Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. One of the systems that we are looking at, since he asks, is to see if we can mount some Brimstones on the back of technicals to see if that will do the job, but there are other options that I do not want to discuss.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Let me first wish the Prime Minister good luck in their trip to India, where I am sure they will raise the ongoing arbitrary detention of Jagtar Singh Johal with Prime Minister Modi. That said, if the Prime Minister believes that they inadvertently misled the House based on evidence given at the time, surely the Prime Minister would then agree with me and with Alex Massie of The Spectator that such an offence rests on the proposition that the Prime Minister is an idiot?

[The Prime Minister]

I have spoken in good faith and, of course, continue to raise the case of his constituent.

Ukraine

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Three weeks ago, the Prime Minister said that sanctions would

“come down like a steel trap in the event of the first Russian toecap crossing into more sovereign Ukrainian territory.”

I wonder whether he will answer me and the First Minister of Scotland, who believe that it appears that they will not. If this is the first tranche, there need to be further tranches with much tougher action soon.

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for accurately reciting what I said, because that is what we are doing. We are now sanctioning them very heavily for what they are doing in Donbas, where Russian activity has long been present. Together with our friends and partners, we are going to bring forward further measures that I think will hit the Russian economy very hard. I understand the House’s desire to do everything on day one, but we should make sure that we work in unison with our friends and partners, because what Putin wants above all is to divide us, and in that he must not succeed.

Ukraine

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Tuesday 25th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, my hon. Friend is so right, because that is the misconception, whether witting or otherwise. Russia persists in the fiction that NATO is somehow an aggressive alliance and a threat to Russia. NATO is not an aggressive alliance; Russia is not encircled by threats. It is absolutely vital that we convey that to Vladimir Putin. If he can understand that, that is the route to progress and that is the diplomatic path that we have to follow.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister will get every support from the SNP Benches for defending national self-determination within Europe. Does he not agree that it is time that the UK Government sign a robust security and defence agreement with the European Union to replace that in the Lisbon treaty—most critically, article 42.7 of that treaty?

[The Prime Minister]

If we look at what is happening, the conversation I had last night was with European partners comprising the vast bulk of defence spending in the west; we work very closely with our European partners, as we do with all our NATO partners. NATO remains the primary vehicle for our defence. NATO is a very valuable interlocutor with Russia. The NATO-Russia Council has proved its worth in the last few months.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly do agree with my hon. Friend, who is an old friend of mine; I have worked closely with him on London issues for many years. I know where Labour’s instincts are. It always wants to put taxes up, particularly on motorists, and I think a checkpoint Chigwell would hit working families. What the Labour Mayor of London needs to do is get a grip on TfL’s finances and stop whacking up the taxes on ordinary people in the capital city.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister is very much aware of my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal, who was abducted by plainclothes officers while shopping with his new wife in the city of Jalandhar, Punjab, on 4 November 2017. The intervening years have seen allegations of torture overlooked, and ostensibly strong words from the Prime Minister’s Government about the case overshadowed by excitement over a trade deal with the Republic of India.

As we approach the fourth anniversary of Jagtar’s arrest tomorrow with no charges having been brought in the case by the Government of India, can the Prime Minister’s Government grant the smallest of favours to Jagtar’s wife and his family in Dumbarton and declare his detention an arbitrary one?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the campaign that he has been running for Jagtar Singh for a long time. I say to him that the closeness of our relationship with India in no way diminishes our willingness to raise that case with the Government of India. Indeed, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised it the last time she was in India.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 17 June.

[The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)]

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

The journey of Munira Mirza from the pages of the Srebrenica-denying Living Marxism and the Revolutionary Communist party into the heart of No. 10 has not gone unnoticed. On Monday, the Prime Minister appointed them to lead the commission—the Government’s commission—on racial inequality, and it was greeted with some disbelief, given their well-known views on the matter. So I wonder: can the Prime Minister tell us today, does he agree with Ms Mirza that previous inquiries have fostered a “culture of grievance” within minority communities?

[The Prime Minister]

I am a huge admirer of Dr Munira Mirza, who is a brilliant thinker about these issues. We are certainly going to proceed with a new cross-governmental commission to look at racism and discrimination. It will be a very thorough piece of work, looking at discrimination in health, in education and in the criminal justice system. I know that the House will say we have already had plenty of commissions and plenty of work, but it is clear from the Black Lives Matter march and all the representations we have had that more work needs to be done, and this Government are going to do it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Wednesday 26th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for rightly raising the issue of rail connections between Maidstone East and the City. In addition to the £48 billion we are putting into the railways, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has just indicated to me that those connections are his highest priority.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Q2.   Graham was born with cerebral palsy, unable to talk, walk or feed himself. He brought joy and love to all who knew him. Last week, one of the Prime Minister’s advisers resigned when a basic check of their internet history revealed that they had promoted eugenicist policies—the sort that would have ended my brother Graham Docherty’s life before it began. Will the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom advise the House and every disabled person on this island why Andrew Sabisky remained at the heart of his Government and was not removed from their position immediately when their abhorrent views became apparent?

Prime Minister's Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think we will get a deal that commands the support of the whole House. I hope that it will command the support of the hon. Gentleman. Perhaps he might indicate by nodding whether he will vote for it.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Let me be clear: I will not surrender the votes of my constituents who voted to remain, and I will be damned if I will surrender their vote for their country, Scotland, to be an independent sovereign nation. Given that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has surrendered his duty to sign the Benn Bill, will he advise the House whether the Cabinet Secretary will sign it on his behalf and take it to Brussels?

[The Prime Minister]

We will, of course, respect the law and we will leave on 31 October. I think everybody would agree that the best circumstances in which we could do that would be if all the Labour Members, all the Scottish nationalists and all my Conservative friends came together to do a deal. I think the will is there in this House—let’s get it done.

Priorities for Government

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think I had better be careful here. There will be 20 new hospital upgrades, and details of the programme will be announced forthwith.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Having been incarcerated for over 600 days now, and having made accusations of torture against the Indian state, Jagtar Singh Johal has, since incarceration, seen in post two Prime Ministers, three Foreign Secretaries and four Under-Secretaries, one of whom was suspended from their position. Can the Prime Minister assure my constituent, a UK national, that his Government, in making their trade deals with the Indian state, have my constituent’s name at the top of the agenda? Will he seek a meeting with the Foreign Secretary, me and the Singh Johal family at the soonest opportunity?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that the Foreign Secretary will take up the case of Jagtar Singh Johal assiduously, as all previous Foreign Secretaries have done.

Iran Nuclear Deal

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Wednesday 9th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I hope that my hon. Friend will use his good offices to encourage the United States to come forward with detail on such plans at its earliest convenience.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

In terms of practicalities, what is the Department’s assessment of a successor trade deal with the United States when that country might punish UK companies that are legitimately conducting business in Iran under international agreements?

[Boris Johnson]

As I have said several times, we will do everything that we can to protect legitimate commercial activity by UK concerns.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Tuesday 21st November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that any pressure on Burma and the Government in Naypyidaw would be greatly assisted by more pressure from the United States. Rex Tillerson is now actively engaging. Burma is not an area where the US has traditionally been in the lead, but the UK, working with the US, is building pressure internationally. I have already mentioned to the House some of the things that we have done at the UN and elsewhere to exert pressure on the Burmese Government.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Will the Minister tell us what discussions he has had with the Government of India about their human rights record in the state of the Punjab, critically in relation to my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been in custody since 4 November without charge? There is now a possibility—or accusation—of torture, and the Prime Minister indicated the Government’s personal interest on BBC radio yesterday. Will the Minister advise me and the House how the Secretary of State is working with the office of the Prime Minister to assist my constituent and his family in Dunbarton?

Korean Peninsula

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Tuesday 5th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

It is not so much that we are pressing all the options on the United States—though of course we are—but that those are the options that the United States itself massively prefers and wants to bring about.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Korea—I speak of it as a nation and not as two divided political states—is at a crossroads in its political, social and economic future. It is a future that may well impact on the very fabric of the People’s Republic of China, and China knows that only too well. I was glad to hear the Foreign Secretary mention China in such friendly tones; it was extremely welcome. In playing its part in defending peace, I hope that the Government do so by asking some practicalities of the Government of the United States as well as of the People’s Republic of China. Do they recognise, for instance, that the Korean nation and the world require the United States and China to work in partnership and use their leverage? Is it not the case that we require mutually assured restraint, as espoused by the sociologist Amitai Etzioni, to bring about a full and comprehensive peace in Korea?

[Boris Johnson]

I am delighted to hear Amitai Etzioni quoted on the subject of Korea. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to focus on the partnership and potential of the relationship between the US and China. They hold the key to the question between them, but, as I say, where there are differences it can be our task to try to help to bridge the gap, then unite the rest of the international community on a common position.

US Immigration Policy

Debate between Boris Johnson and Martin Docherty-Hughes

Monday 30th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I am delighted that 100 of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents have been waiting with bated breath for him finally to get that question—I cannot remember what it was—off his chest. I hope he will forgive me. The views of his constituents are important, and they clearly disapprove of the prospect of a visit by the President of the United States. I must humbly and respectfully say to them that I think it is in the interests of this country that, as with every other President of the United States, Donald Trump should come to the UK.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for coming to the Floor of the House this afternoon. Does he agree that it is striking that supposedly the largest democracy on earth has excluded from this Executive order the four nations whose citizens have killed the most American citizens in the American homeland over the past 40 years? If this was a decision of defence, it is clearly lacking because there is not the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there is not Egypt, there is not Turkey and nowhere is there the United Arab Emirates. Is the United States making a big mistake?

[Boris Johnson]

The hon. Gentleman cannot have been listening when I pointed out—I think I am now pointing it out for the third time—that the list of the seven countries in question was drawn up not by the Trump Administration but by the Obama Administration when they applied their own thoroughly restrictive measures on people travelling from those countries.