Britain in the World
On 12 December, the British people had their say. They delivered a clear majority for this Govern...
This is a very wide-ranging review. I think everybody would agree with that. How is the Foreign S...
Show all contributions (166)
We will look at all the mechanisms—whether debates in this Chamber, or the operation and scrutiny...
Does my right hon. Friend not agree with me that there have been many security and defence review...
I am not sure it is likely to work exactly as my hon. Friend suggests, but I do take his point. W...
In support of what my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (James Gray) has said, may I rem...
I think my right hon. Friend makes an important point, although at the same time we need to be mi...
Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
I will give way one more time and then make some progress.
This is on the same theme. It is my right hon. Friend’s Department that has suffered the worst cu...
Quite right, and I welcome my hon. Friend’s support as I make those overtures to the Treasury.
Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
Of course, and I am sure the hon. Lady is going to be supporting the Foreign Office in the next s...
I will, indeed, given that a comparison across all Departments shows that the Foreign Office has ...
I thank the hon. Lady and I think, given what I am about to say, that I will be able to give her ...
Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
I want to make some progress but will be happy to take an intervention from the hon. Gentleman sh...
Does the Foreign Secretary agree that nowhere in the world at the moment are these values under g...
I do join with the right hon. Gentleman in making the following point. The international principl...
On Russia, and indeed to go back to what the Foreign Secretary said on the US, the United States ...
I take the point the hon. Gentleman made, and he made it eloquently. We will consider all those i...
Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
Let me make a little progress as I have been generous, but I will be happy to give way again in t...
I thank the Foreign Secretary for referring to the emergency that is climate change and legislati...
I agree with all of those things and pay tribute to the hon. Lady for the way in which she articu...
In highlighting the importance of our 0.7% commitment with regard to international development, d...
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I will come on to say a little bit more about that, because...
I am extremely grateful to the Foreign Secretary for that attempt at humour. [Laughter.] I thank ...
I thank the hon. Gentleman. The important thing, whether we are dealing with Saudi Arabia, China,...
My right hon. Friend will know that for people like me who represent diverse diaspora communities...
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If Brexit was in part a reaction by the British people to hav...
I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s commitment on human rights and I thank him for the fantastic wo...
I thank my hon. Friend and pay tribute to him for his extraordinary work and dedication to implem...
Will my right hon. Friend give way?
I will, for the last time.
In the Conservative manifesto, three conflict zones were specifically mentioned: Israel and the m...
My hon. Friend is right: those three areas remain a priority. There is a huge amount of diplomati...
Will my right hon. Friend give way one more time?
For my hon. Friend, I will—one more time.
I am most grateful. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that one of the United Kingdom’s assets is t...
I entirely agree. The Indian community make an incredible contribution and help us to sell UK plc...
I start by welcoming my new Front-Bench colleagues, my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gor...
As the right hon. Lady is in full flow in criticising colleagues, will she take this opportunity ...
I have made it perfectly clear that it is my belief that our party has not dealt with antisemitis...
I am not giving way to the hon. Gentleman again, so he can sit down.
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am a little unclear about the precise ruling on this...
I am sure that the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) will kno...
I was talking about a pair of Dominics, which explains why we are having today’s debate on the in...
First, I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the progress that she made earlier today.
Doe...
My hon. Friend makes a powerful point, and the report confirms that. The budget has been cut, and...
The right hon. Gentleman says that that is wrong. If he would like to get up and explain how it i...
It is not true. We take issue with the report. There have been a whole series of initiatives to t...
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. I would like to know whether it is right that, for exa...
We have committed £46 million since 2012. Our upcoming international conference in November will ...
It is interesting that, in answering my question, the right hon. Gentleman relies on spending tha...
I am most grateful to be called so early in this debate, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to follow the ...
The gravity school of economics argues that we always trade more with those closest to us, but do...
I agree with my hon. Friend. It is short-sighted to look at nearby countries only. Our history sh...
I have spent quite a lot of my life serving the country well outside of Europe, and I say in supp...
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, because he brings me on to the issue that I wanted to raise—
...But before doing so I will give way to the hon. Lady.
The right hon. Gentleman is being generous. I fear that the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Bob Se...
I understand the hon. Lady’s argument, but this is not a binary choice. I want us to have a stron...
Will my right hon. Friend give way?
I will give way perhaps one last time.
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, who is making an excellent speech and many points with whi...
I agree with my hon. Friend. I hope that we will get on with negotiating those agreements simulta...
You were probably there, John.
I was not quite there.
I also point to the dialogue we have built up over a number of years...
Will my right hon. Friend add the Commonwealth to his list of organisations that will be increasi...
I agree with my right hon. Friend. There are many people in this country who feel close ties with...
The right hon. Gentleman is making an excellent contribution on the BBC World Service. Does he ag...
I entirely agree with the hon. Lady. I was delighted to host an IPU/BBC World Service event at wh...
Order. Before I call the SNP spokesman, may I say to colleagues that I hope we can manage this af...
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I assure you that I always try to make my words as meaningful an...
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. He is making an excellent speech. On the very point that h...
I very warmly agree. My hon. Friend is of course no stranger to DFID. SNP Members want to see tha...
It was genuinely a pleasure to hear the hon. Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith) express himself in ...
The position is that the BBC continues to fund the World Service, but it now receives an addition...
Yes, but the trouble is that no such grant was made to the BBC Monitoring Service, which is our p...
My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and excellent points. I want to draw him back ...
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. However, I have found through long experience that alth...
May I urge the right hon. Gentleman not to oversimplify what is actually complex, and rightly so?...
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. He came in as if on cue, because I was just about to pain...
Does my right hon. Friend agree as well that in order to have flexibility, it is very important t...
I do, and in this there is an important rebuttal of a point often made by those who think we can ...
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a real pleasure to speak in this, my first debate of the n...
Does my hon. Friend agree that, in the area of science, it is terrible the way that the Home Offi...
I thank my hon. Friend for making that intervention, because it is absolutely true that scientifi...
Let us try a little bit harder on the nine to 10 minutes. The hon. Lady was not too bad, but I pu...
I remember that my maiden speech was rather quicker—about four minutes—so I am glad you have give...
I am proud to serve under my hon. Friend’s chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee, on whic...
I would love to claim credit for that, but the truth is that it is my hon. Friend’s work. He has ...
The hon. Gentleman has spoken passionately about many parts of the world. In terms of the horn of...
My hon. Friend—I say that because he is a friend—is absolutely right: it is about the way that we...
It is a great pleasure to call Daisy Cooper to make her maiden speech.
6.7 pm
It is a great honour to make my maiden speech following many other accomplished and passionate sp...
Let’s all head to St Albans.
You are very welcome. The war of the roses started on the doorstep of The Boot, and Oliver Cromwe...
I am delighted to see you in your place, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I congratulate the hon. Member...
It is an enormous pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond), who has made...
Does the right hon. Member agree that until there is a full inquiry into police brutality, we wil...
The hon. Lady and I have worked on this issue in the past, so she will not be surprised to hear t...
It is a great pleasure to ask Theo Clarke to make her maiden speech.
6.35 pm
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a privilege and an honour to have been elected a...
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stafford (Theo Clarke). I think we have already se...
I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving way. I will not address his second point—he has addre...
Indeed, but I think the hon. Gentleman understands the point I was making, which was that we do n...
Forecasts do not say that we will lose trade. They simply say that the rate of growth of our trad...
Many assessments—I am not going to go through them—say that there will be a reduction in trade. I...
Will the hon. Gentleman attribute to somebody the advice he was given? I would be very interested...
Order. Before the hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie) responds, may I remind colleagues t...
I will not attribute that advice—that would be completely unfair—but I assure the hon. Member for...
It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Theo Clarke), whom I congratul...
My right hon. Friend is making an extremely important point. Does he agree that much of the frigh...
I am most grateful to my hon. Friend. His point is just as relevant today. In fact, we are seeing...
It is an honour to add my voice to this important debate, and it has been a pleasure to hear new ...
It is a great pleasure to call Imran Ahmad Khan to make his maiden speech.
7.14 pm
It is with great pleasure and some humility that I rise to make this, my maiden speech. I have fo...
I congratulate the hon. Member for Wakefield (Imran Ahmad Khan) on his very comprehensive speech....
On that point about climate change and international trade, the UK is hosting the COP26 conferenc...
Indeed, that is the case. As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have seen that, when on...
My hon. Friend is making such an important point. Was she as perturbed as I was last week by repo...
Indeed. The shadow Foreign Secretary made the point that the Queen’s Speech is sufficiently vague...
It is with great pleasure that I call Alicia Kearns to make her maiden speech.
7.40 pm
Madam Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to make my first speech in this House, in this de...
What a fine first outing for the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Alicia Kearns)! The former C...
The hon. Gentleman is making, as he always does, a measured and thoughtful contribution to the de...
The right hon. Gentleman makes a not entirely unfair point. It does not recruit me to the aim of ...
I was not seeking to intervene; I apologise.
Okay. Sometimes interventions are best made on one’s feet, as opposed to from one’s seat.
L...
This is no time for timidity. This is a time for boldness in purposeful action. That is why I was...
I think we should give credit where it is due, so I welcome the Government’s action on global hea...
Mr Deputy Speaker, it is wonderful to see you back in the Chair. We are all thrilled to have you ...
My hon. Friend is making a bold and confident case for our relationship with the Queen’s realm, a...
My right hon. Friend interjected at just the right point, because I was about to talk about the i...
It is during debates like this that I am sure everybody across the House feels a great sense of p...
He was two years out!
He may have been two years out, but we got there eventually.
The United Kingdom is a perman...
I want to take the hon. Gentleman back to that discussion because, if he remembers, the thrust of...
I lament that so many thousands of Syrians have lost their lives in a pointless and needless conf...
I know that we have said this before, but will my hon. Friend pay tribute to the work of James Le...
I am very glad to associate myself with my hon. Friend’s words. I am sure that everybody in the H...
It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andre...
My hon. Friend is making a powerful case, but I cannot help wondering whether, in calling for tha...
My hon. Friend and I have shared platforms before on this issue. I look forward to the United Nat...
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure and an honour to follow such a distinguished and w...
It is wonderful to see you deservedly back in your place, Mr Deputy Speaker. May I pay tribute to...
I thank my hon. Friend for everything he is saying about the Chagossians and for his incredible w...
My hon. Friend is entirely right about self-determination. As a democracy, we have been talking a...
I congratulate you on your election, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is a great pleasure to see you back in...
You’re the chair.
I thank my hon. Friend for making me the chair. Talking to him last night, we did not get even th...
I believe that I am the last speaker—last, but hopefully not least—and I shall, out of respect fo...
It is a pleasure to speak in this debate on Britain’s role in the world and to follow the hon. Me...
It is an honour to address this House on behalf of the Government and to close this debate on Bri...
Does my hon. Friend agree that he is outlining a positive, one nation vision not just for this co...
As ever, I agree wholeheartedly with my right hon. Friend—he may be a Yorkshireman, but he speaks...