Ukraine Update

Suzanne Webb Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are working closely with the HALO Trust and the Ukrainian Government on demining in those areas. A number of our international counterparts have demining vessels to operate in the sea, as well as land-based support. The hon. Lady is absolutely right that it will take years to get right. Our approach has been to fund the HALO Trust to get on with that work so that we can clear those mines as soon as possible and life can get back to what it should be in Ukraine.

[Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I welcome the statement. There have been six waves of unprecedented co-ordinated sanctions. Can my right hon. Friend confirm their impact on the Russian economy so far?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I can confirm that there has been £256 billion-worth of impact on the Russian economy. We have also seen the economy pushed back by roughly 15 years in the availability of goods and services in Russia. That sends an important message to Russia and to the Russian people that their Government’s actions in supporting this appalling war are simply unacceptable.

Oral Answers to Questions

Suzanne Webb Excerpts

Tuesday 20th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

What diplomatic steps his Department is taking to promote international co-operation on tackling climate change.

[Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con)]

What diplomatic steps his Department is taking to promote international co-operation on tackling climate change.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Duddridge]

At the end of March, the COP President-designate and the Foreign Secretary hosted the climate and development ministerial. Ministers from 35 climate-vulnerable and donor countries attended, plus representatives from institutions and civil society. At that, we saw consensus about the importance of practical action, and we will continue to build on this success.

[Suzanne Webb]

Climate change remains a hot topic across my constituency, and I intend to engage with my local schools in COP26-style roundtables. Does my hon. Friend agree that working with young people across the world will help promote international co-operation on climate change? Should he need a doughty champion to do that around the world, I have my passport at the ready.

[James Duddridge]

A stonkingly excellent idea! I am glad my hon. Friend has her passport at the ready—I am sure the Whips will have heard that. Young people are an important voice, and the UK is committed to involving young people in the planning and hosting of COP26. COP26 will engage civil society and the youth advisory council, which is co-chaired by the Kenyan 25-year-old climate change activist and Bella Lack, an 18-year-old climate activist from the UK.

Israel and Gaza: Ceasefire

Suzanne Webb Excerpts

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s call for both sides to step back from the brink and show restraint. Does my right hon. Friend agree that continued escalation in the region will only lead to further violence and more deaths, and that both sides need to urgently down their arms?

[James Cleverly]

My hon. Friend makes absolutely the right point. The images that we have seen of fatalities and injuries of both Israelis and Palestinians are heartbreaking. We continue to work with international partners to work to peace and an ultimate, sustainable, two-state solution.

Chinese Government Sanctions on UK Citizens

Suzanne Webb Excerpts

Tuesday 13th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con) [V]]

Does my hon. Friend agree with me that we should be focusing not only on sanctions, but on the measures that stop businesses in the UK profiting from forced labour in Xinjiang?

[Nigel Adams]

My hon. Friend is spot-on, and I agree with her. That is why on 12 January we announced a series of measures to help ensure UK businesses and the public sector are not complicit in human rights violations in Xinjiang. These measures target in a forensic way those profiting from forced labour or those that would financially support it, whether deliberately or otherwise.

Xinjiang: Forced Labour

Suzanne Webb Excerpts

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank the hon. Lady and respect the passion and commitment with which she speaks. Of course I do not think the amendment she refers to would hold China to account for the awful human rights violations that she and I rightly deplore.

What we have sought to do today—and we will continue to do so—is take the targeted measures that will have an effect and an impact on the conduct that we want to stop by preventing people from profiting from it or financially supporting it. I think that is the right approach. Of course, we keep other measures in reserve, such as Magnitsky sanctions, but I do not think that the proposal that the hon. Lady has referred to would advance the cause of accountability in any meaningful sense at all.

[Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con) [V]]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement today. Does he agree that it is essential for the relevant international bodies to be granted unfettered access to Xinjiang to assess human rights abuses occurring?

[Dominic Raab]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The most important thing that could shift the dial on accountability—and, frankly, have a deterrent effect—would be an authoritative third party being able to go and review, and test the denials of the Chinese Government against the widespread reports that we have seen. I personally think the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is well placed to do that—authoritative, independent, no bias, no partisanship, no political interference. China has rejected that. We need to keep the pressure up for that individual or someone else of a similar level of impartiality, influence and authority.

Oral Answers to Questions

Suzanne Webb Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Simon Jupp (East Devon) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on progress in ensuring that the UK is prepared for the end of the transition period.

[Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on progress in ensuring that the UK is prepared for the end of the transition period.

[Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on progress in ensuring that the UK is prepared for the end of the transition period.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wendy Morton]

I can assure my hon. Friend that FCDO Ministers are in regular contact with DIT colleagues on a range of trade-related issues. The UK Government have been consistently clear that we will never sign a trade deal that would compromise the UK’s high environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards. All existing food safety provisions will be retained.

[Suzanne Webb]

Two thirds of my constituents in Stourbridge voted to leave the EU—“Roll on 31 December” is the message I hear loud and clear. Does the Minister agree that we must strongly back the Government’s negotiating position to deliver a trade deal that takes back control of our money, laws and borders, but that we should not be afraid to fall back on an Australian-style arrangement if necessary?

[Wendy Morton]

My hon. Friend asks an important question. We continue to work hard towards reaching an agreement with the EU. We want a deal with free trade provisions similar to those that the EU agreed with Canada, and if that is not possible, we will have a trading relationship similar to how Australia trades with the EU. Either way, we will be leaving the single market and the customs union.

Oral Answers to Questions

Suzanne Webb Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank the hon. Lady. She should not assume any foregone conclusion. It is precisely because the consultation is open that we have not stipulated any particular thing with the level of specificity she has asked for. I have explained to the House the breadth of consultation. She is right to note that it was interrupted—that was an inevitable result of covid-19—but I reassure her that we are absolutely committed, as the merger into the new FCDO shows, to bringing all our international assets and attributes together to be an even stronger force for good in the world.

[Suzanne Webb (Stourbridge) (Con)]

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)]

Since the last oral question session, on 25 August I visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to press for a new dialogue and to reinforce the UK’s commitment to a negotiated two-state solution. On 2 September, we launched the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to integrate our aid expertise and our diplomatic reach and to project global Britain as an even stronger force for good in the world.

[Suzanne Webb]

Does my right hon. Friend share my concern about the case of Ye Ming Yuen in Singapore, and will he ensure that the Government continue to raise our objections to the use of corporal punishment all over the world?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and our staff continue to support Mr Yuen and his family during what must be a very distressing time. I can tell her and reaffirm that the United Kingdom’s long-standing global position is to oppose corporal punishment in all circumstances and to call for the consideration of alternative sentences.