Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ellwood]

As I said, we are having bilaterals on that issue. The specific issue in Algeria is to do with new regulations that have been introduced. The rules are there but they now need to be implemented, and we will continue to have a dialogue on that. I intend to visit Algeria soon, and given the concern that the House has expressed today, I will certainly raise that issue during my visit.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

3. What progress his Department has made with the British Indian Ocean Territory Chagossian resettlement feasibility study; and if he will make a statement.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr Hugo Swire)]

The independent feasibility study on resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory is on track to report by January 2015. Ongoing consultations with interested parties, including Chagossians, are taking place so that all relevant facts are considered in the analysis of the practical costs and risks of resettlement.

[Henry Smith]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. Given upcoming negotiations on extending the military base on Diego Garcia with the United States, may I have assurances from the Department that the interests of the Chagos islands people will be very much part of those discussions with Washington?

[Mr Swire]

That is precisely why we have commissioned the KPMG report. The way that the Chagossians were treated following their removal in the ’60s and ’70s was clearly wrong, and substantial compensation was rightly paid. We welcome the US presence in Diego Garcia. It is an increasingly important asset for both our Governments, but there have been no formal discussions with the US about the possibility of extending the exchange of notes to date.

Gaza

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Lady asks a very good question on water and sanitation. I think that I pointed out in my statement that some of the aid that we supply through DFID and international agencies is absolutely to help with that, because there are several hundred thousand people without adequate water and sanitation. She is also right that the cycles of violence in Gaza are getting worse. Each one seems to be worse than the preceding one in terms of the devastation that is brought about, the range of rockets that are fired from Gaza into Israel, and the intensity of the Israeli retaliation. The warning is clear to all those involved that without a viable peace process, this cycle of violence will only get worse in the years ahead. That is what we want them to remember whenever a ceasefire is agreed in this conflict.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Like many Members, I have been contacted by a large number of constituents who are deeply concerned about the security situation in Gaza. On behalf of them, may I ask the Foreign Secretary to continue to press all those involved to ensure that they find a peaceful solution through the US-led process?

[Mr Hague]

Yes, I know that there is very strong feeling, and great anxiety, among many people in this country. We will certainly continue those efforts through this US-led process. We will also do our best, through our humanitarian assistance, to relieve the suffering of many people in every way we can.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 17th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Lady is right about the prospect of great economic progress. We do give great importance to trade and investment with India, and we are making good progress towards doubling bilateral trade by 2015, but she is also right that climate change is a very important issue. Our relationship with India is such that we need to discuss all global issues together, and that absolutely will include climate change. India will have a big role to play over the next 18 months in crucial climate change negotiations, so that will be on the agenda for our visit as well.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

10. What discussions his office has had with the US Government on renewal of the lease of the air base on Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mark Simmonds)]

The current agreement with the US runs until December 2016. I expect my officials to begin substantive discussions with US colleagues about post-2016 arrangements later this year. The independent feasibility study on resettlement should be complete by early 2015.

[Henry Smith]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer. May I seek assurances that when the lease on Diego Garcia is negotiated with the United States, that will not prejudice a possible future return of Chagos islanders to that archipelago?

[Mark Simmonds]

My hon. Friend is assiduous in his commitment to the Chagossians in his constituency, but we need to be careful that we do not prejudice the outcome of the independent study, which has the full involvement of the Chagossians. I can assure my hon. Friend that the US is being kept informed, but the challenges to resettling these low-lying islands, which lack basic facilities and infrastructure, are very clear, as I saw myself in March. We will look at the report, however, and we will consider the range of factors—value for the UK taxpayer, long-term contingent liabilities and the defence requirements of DG to the UK and our allies.

Ukraine

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 13th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Sanctions can be added to at any time and on any day when it is necessary. Yesterday, following the developments of the past few days, we added to the sanctions at quite short notice, and we widened the criteria for the future so that the European Council can decide at any time to impose the wider trade and economic measures if that becomes necessary.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

What discussions has my right hon. Friend recently had with the US Secretary of State with regard to American support for free and legal presidential elections in Ukraine on 25 May?

[Mr Hague]

As my hon. Friend can imagine, I am in constant touch with the US Secretary of State, John Kerry. Our approaches are very closely aligned, as they are among western nations in general. I will be seeing him on Thursday to discuss our approach, particularly how we support the legitimate authorities in Ukraine after the presidential elections, so my hon. Friend can be assured that we are working very closely with the United States.

Ukraine

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

We cannot give much assistance if a plebiscite takes place in an area entirely controlled by the Russian military—clearly we will not be able to give any such guarantees. It would be far better for such plebiscites or referendums to be held under the Ukrainian constitution, with international observers, exactly in the way that my hon. Friend has described. The referendum currently planned for Crimea on 30 March, under the eyes or guns of the Russian military, is not one to which we could give that same level of assistance.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

May I seek clarification from the Foreign Secretary that in the event of there being a legally and freely constituted referendum on sovereignty in Crimea, under the Ukrainian constitution, the Budapest memorandum of 1994 would not be an impediment to it?

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend puts big ifs into his question, because the situation at the moment is not at all the one he describes; the referendum proposed for Crimea is not properly and legally constituted under the Ukrainian constitution. So we are a long way from that situation but, as he knows, the UK will always try to respect democracy and the principles of human rights that we believe in, which so often include self-determination, whenever they are truly, freely and legally expressed.

G20 Membership Reform

Henry Smith Excerpts

Friday 13th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to debate the reform of the G20 membership. This is the last debate of the week, and the last before the conference recess.

Unlike the G8, which broadly consists of the world’s largest economies, the G20, which was proposed by former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, is a forum for co-operation and consultation on matters of concern to the international financial system. It was formally inaugurated in 1999. It studies, reviews, and promotes high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability, and seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organisation.

In the debate this afternoon I want to focus on questioning Argentina’s status as a G20 member, on the basis that it has failed on all three of the organisation’s primary objectives—namely, restoring global financial growth, strengthening the international financial system, and reforming international financial institutions. With non-members, including countries such as Malaysia, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland, contributing far more to our global economic well-being, one has to question the benefit of Argentina’s presence in the G20.

When Argentina appears in British public discourse, it is normally in relation to one of the two Fs—football or the Falklands. The behaviour of President Cristina Kirchner’s regime towards the islanders is nothing short of disgraceful, and it is extremely encouraging to see the British Government supporting the islanders in the strongest possible terms. The Falklands, for obvious reasons, are top of our agenda when it comes to discussion of Argentina, but that issue should not blind us to other major problems affecting this country as a result of Kirchner’s belligerence.

Kirchner makes no secret of her refusal to play by the same rules as everyone else. Let me start with a few examples. Argentina has expropriated the property of European companies. It provides a safe haven for drug dealers bringing methamphetamine to Europe. It is developing a strategic relationship with Iran. It deliberately falsifies its economic statistics. It refuses to abide by international court judgments. It refuses to pay its debt to other nations and institutions, and even refuses to honour the most basic laws of contracts.

A major and increasing concern is that of drug trafficking. A recent research paper from the International Assessment and Strategy Centre found that Argentina currently imports 30 times more ephedrine than is needed for its legitimate pharmaceutical industry. Ephedrine is a key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth, which is a brutal and destructively addictive drug that ruins many lives on the streets of Europe and north America. That is not all. Argentina is now estimated to supply 70 tonnes of cocaine to Europe, which represents a third of the entire usage by volume.

Equally worrying is Argentina’s growing friendship with Iran, a country that is a major strategic threat to the interests of the UK and of the west more widely. The Argentine Government’s blossoming relationship with Iran has been highlighted in the US Congress, and was evidenced recently when President Kirchner refused to allow a senior Argentine investigator to travel to Washington to testify before Congress on Iran’s role in the 1994 Buenos Aires bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, presumably for fear of what the expert might reveal.

Argentina’s refusal to repay its debt obligations, even though it has billions of dollars in reserves, sets a terrible precedent for other nations, such as Greece, which might be tempted to follow that path of irresponsibility. Courts have previously ruled that the Argentine Government needed to pay all its creditors, which is exactly the kind of sound legal principle that we in the developed world should uphold and support, even if the Kirchner Administration have chosen not to do so.

On every conceivable level, Kirchner’s actions are endangering the interests of Great Britain. So what can we do? Following a public campaign, in which I was involved, the Secretary of State for International Development took the important step earlier this year of stating that the UK would vote against future loans to Argentina from international institutions such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. President Obama’s Administration is also voting against new loans. No more should Kirchner’s Government be allowed to threaten and denounce the international community on one day, then effectively cash our cheques on the next.

There is more we need to do: other European nations must be encouraged to join the UK and the US. It is simply unacceptable for a country that is a member of the G20—one of the most important and prestigious international bodies—to behave in this manner. I believe that Argentina’s membership of the G20 should be revoked. The country has been named and shamed by Transparency International as one of the worst in Latin America—even outstripping Venezuela—for corruption, while the International Monetary Fund has starkly stated that Argentina’s Government are lying about their economy and cannot be trusted. We cannot, and should not, allow Cristina Kirchner to be rewarded with a welcome at the world’s top table.

Argentina is an international outlier. No other country, including those in Europe, is behaving so irresponsibly in relation to its debts. No other country is in receipt of an IMF censure for falsifying inflation figures. We should stand up for the rule of law, sanctity of contract and respect for international legal and financial obligations. We should not stand with those who refuse to abide by court judgments or who steal private property. We should certainly not stand with those who ally themselves with drug traffickers and Iranian extremist groups.

We stood firm on the Falkland Islands, and we now have a strong stance on international loans. It is time to take a tough position on Argentina’s membership of the G20, too. I believe that this issue is becoming ever more pertinent following the meeting of the group in St Petersburg, Russia just last week.

NATO

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 4th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Of course the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was a mistake; it was just as disastrous as previous British interventions and the current NATO intervention in Afghanistan have been. It did irreparable damage to the leadership of the Soviet Union through its cost and loss of life. It was a disaster and a contributory factor—not the only one—to the break-up of the Soviet Union. Is NATO the answer to the problem? Should we not have a more assertive policy of peace and disarmament around the world, rather than the NATO policy of rearmament above what any country can realistically afford, which in turn encourages more rearmament?

I was alarmed by the whole discussion about the Arctic and the so-called threat from the north. A whole new scenario seems to be being built up, namely that China will somehow occupy the Arctic and invade us from the Arctic ocean, and therefore we must develop a new missile shield—as we already have aimed against Russia—to protect ourselves. The USA is moving more into the Asia-Pacific region. Should we be thinking more about regional peace and security measures? That has been achieved to a large extent in Africa, Latin America, and parts of central Asia. Should that not be our direction of travel, rather than one that involves large levels of armaments?

The other point I want to raise—this will not be popular with many, if any, Members in the Chamber today—concerns NATO’s preference for being the nuclear umbrella, and the holding and potential use of nuclear weapons. These are the ultimate weapons of mass destruction. There is no “limited use” of nuclear weapons. There is no limited availability of them. You either use them or you do not. If you do, it brings about the death of very large numbers of people, a nuclear winter and the destruction of the lives of millions of people. Those who argue that NATO should hold nuclear weapons must in reality be saying that they would be prepared to use them, with all the consequences that that would bring about.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, for whom I have a lot of time. On this issue, however, I disagree. Does he agree that nuclear weapons cannot be uninvented and that it is in the interests of global security that the democracies of the world join together in a common nuclear defence rather than unilateral nuclear disarmament, which would only hand greater power to countries and forces in the world that do not wish to see democracy prosper?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Of course the technology of nuclear weapons cannot be uninvented; indeed, Einstein in his later years said that if he had his time again, he would have been a clockmaker rather than making the discovery he did. He did not make it with the intention of starting nuclear war, but that was a danger that came from it. Obviously nuclear weapons cannot be uninvented, but it is possible to give them up. South Africa did so, as did Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. There are nuclear weapons-free zones around the world. The prize surely would be a nuclear weapons-free middle east, which would require the nuclear non-proliferation treaty conference that was envisaged to include Iran and Israel to actually be held rather than endlessly procrastinated on. It will not be easy; of course not. But if we do not start somewhere, more people will get off the nuclear non-proliferation treaty trail and go elsewhere. Egypt has already left the NPT because of inaction by the nuclear powers over the middle east nuclear-free zone. Should not we be doing the same in terms of an Arctic nuclear weapons-free zone as a step towards a nuclear-free world? Everybody says they want a nuclear-free world, but at the same time are rearming, rather than going forward on it.

We are spending £34 billion a year of our money on defence and we are bound to spend at least 2 per cent. of GDP as long as we remain members of NATO, as all other countries must do. Those countries that are in the EU and NATO obviously accept both treaties. Those that are in the EU but not in NATO have a problem because of the close relationship between the EU and NATO. One can hardly say that the traditional neutral foreign policies of, for example, Sweden and Ireland can be maintained while the EU maintains this close relationship.

My plea is simply this. We live in a world where a quarter of the world’s population are hungry, if not starving. We live in a world where the environmental consequences of what we are doing are catastrophic for future generations. Yet we are spending a vast amount of money on armaments, which, in turn, encourages others to spend vast amounts of money on armaments. We have a growing arms race between NATO and Russia, despite the apparently cosy chats between members of the Russian Communist party and delegates to the NATO Assembly. I absolutely welcome those and wish they could be videoed and portrayed to the whole world. The same applies to China.

If we are to live in a world of peace in the future, it will not be achieved by spending more and more on weapons. It will be achieved by spending less on weapons and more on dealing with the problems of human misery and human insecurity. I hope that instead of developing a nuclear shield or the missile shield along the eastern flank of NATO, we will instead move towards much better relations with all the power blocs as a way of bringing about a more peaceful world.

I do not believe in the continuation of defence alliances that have within them a built-in accelerator of cost and of danger, as well as massive pressures from the arms and other industries to sell more of their goods, when the needs of the world are health, education, food and housing. Those are the issues that we should prioritise, not weapons of mass destruction. I realise that this is a minority position in the Chamber today but I am not actually alone among the wider public in holding those views.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 18th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mark Simmonds]

As I said in my previous response, we are undertaking a review. There is no fixed timetable for the conclusion of that exercise. It is important that the review is thorough and that it consults as wide a range of partners as possible, both inside and outside Whitehall. That cannot be rushed. However, I hope to provide the House with an update on the process before the summer recess.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for his answer. May I seek assurances that consultations on the future of the Chagos islands will include representations from the Chagos islands community in this country, most of whom live in my constituency?

[Mark Simmonds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. Significant credit should be paid to him for the assiduous way in which he represents the Chagossian community living primarily in his constituency. I confirm that we will be consulting his constituents and Chagossians who live in Manchester, as well as those who live in Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Iran

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 17th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, all those things show that we are right to emphasise—I think this is common ground across the House—that actions and policies over time will either allow for an improvement in relations, or not. We will see what happens on all those things, but the opportunity is there. Let me say again that we will respond in good faith to changes in policies by Iran if they happen, but the cautionary note sounded by my hon. Friend is entirely valid.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

The hon. Member for York Central (Hugh Bayley) rightly pointed out the importance of Iran’s relationship to the east with Afghanistan, but we must also bear in mind the importance of Iran’s relationship with the west and south, and with Iraq and the Persian gulf states. May I seek assurances from my right hon. Friend that the British Government will continue closely to monitor that situation, which is crucial to peace in the middle east?

[Mr Hague]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to that and the relationship of Iran with those states is of huge importance to confidence in peace and security in the region, and we will watch closely. Iran’s relations with those countries, and how it approaches them, will be very much among the actions that we will judge over time.

Syria (EU Restrictive Measures)

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Burt]

I should like to make a little more progress. I will then be happy to answer more questions, and perhaps wrap up at the end if there is time.

In light of the developments that I referred to earlier, we need to consider again how best to use sanctions to find a swift and enduring resolution to the crisis. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary told the House in his statement yesterday:

“The case for further amendments to the EU arms embargo on Syria is compelling, in order to increase the pressure on the regime and give us the flexibility to respond to continued radicalisation and conflict. We have to be open to every way of strengthening moderates and saving lives, rather than the current trajectory of extremism and murder.”—[Official Report, 20 May 2013; Vol. 563, c. 905.]

There is a glimmer of hope. The United Kingdom and France are working closely with President Obama and President Putin to try to find a political solution to the crisis. As I have said, we all want that more than anything else, but this is a fragile and fleeting chance. The Assad regime has made a lot of promises to negotiate but has never delivered on them, and the moderate opposition in Syria, the National Coalition, is losing faith.

We and our partners in the European Union must play our part to make the talks a success. That means building leverage on both parties—the regime and the opposition—to do a deal. We must send a message to the regime that we will not stand by while it kills its people in increasing numbers and in increasingly appalling ways. We must make it clear that, if the regime does not ensure that these talks are a success, no option is off the table. We must also show the opposition that we will support their search for a just outcome that they can sell to the fighters in Syria and to the wider population.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I wholeheartedly endorse what my hon. Friend is saying about the importance of working with our European allies and with the United Nations to put pressure on Russia in particular, because it is key to securing peace in Syria.

[Alistair Burt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Recent conversations between my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, President Putin, Secretary of State Kerry and the Russian Foreign Minister have indicated a degree of involvement with Russia. Talking with Russia has never been off the table. Russia has great significance through its relationship with the regime in Syria, and we believe that it should now use that relationship to bring the regime to the table.

We and key allies, including the US and France, believe that lifting the arms embargo will help us to achieve the goals that I have just described. It will strengthen the hand of opposition politicians in relation to the fighters, and the hand of the moderates in relation to the extremists. It will also show that we are committed to supporting them and have the flexibility to consider further action if the regime makes a mockery of this chance for a political solution.

I want to make this Government’s position clear: no decision on arming the Syrian opposition has been taken. Amending the embargo on opposition forces would not mean that we would automatically and immediately begin arming them, although we cannot rule that out in the future; but even without acting on it, providing an exemption from the current arms embargo for opposition forces would send a powerful and timely signal to both sides. It would say to the Assad regime that a political solution is the only option, as there will be no military victory. It would tell moderate opposition forces and politicians not to lose faith in their fight against oppression or against the extremists who are seeking to capitalise on the continued instability.