Landmine Awareness

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Wendy Morton

Thursday 20th April 2023 Westminster Hall

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered land mine awareness.

Thank you for chairing this debate, Mr Mundell. I recognise that the HALO Trust is based in your constituency. The HALO Trust is one of the leading global non-governmental organisations carrying out de-mining, and I know that you have a particular interest in this issue. In fact, we worked together on Project Umubano, an international social action project, for a number of years, so I am delighted that you are in the Chair, although had you not been you might have contributed to our debate and shared with us some of your knowledge and experience of international development.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)]

I congratulate the right hon. Lady on securing the debate. Organisations such as the HALO Trust, whose headquarters are in your constituency in Scotland, Mr Mundell, do incredibly important work that truly saves lives, and I place my gratitude to them on the record. Does the right hon. Lady agree that if the Government are happy to rely on charitable organisations to carry out so much of the work, they must ensure that they are adequately funded?

[Wendy Morton]

The hon. Lady makes a really important point. Funding is crucial for de-mining work, and it is NGOs and charities that go and do this work. It is not the sort of work that Governments do, because it needs the neutrality of an NGO. As well as the HALO Trust, many other groups around the world, including the Mines Advisory Group, do amazing work in this field.

I place on the record my thanks to the Members who are present this afternoon. It is a Thursday afternoon, so many of our colleagues are already heading back to their constituencies for surgeries and visits, but I am pleased by the number of people who have been able to attend the debate, and by the tremendous support that I had from Back-Bench colleagues of all parties when I made my bid to the Backbench Business Committee. That shows not just how much interest there is in this topic, but how seriously our colleagues across the House take it. We know that, long after the end of war, civilians remain at risk from landmines, as do livestock and other animals, and often our environment.

Landmines are a lasting legacy of conflict. They remain capable of killing or injuring civilians, and so deny access to land and livelihoods, hindering agriculture, enterprise and often education as well. In the last few years, the Government have put a big emphasis on making sure that girls have access to 12 years of education. I can see the Minister nodding, and I know that she was a champion of this issue in her days as Secretary of State for International Development, when I was a Minister in that Department. We know that giving a girl an education provides her with an excellent start to life, and it is important that we recognise that link.

Landmines also disrupt essential services and the supply of valuable humanitarian aid. It is estimated that 60 million people are still at risk from landmines and unexploded ordnance in countries where conflict has long since ceased —for example, Angola. Many of us remember the pictures of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing protective clothing and a visor in a minefield. She did so much to raise awareness, but that was a number of years ago. Other affected countries are Cambodia, Laos and Zimbabwe.

[Margaret Ferrier]

Landmines may seem like an problem from conflicts long past, but their use in Ukraine has brought this issue, rightly, back into the spotlight. Does the right hon. Member agree that there needs to be stronger deterrence of landmine use in conflict, and consequences for the resulting loss of civilian life?

[Wendy Morton]

The hon. Lady must be looking ahead in my speech or else she is psychic, because I intended to touch on the subject of Ukraine. That conflict—the illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine by the Russians—is a reminder that the use of landmines is prevalent today; it still happens. I will come on to that as I do a brief tour around some of the countries where we still have challenges to handle.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, more people face danger today than two years ago, as a result of more recent conflicts. MAG estimates that on average 15 people every day are killed or injured by landmines or unexploded ordnance, and—shockingly—half of the civilian casualties are children. I did a bit of calculating when preparing my speech, and I reckon that that is about 5,500 people being killed or injured every single year. That is a huge number.

I called this debate as close as was possible—because Parliament has just had its Easter recess—to 4 April, recognising that that is the UN’s International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. I wanted to use the opportunity of this debate to draw attention once again to this deadly legacy of conflict, to recognise the global role that the UK takes on this issue and to —gently—press my right hon. Friend the Minister and the UK Government to do more to support this incredibly important work.

Of course, the UK was one of the first signatories to the anti-personnel mine ban convention, or mine ban treaty, and the convention on cluster munitions. The UK is one of the world’s leading forces in ridding the world of landmines. With 164 parties to it, the mine ban treaty is one of the most widely ratified disarmament treaties, but there are notable exceptions, including Russia, the US, China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Syria. When the Minister sums up, will she say what more our Government can do to press these other parties to ratify the convention?

The UK provides aid for landmine clearance through GMAP—the global mine action programme—and UK funding has supported organisations such as MAG and the HALO Trust to remove more than 70,000 landmines and explosive remnants of war. I appreciate that the Minister faces budgetary pressures—as we did during my days in the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office—but I am a little surprised that funding for such a crucial programme has decreased by about £53 million in the last year, at a time when civilians are facing a greater risk, with the war in Ukraine being a really good example for us to consider.

GMAP3 was launched in March 2022 and runs until March 2025, with, I believe, a budget of £89 million— I see the Minister nodding. Will she update us on that budget and where it stands, how much has been spent and how much has been allocated? Does she think that that will be enough until 2025, given the number of challenges that we face around the world? I will touch on some of those, and in particular Ukraine. In too many places, the situation remains extremely challenging. I want to take this opportunity, as we recognise landmine awareness day, to share a few of the many examples, because they act as a salient reminder of why this work matters.

I will start with Afghanistan, where the HALO Trust began clearing mines back in 1988, following decades of conflict. The country was left absolutely littered with ordnance, and today Afghanistan remains one of the deadliest places for civilians. The work done there to educate children and adults about the risks they face is a vital part of HALO’s work programme. I am sure that is something you know, Mr Mundell, from visiting HALO and perhaps the programmes or projects it has done. If we do not do that educative part of the work and build capacity in countries to deal with the existing landmines, we are almost failing those countries, because of the amount of time it takes to clear them.

Turkey and Syria Earthquake

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Wendy Morton

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Westminster Hall

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)]

The week of the earthquakes, I visited the Nurture Society in Cambuslang in my constituency to lend my support to the phenomenal amount of work it quickly undertook to support the Turkish community locally and across the central belt, and to get vital supplies sent to those on the ground. Does the right hon. Lady share my gratitude to local community groups that mobilised so swiftly? Does she agree that they are the pride of our constituencies?

[Wendy Morton]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady. I will touch on the tremendous support from local communities shortly. I am really pleased that in the immediate aftermath the UK Government—the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and many others—took swift action and stepped up to deliver aid and humanitarian support. I want to take a moment to mention some of this work.

A Disasters Emergency Committee—DEC—appeal was launched and raised almost £53 million in its first two days. I was pleased to see the FCDO, which I know is a long-standing member, pledge to match the first £5 million raised. As at 20 February, which is when I last checked, the appeal had raised more than £93 million for both Turkey and Syria. Fifteen charities are involved in that vital fundraising and response effort.

UK ISAR, the UK international search and rescue team, funded by the FCDO, sent a 77-strong team of specialists—I was really pleased to note that that included eight West Midlands Fire Service personnel—along with four specialist search and rescue dogs, to assist with search and rescue. Many of us saw the scenes on our TVs of people being rescued from the rubble days after the earthquake had struck. I pay tribute, as I am sure all Members would, to all the search and rescue personnel and, of course, to the amazing rescue dogs, who have a vital part to play.

The UK has sent out thousands of lifesaving items, including tents and blankets, and announced an aid package. I welcome the UK’s sending out a joint Ministry of Defence and FCDO field hospital, which includes an emergency department and a 24/7 operating theatre to provide emergency treatment to the critically injured. The Government have committed additional funding to the White Helmets to support earthquake search and rescue efforts in north-west Syria, where the situation is extremely complex. And of course there are organisations and charities such as the British Red Cross, ActionAid and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to name just a few of the many that do incredible work in these challenging and often dangerous humanitarian situations.

Before I move on to talk a little more about some of the challenges and to seek some reassurances from my hon. Friend the Minister, I want to recognise also the contribution of businesses, our local communities and individuals in the UK, who are playing their part in this effort. I want to mention in particular, from my own constituency, my fellow Rotarians in Aldridge, who held a collection in the village—I think it was in Morrisons —last weekend. Their response was very warmly received by the local community. Also, Tynings Lane Church in Aldridge recently collected blankets and warm clothes to send over with a family who were travelling to the region.

I am sure that the Minister will want to update us on the latest situation regarding the UK response to the Turkey-Syria situation and I look forward to that, especially because, following the visit to the region earlier in the week by the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, our right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), he will have more up-to-date information. I would also like to gently ask him how he balances this latest humanitarian situation among all the many other, equally important pressures on his budget. I can remember from my time in the FCDO that that is always quite a challenge, so I just wanted to raise it with him.

Let me turn briefly to the situation in Syria. Even before the earthquake struck, there was only one remaining UN-mandated border crossing, at Bab al-Hawa. When I visited in 2021, I saw at first hand the huge volume of trucks and aid that was passing through, and even then it simply was not enough to match the needs of north-west Syria. I am pleased that the UK is working very closely with the UN, international partners and non-governmental- organisation partners to look at mobilising support. I welcome the UN-brokered agreement of 13 February to open additional crossings, but I believe that they are only temporary—for three months—so I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister will reassure me and others that he will do all he can to keep those crossing points open.

Of course, the difficulty of humanitarian access to north-west Syria is not new; it is the result of the ongoing conflict and the Assad regime’s use of aid as a political weapon. The Turkey-Syria earthquake has acted to highlight the challenge once again. What more can the UK and the international community can do, working with the UN and NGOs, to help humanitarian assistance to reach those who need it?

[Margaret Ferrier]

US trade sanctions in Syria have led to accusations that they have prevented humanitarian aid from reaching victims of the disaster, which could reasonably be an unintentional consequence, despite exemptions on aid goods. Does the right hon. Member share my concerns about the Syrian Government’s attempt to use the situation to have sanctions lifted?

[Wendy Morton]

In any situation, I would always be concerned about the possibility of any regime using humanitarian aid as a weapon of conflict, so I urge those involved in the effort to do all they can to keep the crossing points open and the flow of aid going through to the people who need that help the most.

Finally, I want to return briefly to reconstruction. I am aware that there has been criticism of construction methods used in Turkey and the fact that many buildings may have failed to meet the correct standards. What can the international community do to keep the pressure on and ensure that reconstruction projects are built to the best standards possible, certainly where UK aid and UK companies are involved? That becomes ever more pressing as we move from the rescue to the recovery phase of the disaster.

In common with other Members, I have visited Turkey on a number of occasions, including both Gaziantep and Hatay. I have seen the beautiful mosaics in the museums. I have spoken with many people. I have visited refugee camps on the banks of the Euphrates and I have stood right on the border between Turkey and Syria, watching the aid trucks cross. Turkey has shown great solidarity by opening its country and its homes to many thousands of displaced people. I hope that today’s debate reinforces not just the UK’s role in international development but our solidarity with all those affected by the devastating earthquakes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Wendy Morton

Thursday 30th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Morton]

I know that my right hon. Friend has raised this matter before, and I will be happy to give him a written update on the Tisbury loop.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)]

6. What assessment he has made of the potential risks of legalising e-scooters.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Wendy Morton

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)]

What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential effect of the reduction in official development assistance on gender equality in the developing world.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Wendy Morton) [V]]

Tackling gender inequality is a core part of the Government’s mission. The integrated review confirms our commitment to tackling the discrimination, violence and inequality that hold women back. Girls’ education is one of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s seven key priorities for ODA spending, and this year we will invest £430 million in girls’ education, helping to achieve the global target to get 40 million girls into education.

We continue to demonstrate the UK’s leadership in reducing gender-based violence. At the recent Generation Equality Forum, we launched the £67.5 million What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale programme, which is the first global effort systematically to scale up proven violence-prevention approaches worldwide.

[Margaret Ferrier [V]]

The Gender Equality Advisory Council recently recommended to G7 leaders that they renew their commitment to the 0.7% of GNI target for overseas development assistance and urged them to ring-fence any funding for gender equality projects. Will the Minister assure us that she has assessed the effect on such projects of the recent cut of ODA to 0.5% of GNI, and that she is working with Cabinet colleagues to mitigate that harm?

[Wendy Morton]

It is important to recognise that the UK will still spend more than £10 billion on ODA in 2021, and we will return to spending 0.7% as soon as the fiscal situation allows. On impacts and equality assessments, I assure the hon. Lady that officials considered any impacts on women and girls, the most marginalised and vulnerable, people with disabilities and people from other protected groups when they developed their advice to Ministers as part of our decision-making process.

Ceramic and Brick Industries

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Wendy Morton

Wednesday 15th June 2016 Westminster Hall

[Margaret Ferrier]

Sorry about that—I mean the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Angela Smith). I should have known that, because we have met many times to talk about heavy industry—my apologies.

The hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) spoke about ancillary firms also being important, and kiln production. He spoke kindly about Wedgwood, to mention it again, and that we have to be careful about market economy status for China, which has counterfeiting and dangerous chemicals in some products.

[Wendy Morton]

The hon. Lady always speaks with such passion about the industries in her constituency. Does she agree that we need to look not only at the EU emissions trading scheme, but at market economy status for China? Only by having a level playing field can we encourage businesses to do their bit, which is to invest and innovate for the future.

[Margaret Ferrier]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. We will hear from the Minister in her response to all our points. We have heard many times that market economy status will not mean that we cannot bring anti-dumping cases, so I am interested to hear how she will respond to everyone’s concerns.

We heard from the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth) that there is more to ceramics than brick alone; it includes tableware. A tile manufacturer is a big employer in her constituency, and it has major concerns. The brick and tile industry has bases in north Africa and Turkey, where production costs are much lower, so we have to support our ceramics in the UK. She also made mention of labour costs, which are lower in those countries, although employees there can be exploited.

The hon. Member for North Warwickshire (Craig Tracey), which includes Bedworth, spoke about his brick and tile manufacturer in Kingsbury, which employs 1,100—

Foreign Aid Expenditure

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Wendy Morton

Monday 13th June 2016 Westminster Hall

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I am a member of the International Development Committee and co-chair of the all-party group for sustainable development goals, so it is a pleasure to support colleagues on both sides of the Chamber who are speaking in favour of the 0.7%. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on foreign aid spending and, to be precise, the 0.7%. Given the backdrop of the need to secure the UK’s economic recovery, it is right to consider the spending of all Departments, not only DFID’s. We need to ensure that we deliver value for taxpayers’ money and that we understand what does and does not work.

Before I was elected to this place, I had the opportunity through Project Umubano, which was set up by the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend and constituency neighbour the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), to spend time in Rwanda, Burundi and Sierra Leone, so that I could learn about international development by seeing it for myself. I took that opportunity because I wanted and felt that I needed to gain a more detailed understanding of international development. I visited schools in rural Rwanda, a health clinic in Kirambi and NGO projects where they were showing people how to build livelihoods and encourage enterprise. I have many stories I would love to share with Members this afternoon, but I will move on because time is pressing. UK aid has contributed to many of those successes and many others around the world. In the last 40 years, extreme poverty has halved. Since 2000, deaths from malaria have decreased by 60%, saving more than 6 million lives. There are many other examples.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

UK investment in immunisation saves a child’s life somewhere in the world every two minutes. Does the hon. Lady agree that such immunisation programmes not only enable better health in poorer countries but provide an important roadblock to more widespread epidemics?

[Wendy Morton]

The hon. Lady makes a powerful point, and I agree. A lot of work is done by DFID and in the charitable sector by organisations such as Rotary to help to eradicate disease. The UK continues to lead the way. It is working to help women and girls by tackling female genital mutilation and preventing sexual violence against women. The breadth of the work that DFID is involved in is exemplary. I believe that we have a moral duty to do such work, but also that it is firmly in our national interest. It can help to strengthen our long-term security and is a vital part of protecting our prosperity as well as helping to foster peaceful diplomacy. As we have seen in recent years with the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone and the ongoing crisis with the Syrian refugees, the UK is at the forefront of international development work.

Energy-Intensive Industries

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and Wendy Morton

Thursday 10th March 2016 Westminster Hall

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Chope. I congratulate the hon. Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) on securing this important debate.

Support for energy-intensive industries is a matter that I care a great deal about. My hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) and I represent the two constituencies with Scotland’s remaining steel mills, and those are sadly at risk. I have worked hard since my election to fight to save our steel industry. Although the Clydebridge steel treatment mill employs far fewer people than mills in other constituencies, it is no less devastating when jobs are at risk and when such an iconic industry stands to be lost from the constituency.

As the steel industry transitions to lower-carbon forms of production, it deserves our support. When crisis hit in my constituency, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon moved swiftly to establish the Scottish steel taskforce. That has resulted in positive action to retain jobs and hopefully to save and protect this established industry. If an alternative operator takes over, production will be able to resume swiftly due to the Scottish Government’s steelworkers retention plan. Action has been taken on business rates, and in addition to new public procurement guidance on steel, the Scottish Government have released an ambitious and visionary new action plan entitled “A Manufacturing Future for Scotland.”

The Scottish Government’s decarbonisation of industry steering group promotes and co-ordinates action to support energy-intensive industries, such as the steel industry, in making the transition to lower-carbon forms of production.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

The hon. Lady and I both sit on a newly formed all-party parliamentary group on ceramics. Does she agree that not only the steel industry but industries such as the ceramics industry face huge challenges? There are a number of firms in those industries in my constituency.

[Margaret Ferrier]

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention, and I will come to ceramics later, if she will bear with me.

The Scottish Government’s steering group specifically helps them to deliver their emissions reductions under the EU emissions trading system and to meet legal obligations such as the UK climate change levy and the energy savings opportunity scheme.

It is clear that the Scottish Government are committed to protecting the steel industry as a key strategic asset in the Scottish economy, and on behalf of my constituents, I would like to put on record my sincere appreciation of that. The UK Government have gone some way, but there is still more to be done.

On the issue of ceramics, in addition to a very long-established steel mill, there is a brickworks in my constituency—Scotland’s only remaining clay brick company, in fact. Raeburn Brick is an established family- run business in Blantyre. Somewhere in the region of 15% of the bricks used in Scotland are produced by Raeburn, which means that about 85% are imported from outside Scotland. Those figures might not mean much to others, but to me they show that there is a real opportunity for more domestic business.