with others on these issues. We have also worked with other countries’ Governments on cases involving dual nationals.

[Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)]

I thank the hon. Member for Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns) for organising a powerful letter, and I was glad to be able to put my name on it. Given the concessions that were given to China by the Prime Minister and the particular responsibility that we have to Hong Kong, what did the Prime Minister get out of the meeting? Can the Minister tell us the read-out from the Prime Minister, and when will she publish her audit? Following the question from the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), will the audit include the option of sanctions?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his question. The read-out can be easily accessed. I will not read out all of it, but I will underline the fact that it makes it very clear that the Prime Minister said that he wanted to engage “honestly and frankly” on those areas where we have different perspectives, including Hong Kong, human rights and Russia’s war in Ukraine. That is taken directly from the read-out of the meeting. As I said, there is also footage of it, which the hon. Gentleman can easily access. On sanctions, I refer him to my previous response.

Gibraltar-Spain Border Checks

Debate between Stephen Gethins and Anneliese Dodds

Monday 14th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I strongly agree. There is of course substantial and regular traffic of goods and people across the border. That is fundamental not only for the economy of Gibraltar, but of course for Andalusia, Spain and the entire region more broadly, so it is really important that that is borne in mind as well as the sovereignty issues.

[Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)]

The Minister will agree that the people of Scotland do not come second on much, but they did come second to the people of Gibraltar in their overwhelming rejection of Brexit when they saw through that disastrous Tory deal, which has led to many of the problems we see today. Does she think the people of Gibraltar are better off with this Tory Brexit deal, or did they see some value in our EU membership in ways that the Tories do not?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I would not seek to speak for the people of Gibraltar; that would not be appropriate. What is most important is that we ensure progress on the UK-EU deal on these matters. The Foreign Secretary, my hon. Friend the Minister of State and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar met Executive Vice-President Šefčovič of the European Commission and Spanish Foreign Minister Albares in Brussels in September to have discussions. Those discussions were focused on the issues that many people in Gibraltar are concerned about—in particular, the movement of people and goods—and this Government are determined to make progress.

Sudan

Debate between Stephen Gethins and Anneliese Dodds

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that incredibly important point. We have indeed, as she eloquently spelled out, seen a really disturbing increase in human rights abuses in Sudan. There has been an escalation of violence, with many civilians killed, sexual assaults on women—as we talked about—and the restriction of humanitarian and journalistic access. The UK will ensure that there is continued scrutiny of Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council. The UK is the leader of the core group, alongside Germany, Norway and the United States. We have been seeking to use that position as actively as possible to raise this issue. Colleagues should also be aware that the UK is funding the Centre for Information Resilience, a research body that is gathering open-source evidence about the ongoing fighting. That is incredibly important for the long-term accountability of those who are abusing human rights so appallingly in Sudan.

[Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for providing time for this issue today. I also thank the Minister. This is the gravest humanitarian situation on Earth and I am grateful for her remarks about evidence gathering on universal crimes. However, I am a little concerned that I am yet to hear what concrete actions are being taken to enforce an arms embargo and stop arms from reaching the conflict zones.

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for being very clear about the magnitude of this appalling conflict and the need to do all we can to prevent it. The UK Government have sought to use every lever we can to put pressure in this area, whether political, diplomatic or humanitarian, and to use every venue we can. To be very clear, I reiterate that the warring parties and those supporting them to become engaged in the conflict must cease their actions, which are having such a negative impact on the population. For those who are engaged to the extent that this is becoming a proxy situation, every single day they do that they are contributing to the humanitarian crisis. The UK could not be clearer in our language.