Situation in the Red Sea

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; he is something of an expert in this area. Iran is absolutely...

I apologise for interrupting the Defence Secretary. On the shipping side of things, there has bee...

As ever, my hon. Friend raises an excellent point. That is what Operation Prosperity Guardian is ...

I completely support the Government’s action, which is totally in accordance with international l...

My right hon. Friend has been very solid on these issues, which he and I have spoken about in the...

I thank my right hon. Friend for his contribution and for all he has been doing over the past few...

My hon. Friend, with her immense experience and perspective as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Commi...

Today the House was set to debate the full sweep of defence and international affairs until the c...

In the old days—I have been here a long time—we had debates in Government time on defence, as we ...

The hon. Gentleman has great experience and he is right to say that Government time signals the i...

We have also not had a debate since 7 October on Israel and Palestine, which is extraordinary. Th...

At the risk of sounding a bit like the shadow Leader of the House responding to a business questi...

I thank the right hon. Member for his remarks about Ukraine. It is important, in the context of e...

I, for one, appreciated the right hon. Gentleman’s leadership of his party when Putin invaded Ukr...

One way in which one can stretch the terms of the debate a little further than its precise wordin...

Perfectly done, Sir Julian.

One other way of stretching the limits of a tightly drawn debate is experienced interventions of ...

But what do you think?

What do I think? Well, it would be helpful to have access to the sort of classified information t...

At this juncture, I think it worth pointing out—the Secretary of State may want to refer to this—...

The hon. Gentleman has insights into the situation that are rare, even in this House, from his ow...

I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

4.3 pm

While much of this debate will rightly focus on the rationale, execution and objectives of the re...

My hon. Friend is making some very important points. It is worth mentioning that one of the other...

It is no surprise that my right hon. Friend makes an important point. Whether it is blocking aid,...

The hon. Lady is outlining the scale of the challenge and the threats we face, and not just in pa...

I thank the right hon. Member—my friend—who is always generous in his thoughts and contributions ...

It is always good to follow the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the hon. Member for Rutla...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will, briefly, but I want to move on quickly.

I just want to probe the hon. Gentleman slightly on his comments about the west not being involve...

The right hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. Perhaps he should refer to what was said by ...

rose—

I will give way to my right hon. Friend.

I am grateful, and I regard him as my hon. Friend too. Before he leaves the issue of percentages ...

I both agree and disagree. Had the Ministry made sustained investment in capability, we might not...

Order. As Members can see, 14 Members wish to participate in this debate. Although I am trying no...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

I have to say that I was disappointed by the approach the hon...

The freedom of navigation, maritime security and upholding international law are fundamental prin...

On international law, let us face it: international humanitarian law is the last resort, when oth...

I think I always agree with the hon. Member on this issue, if not on others. She has clear person...

We have just had a debate in Westminster Hall on human rights, and Gaza came up. During the debat...

I also agree with my hon. Friend.

The deaths that continue to occur daily in Gaza have so f...

Order. I have given the hon. Member a lot of latitude, as he is focused on one aspect, but the de...

I should have taken your advice, Mr Deputy Speaker, rather than the advice of the shadow Defence ...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) on a very wide-ranging speech, al...

rose—

My right hon. Friend disagrees with me.

I am afraid I do. I agree with my hon. Friend’s main thrust, that there is no doubt that the Prim...

My right hon. Friend makes an interesting point: he thinks we should not have had strikes against...

Perhaps both my hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian L...

My right hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. Incidentally, I forgot to mention that I very...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

We must not get too far off the subject, but of course.

I think I support what my hon. Friend says. Of the two times we voted on military action, the fir...

Both my hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) ar...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

Well, I am trying to wind up, but yes, of course.

My hon. Friend mentioned the world becoming a more dangerous place. We have known throughout the ...

I am not certain that my right hon. Friend, whom, incidentally, I congratulate on his knighthood,...

Order. I am getting slightly anxious about time. My advice is that colleagues stick to a maximum ...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—you will be pleased to know that I intend to be brief. Originally...

I begin by paying tribute to all of our armed forces personnel who have been involved in action i...

The answer that the Government have so far given on the IRGC is that it is an arm of the state, a...

It is an answer, but it is not a very convincing one. I hope we will get a better answer from the...

It is an honour to follow the right hon. Member for North Somerset (Sir Liam Fox), because I agre...

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran). She spoke w...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond). I hope the Minister an...

I remind Members of my eight minute guidance.

5.49 pm

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I will try to wind up after seven minutes. I am mindful that lot...

I fully agree with the last point made by the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Bob Seely). We need ...

rose—

If the hon. Gentleman does not mind, I am going to try to keep within the time if I can.

Re...

I will keep to time, Madam Deputy Speaker, as two hon. Friends will give me a seven-minute bell.<...

On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?

I will keep going, if I may, because we are getting to the end of the debate and others want to s...

rose—

I will, if I may, just keep going. Forgive me, but I do not want to go over my time.

This d...

Undoubtedly, it is our duty to protect freedom of navigation not only for our own self-interest, ...

I rise to take what is obviously a minority view in the Chamber, given the views of Members from ...

I am grateful to the Government for granting the debate, and to the Defence Secretary for setting...

There are two problems with retrospective votes. The first is that the action would already have ...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his questions. I intend to set out in my contributions th...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way at the end, if I may.

What sets the UK and our western allies apart is that...

Let us imagine that the strikes have happened—as they did last week and earlier this week—and tha...

The point of a retrospective vote is that it gives guidance to the Prime Minister and the Foreign...

Before I call the shadow Minister, I am concerned that not everybody who has contributed to the d...

We have had an excellent debate. It is true that it has been wide-ranging on occasions, but it ha...

I shall send you one.

Thank you.

Not free!

I will make no comment about that.

This debate is seriously important because, as I think w...

On the point about voting, which I think is ridiculous, during the bad period of the second world...

I am sure that Members have noted the hon. Gentleman’s comment, and am sure that when we have a d...

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. For the sake of completeness, would...

The right hon. Gentleman makes a very important point, which reinforces the essential point that ...

This has been a thoughtful debate and, I think, a united one, and I will endeavour to respond to ...

Does my right hon. Friend not accept that His Majesty’s Government have an absolute duty to provi...

No, no—I completely accept what my hon. Friend is saying. I am just pointing out that the reform ...

My right hon. Friend was covering the point about the United Kingdom Government’s strategy to deg...

My hon. Friend will understand that we would not give a running commentary to the House on the is...

I will give way in a moment; I just want to finish dealing with the comments by the shadow Secret...

rose—

Before I do that, I shall give way to my right hon. Friend.

My right hon. Friend is, as always, the model of courtesy. For the avoidance of any lingering dou...

My right hon. Friend was absolutely right to detect the supportive view of the Secretary of State...

As a former serviceman, I have a simple view that quantity has a quality all of its own. Can the ...

My hon. Friend will have heard the Prime Minister’s words explaining what the strategy is and how...

There has been concern about the change of registration for vessels going through the Red sea, no...

The hon. Gentleman asks me a detailed question, and the Secretaries of State for Transport and fo...

My right hon. Friend will recall that I have asked on several occasions why Iran Air is still fly...

I will ensure that my right hon. Friend has a detailed answer on where we stand on both those iss...

What about the situation of retrospective approval?

I think that was the point he raised, which my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire answere...

I did ask why the aircraft carriers are not being used in the Red sea, and I would be grateful if...

The use of the aircraft carriers, one of which is heading to a NATO exercise anyway, will be kept...