Latin America: Future Foreign Policy
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I picked up the gist of my noble friend’s question when she began and can give her a very to-the-point response. Of course, the importance of civil society remains part and parcel of the delivery of our programme. As regards my portfolio on human rights, we work closely across the regions, particularly in countries such as Colombia.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the third Oral Question, from the noble Lord, Lord Robathan.
United Nations Biodiversity Conference
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
This will be an important part of our work in the run-up to COP. The noble Baroness may perhaps consider that the top 50 food-producing nations spend about $700 billion a year subsidising often destructive land use. One of our goals—an important one—is to try to encourage as many countries as possible to shift the way those incentives are used so that they support nature. We are also trying to break the link between commodity production and deforestation—commodity production is responsible for about 80% of the world’s deforestation. We are leading in global dialogues with producer and consumer countries to that end.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the second Oral Question.
Clergy: EU Visas and Residence Permits
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I believe that what we have negotiated is a fair deal. It allows anyone from the UK to travel to the European Union—the Schengen area specifically—for 90 days without the requirement of a visa. This period extends 90 days for a period of up to 180 days on a rolling basis. In essence, 50% of that 180 days can be on a visa-free basis. That is a substantive agreement reached with the European Union. On the question of rights, whether of UK citizens within the EU or otherwise, as Members will be aware, two different systems operate, where in certain instances UK citizens have to declare their intent to reregister, while other instances are provided through the natural law applying to existing UK citizens. On both processes, both streams of work are very efficient and effective, and where we find a challenge there is a joint committee to try to resolve those issues.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, thanks to the generosity of the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, all supplementary questions have been asked and we can move to the third Oral Question.
China: Convictions of Democracy Campaigners in Hong Kong
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I say to my noble friend that Hong Kong’s prosperity and its way of life rely on the respect for fundamental freedoms, an independent judiciary and the rule of law. I further assure him that we will continue to bring together our international partners—a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Collins—to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violation of their rights and to hold China to the obligations it freely assumed under international law. We will continue to work in that respect.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed and it brings Question Time to an end. We move now to the Private Notice Question on Northern Ireland and the Good Friday agreement. I call the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick.
Yemen
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) [V]
My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord that it is important that the United Kingdom plays its part in ensuring that the humanitarian suffering is alleviated, notwithstanding our domestic challenges, which are quite impactful on our international support. We are playing our part. We are also lending support to the political settlement. As I indicated in response to an earlier question, we take a very robust approach when it comes to arms exports.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.
Bahrain: Human Rights Abuses
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
The noble Baroness is muted and we cannot hear her. We will have to move on to the noble Baroness, Lady Northover.
Baroness Northover (LD)
My Lords, far from what the Minister has said about progress, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the UN have all concluded that human rights abuses have been getting worse in Bahrain over the past few years. So why do the Government still fund training for organisations in Bahrain that are implicated in human rights abuses, such as the Special Investigations Unit?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) [V]
I agree with my noble friend. My right honourable friend James Cleverly, who is the Minister for the Middle East, will do exactly that. We look at all funding not only to the Gulf but elsewhere to ensure that the standards we seek to achieve from those areas are met and that human rights remain paramount in our thinking and progress in this respect.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
The noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, is still with us and so I can ask her to speak now.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) [V]
My Lords, it takes a great deal to mute my noble friend and I am glad that we have heard from her. As I have already articulated, we have seen the creation of the oversight bodies. The UK has provided technical support. We have seen alternative sentencing, where we have shared experience and insights; the Unified Family Law and the Corrective Justice Law for Children; and the great progress which has been made on migrants’ rights. However, I reiterate that important work remains to be done. I know that this is a concern of many noble Lords and I will continue to engage with your Lordships’ House and the other place to ensure that those concerns are expressed directly to the Government of Bahrain.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, all supplementary questions have now been asked. We move to the next Question.
Zimbabwe: Human Rights Abuses
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
The UK stands ready in friendship to support a Zimbabwe that fully embraces the rule of law, human rights and reform. The ball is in the court of the Zimbabwean Government. The UK is on the side of the Zimbabwean people; we always have been and we will continue to work alongside the international community to support good governance, respect for human rights and genuine political and economic reform in Zimbabwe, to help secure a brighter and better future for all Zimbabweans.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has also elapsed. We now come to the fourth Oral Question.
India: Restrictions on Freedom
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, India—as the world’s largest and, as I say, one of the oldest democracies—and the UK have a very deep and broad relationship. Our trade and investment partnership is thriving, and we collaborate on defence and security. Together we are a force for good in the world. The unique “living bridge” that George Osborne described at the time, including a 1.5 million-strong Indian diaspora in the UK, connects our countries across sport, culture, food and more. During the Foreign Secretary’s visit to India in December, he agreed with his counterpart the key elements of the 10-year UK-India road map to deliver a step change in ambition for our relationships. We regard ourselves as friends, but as critical friends. We look forward to taking this plan forward into 2021.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.
Global Population Growth
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park) (Con) [V]
My Lords, at COP 26 we will seek to address the steps needed to reduce emissions in line with the Paris agreement. The UK presidency will focus on five campaigns in the areas of energy, transport, nature, finance and adaptation and resilience. Population growth is not an explicit focus for the COP. At the Climate Ambition Summit in December, the COP 26 president-designate set out four strategic aims for COP 26: a step change in mitigation; a strengthening of adaptation; getting finance flowing; and enhancing international collaboration.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
Did the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, have a supplementary question? No.
Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)
My Lords, does the Government not recognise that the pressures of increasing global population lead to cut and burn of vegetation and a number of other pressures, including, of course, drought and conflict? The question is what the Government are going to do about it. If they fail to raise it at COP, will they do something more and raise it, for example, at the UN Security Council? Will they encourage by their development policies family spacing, which is very much a women’s issue and could lead to a more acceptable population movement globally?
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, COP 26 is just one staging post this year. It is a significant and major event, but we also have the Convention on Biological Diversity, we are presidents of the G7 and we will have the G20 as well. We have a number of events hosted, for example, by the new US President to raise these issues up the agenda. We will be using all these events to do all that we can to push for a coherent approach to tackling climate change and nature destruction. That of course includes increasing support for initiatives around family planning and the education of women and girls.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed, although the screen has become a little eccentric in its recording of that. We come now to the second Oral Question.
United States: Diplomatic Relations
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, as the noble Lord will be aware, we welcome the re-engagement of the US, in particular on its obligations through NATO. That will form the basis of how the United States continues to strengthen defence alliances with the United Kingdom and others in the defence of not just the interests of the United States but those of its allies.
In paying tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, as a historian, I remind noble Lords that we come together on the eve of the famous speech given 75 years ago in 1946 by Winston Churchill when he defined what the relationship was all about. He said that
“in the days to come the British and American peoples will, for their own safety and for the good of all, walk together side by side in majesty, in justice and in peace.”
Long may that last.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked. We now move to the next Question, which is the fourth Oral Question and I call the noble Lord, Lord Randall of Uxbridge.