Europe, Human Rights and Keeping People Safe at Home and Abroad

Never mind “Project Fear”, what about project paranoia? I was not in any way referring to the exi...

Has the Foreign Secretary made any assessment of how many additional members of staff would be ne...

The latter point is more important than the former, if I may say so. It is not simply a question ...

Is the situation not actually worse than the Foreign Secretary has set out? Many of those countri...

I was indeed astonished to hear leading exit campaigners suggest that we do not want to be part o...

My right hon. Friend mentions diplomatic posts overseas. Will he remind the House how many new di...

My hon. Friend tests me on the exact number. I think that a dozen or more new posts have been ope...

The Secretary of State mentioned our commitment to 2% of GDP on defence spending. Will he confirm...

My hon. Friend and I were Defence Ministers in a past life, and there is no sleight of hand. The ...

rose —

I will be tempted by my right hon. Friend and take one more intervention .

My right hon. Friend is right. No NATO rules have been broken—we can argue about whether there wa...

My right hon. Friend is right to say that 2% is a minimum commitment. The reassurance that that l...

rose —

I will come to the hon. Lady in just a moment.

The first duty of any British Government is ...

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that for the threat of the 1 June deadline to be credible, World...

The plan is for the airdrops to be made by the World Food Programme using contracted civilian air...

The Secretary of State will be aware that the Idomeni camp has just been closed, and he referred ...

I cannot answer the right hon. Gentleman’s question, but I can tell him that the United Nations H...

My right hon. Friend has rightly said many times from the Dispatch Box that President Putin is on...

My hon. Friend is right, and the Russians will be making a constant calculation about how they ca...

Of course, I think everyone agrees that one has to defeat violent and non-violent extremism. On t...

My hon. Friend hits on a crucial point. The boundary line between acceptable and non-acceptable b...

I agree with much of what the Foreign Secretary says about the complexity of the situation in Syr...

I agree with a lot of what the hon. Gentleman says. The specific allegation is that British-made ...

My right hon. Friend mentions Libya. With hindsight, it is clear that after the fall of Gaddafi w...

As I am sure my right hon. and learned Friend would readily agree, hindsight is indeed a wonderfu...

On Libya, can the right hon. Gentleman confirm whether he has had any consultations with the neig...

Yes, I can confirm that to the hon. Lady. I visited Algeria and the Under-Secretary of State for ...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

I am just going to make a little progress, if my hon. Friend will allow me, as he has had one bit...

The Foreign Secretary and I are good friends but we disagree on this matter. Will he confirm that...

We do not know by any means that the ECJ always finds in favour of the Community. Indeed, we have...

Further to that point, is not the very essence of the Prime Minister’s deal in Brussels, to which...

My right hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right. Those on the other side of the argument spe...

The Foreign Secretary talked about the benefits for our exporters, and that includes the steel in...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, but it goes further than that. Let us be honest: the stee...

Will the Foreign Secretary therefore take the opportunity to disavow the comment made by his perm...

Sir Simon has explained that what he was trying to convey was that we are mainstreaming, so we do...

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that it is a bit rich for British diplomats and politicians to t...

No, I do not. Throughout the world, Britain is recognised as an important champion of human right...

Is the Foreign Secretary seriously telling us that right now our relationship with Saudi Arabia i...

I hope that the right hon. Gentleman is around in five, 10 or 15 years’ time, so that we can look...

We now have decades and decades of experience showing that early intervention to prevent human ri...

Syria.

What the hon. Lady says is persuasive, but I am trying to think how to operationalise it in a way...

I begin where the Foreign Secretary ended, and join him in expressing the thanks of the Oppositio...

May I draw attention to one of the facts that may well emerge from the referendum? If the Europea...

I look forward to the contribution of voters in Scotland to ensuring that we remain in the Europe...

rose —

I will give way to the Chairman of the Select Committee.

I thought that the right hon. Gentleman was making an excellent case in the first part of his spe...

I hope the hon. Gentleman will acknowledge that I am making a positive case. However, I can see t...

I cannot help observing that, actually, Aunt Sallies are being created here. The leave camp is no...

Let me say first that damaging our economy and people’s job prospects is not my idea of a brighte...

As a fellow Leeds MP—along with the hon. Member for Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton), who is al...

The hon. Gentleman has identified one of many inconsistencies in the arguments advanced by the le...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will, but then I must make a little more progress.

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that when the Brexiters campaign on the issue of trade, they ...

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and he has given me the opportunity to add to his p...

My right hon. Friend mentioned the free trade agreements. Is it not a fact that since the Europea...

That is indeed the case, and it shows that we can have the best of both worlds because we are gai...

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the significant inward investment in the automotive trade in the...

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. The north-east, along with Wales, probably understands bet...

Oh heavens! I shall give way to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) and then to the ho...

Trade in the economy is very important, and the right hon. Gentleman is right to say that, but is...

I would say to the hon. Gentleman that it does. My father and I were in agreement 41 years ago wh...

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right on two points that in my view no one should be in an...

I agree with all three points that the hon. Gentleman has just made, particularly the last one. W...

Does the right hon. Gentleman really believe that the people who lie in those graves fought and d...

Like many Members of this House, I lost an uncle in the second world war. He was an RAF pilot and...

My right hon. Friend makes a powerful point. My grandfather and great-grandfather fought in those...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We should learn from history, and we should recall that Europ...

I must pick up on that last point. The urgent question related to equipment that has not been man...

I welcome the fact that further inquiries will be made about what Amnesty International has found...

If it was found that Saudi Arabia had used a cluster bomb that was manufactured in the UK—even on...

It might depend on what aircraft or means was used to deliver it, because we have of course sold ...

Does the right hon. Gentleman think that Britain did not have a reputation in the world for the p...

Of course we had a reputation for that, and I am not saying we did not, but having taken the step...

rose —

I will give way one last time and then bring my remarks to a close.

The right hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point about human rights, but I stand with my right h...

I am not arguing that. Let us take the most famous case of all—voting rights for prisoners, a sub...

I propose to resist the temptation to give the House my arguments in favour of Britain remaining ...

rose —

With great respect, I am trying to keep my remarks short. As I become more long-serving, I find t...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way ?

No, I will not.

I do not think we will deliver much in this area unless we tackle one other...

Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way?

No, I will not give way; sorry.

Between 2012-13 and 2014-15, there was an 85% fall in the n...

It is a great pleasure to follow the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke). Ho...

And human rights.

And a human rights issue, as the hon. Lady rightly says. The Home Office is turning its face agai...

You lost the referendum.

I hear from the Labour Benches that we lost the referendum in Scotland. That is a matter of fact ...

You lost; we won.

Yes, that is true. That referendum was launched with the yes campaign at 28% of the vote. The eve...

Is it not the case that the right hon. Gentleman wants remain to lose because he could then pursu...

Order. [Interruption.] Order. No. Mr Gapes, senior Member you are, with a lot to offer, but you a...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

The hon. Member for Ilford South (Mike Gapes) should read tod...

I agree with the point that the right hon. Gentleman is making about “Project Fear”. It is terrib...

Order. No. Now we have to be serious with the House because Members want to get in. I have just m...

It is ironic that the Conservative Members who have been complaining loudly about “Project Fear” ...

It is a great pleasure to be able to participate in this debate on the Gracious Speech. If I may ...

I would like to say a few words about the counter-extremism Bill and human rights. First, however...

Order. I am now introducing a five-minute limit. I know it is disappointing but it is the way to ...

I shall try to proceed with Twitter-like brevity in this Twitter age, Mr Deputy Speaker.

I ...

Let me say that Chris Elmore’s will be a maiden speech. I call Chris Elmore.

Hear, hear.

4.29 pm

It is a pleasure to follow the distinguished Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. I ...

It is an enormous pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore), who has entertain...

On that point, it is perhaps worth reminding the House that if the UK took an equivalent percenta...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right.

We must also keep refugees and migrants as close as pos...

May I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore) on an excellent...

As one of those who helped to secure the EU referendum in the last Parliament, in opposition at t...

The Eurosceptic side really fear a federal Europe, whereas from our perspective, a federal Britai...

The one thing I share with the SNP is the view that “Project Fear” was the wrong approach at the ...

There were a number of things I wanted to say, but time is limited. However, there are one or two...

Order.

5 pm

It is a pleasure to congratulate the hon. Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore) on taking his seat, an...

Is it not absurd to suggest that peace in Europe might be destabilised by the United Kingdom’s wi...

Indeed, and my hon. Friend anticipates a point I was just about to make. Looking at the internal ...

I am always reluctant to disagree with the Chairman of the Defence Committee, and on this occasio...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will certainly give way to someone who shares my love of the aeronautics industry.

I wholly support what the hon. Lady says about the British defence industry, but I was the Minist...

I totally disagree with the hon. Gentleman on that issue, but I want to move on to the P-8. The M...

I spent 20 years as a human rights lawyer, and for much of that time I represented the Prison Ser...

I rise to address the issue of human rights. I am not as reassured as the right hon. and learned ...

Although we in the SNP can perhaps claim credit for saving the Human Rights Act, the Conservative...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. To move to more modern times, when the Human Rights Act was p...

We have previously heard in this House the argument that we should not turn our backs on Saudi Ar...

Yes, I agree entirely. I was very pleased to hear the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfi...

The good news is that the Scottish Tories doubled their representation in the Scottish Parliament...

I have never been able to document this, but I remember my father telling me—coming as we do from...

I am grateful, as ever, to my right hon. Friend.

I raised with the Foreign Secretary the is...

It might have been better for the current EU debate if the Government had taken some time to sket...

I am delighted to take advantage of this debate to talk about one of the issues raised in the Gra...

The referendum on 23 June will shape this country’s future international relationships probably f...

I was under the impression that the European Union was seeking to take France’s and the UK’s posi...

It is a pleasure to speak about a Queen’s Speech that focuses at its heart on how to improve econ...

Let me say this, Madam Deputy Speaker:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

I will not follow the hon. Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) in quoting from a novel becau...

If a single phrase could define Whitehall’s ambition for the UK’s place in the world, it might be...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point about the alternative spend on military applications. T...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. It is undeniably true that there are many and varied...

I am sorry, but I have to lower the limit to four minutes. I urge Members not to take interventio...

I am pleased to take part in this debate, and in doing so I want to reflect on the pageantry and ...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald). I am plea...

I will try to get my speech flowing now that I have cut it so much. I wish to focus my remarks on...

Order. I am afraid I am going to have to drop the time limit to three minutes.

6.22 pm

I want to use the time available to present a positive case for these islands remaining within th...

The general consensus is that we are debating a very thin Queen’s Speech, the most striking aspec...

The Gracious Address should have given our nation a sense of mission and purpose, vision and ambi...

I cannot help but feel an ominous sense of déjà vu. Prior to the general election, the Conservati...

This has been an excellent and informative debate, during which we have been treated to the marve...

I understand the shadow Home Secretary’s concern, but the rest of the nation knows that the real ...

The way to address the hon. Gentleman’s point is not to tar everybody with the same brush and thr...

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman would accept that when we dealt with the totalitarian the...

The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. That is why it is important to step with great...

As is fitting for a debate on the Queen’s Speech, we have had a very wide-ranging and significant...

Among many things to disagree with and criticise, I would like to focus on a positive point about...

The hon. Gentleman makes a powerful case about the sad circumstances in which his constituent fin...

Will the right hon. Lady give way ?

I do not have much time.

I mentioned the European Union. I have to say to the right hon. Me...

rose —

I have limited time in which to finish my remarks.

The hon. Member for Glenrothes (Peter Gr...