North Africa and the Middle East Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Thomas Docherty
Main Page: Thomas Docherty (Labour - Dunfermline and West Fife)Department Debates - View all Thomas Docherty's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(13 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Hague
My hon. Friend, who knows the region and our diplomats there well, is absolutely right; it has been done by British ambassadors under, as I said, successive Governments. This is not a partisan point. However, its importance has been enhanced by recent events, and the connection between political stability, the proper observance of human rights and the development of democracy has been underlined by them.
Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)
I draw the House’s attention to my registered interest in this matter. Can the Foreign Secretary tell us on how many occasions since Monday the Prime Minister has spoken to President Obama about these human rights issues?
Mr Hague
The Prime Minister speaks to President Obama extremely regularly. The same goes at all levels of the US and UK Governments. I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman the number of times they have spoken about human rights, but we have continual discussions with the US Government on all these issues—I spoke to Secretary Clinton last night, for instance. I can update the hon. Gentleman on that point another time, but I do not have the details to hand.