Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Thangam Debbonaire

Wednesday 4th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary has just told me—passing the ball swiftly down the line—that, yes, my hon. Friend’s A&E is certainly staying open, and I thank her for the point that she makes.

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

Q7. Resignation of an experienced civil servant, sacking of a Government aide—with this Government it seems that allegations of bullying or just being incompetent gets you promoted, whereas standing up to it, you lose your job. What does this say about this Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

I loathe bullying, but I am not taking any lessons from a party that has presided over systematic bullying and discrimination against those who stick up for the Jewish community and for Israel in this country, and we still have yet to hear a proper apology from the Labour party or from the Labour leadership for what they have done.

Prime Minister's Update

Debate between Boris Johnson and Thangam Debbonaire

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has spoken for Cheltenham and he is completely right. The people of this country want to see us coming together, agreeing on a way forward, getting Brexit done and then getting on with a dynamic one nation Conservative agenda, and that is what we are going to do.

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

In the last two hours and seven minutes, the Prime Minister has mocked us, belittled us, told us that it is his way or nothing, and used language that he knows incites fear. He has patronised us, shown disregard for the law and has tried to make us feel that our views have no value when we are trying to represent our constituents. He has done all of this over the most important matter of our times, at a time of national crisis. I am not asking him to apologise to us, although I think he should. I am asking him to apologise to my constituents, who did not want us to be prorogued in the first place and who the Supreme Court yesterday said it agreed with. Will the Prime Minister apologise to the people of Bristol West and start taking this House seriously?

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly do take this House exceptionally seriously. Our constituents—all of them, across the whole country—actually feel that their opinions are being undervalued because they expressed an opinion three years ago and this House, in spite of countless promises, has failed to implement that opinion. I suggest that the best thing is to get on and do it.

Iran Nuclear Deal

Debate between Boris Johnson and Thangam Debbonaire

Wednesday 9th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

Mr Amano has told me that the IAEA is getting all the access it needs. Indeed Mike Pompeo, the head of US intelligence, has confirmed that Iran is now in compliance with the JCPOA.

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

The Foreign Secretary said that he has no difficulty with President Trump’s goal of working with our allies to find a real, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear threat. The Foreign Secretary then asked how the US proposes to achieve that. What suggestions does he have for the United States President?

[Boris Johnson]

I thought that we made a series of very fruitful suggestions, and we will continue to make such suggestions. The central idea is that, around the core of the JCPOA, we build a superstructure—a follow-on agreement—that addresses the problems of the sunset clauses and the issues of the ICBMs, and satisfies the anxieties of the President and of many colleagues in the House today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Thangam Debbonaire

Tuesday 27th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

Will the matter of refugees and the global refugee crisis be on the agenda for next month’s Commonwealth meeting?

[Boris Johnson]

We will of course discuss refugees and the refugee crisis.

Syria: De-escalation Zones

Debate between Boris Johnson and Thangam Debbonaire

Monday 26th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I will, of course, make sure that the views of the House are communicated to the Prime Minister. I can tell the hon. Lady that the Prime Minister has regular contact with her Russian counterpart and has repeatedly made that point.

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

Given the slaughter in eastern Ghouta, and given the regret expressed on both sides of the House, including by the Foreign Secretary, does he not agree that the time is long overdue that we urgently review how this House makes different sorts of decisions about intervention and about what sorts of intervention to take?

[Boris Johnson]

If the hon. Lady is saying that she would like the right to approve such interventions to be once again taken back by the Executive and not necessarily to be a matter for the House of Commons, that is a very interesting point of view.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Thangam Debbonaire

Tuesday 21st February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

The right hon. Gentleman will know very well that the Government did not support the travel measures that were introduced by the Executive order. They were not something we would commend to this House and it was not the kind of policy we would like to see enacted in this country, and we made that very clear to our friends in America. It was by engaging constructively with the White House and others that we were able to secure the important clarification that the Executive order would make absolutely no difference to any British passport holder, irrespective of their country of birth.

[Thangam Debbonaire]

I am pleased to hear the Foreign Secretary’s reports of the discussions he had with the Secretary of State, but will he tell us a bit more about how he plans to manage the important tripartite relationship between the UK, the EU and the US, post-Brexit?

[Boris Johnson]

The hon. Lady asks a good question. Obviously, on some things we will differ from our American friends—we have just had an example of that—but on some areas we will perhaps wish to stiffen the spines of our European friends. I can think of issues such as sanctions over Ukraine, on which some EU members are not in quite the same space as we are. As would be expected, the policy of the United Kingdom would be to stick up for UK interests and values and—if I can use a bit of jargon—to triangulate dynamically between the two.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Boris Johnson and Thangam Debbonaire

Tuesday 18th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

Most people will understand that the arguments have moved on and that the people have spoken overwhelmingly. Indeed, one of the most powerful cases that could possibly have been made for leave was to be found in the article that I wrote for remain. Everybody who has read it has told me that they emerged from it feeling a profound sense of obligation to leave the European Union, and they were quite right. That analysis, I am afraid, is absolutely justified and I am delighted that the people voted accordingly.

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

4. What progress he has made on diplomatic negotiations with his counterparts in countries bordering Syria to allow (a) aid to reach refugees and (b) refugees to leave safely.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

We support the UN’s response to the Syria crisis and its regional impact. We have allocated £1.1 billion to Syria’s neighbours to help them to meet their humanitarian obligations, while maintaining border security. We work closely with them to provide humanitarian aid, as well as job and education opportunities for refugees.

[Thangam Debbonaire]

An estimated 75,000 to 100,000 refugees, mostly women and children, are trapped without food and with little aid in the Berm, an area of no man’s land on the Syrian-Jordanian border. Given that Jordan already has thousands of refugees, if the next military target is to be Raqqa, the capital of ISIS, with an inevitable further flow of refugees towards the Jordanian border, what will the Foreign Secretary do to assist Jordan now and in the future?

[Boris Johnson]

We are in regular contact with the Jordanian authorities to assist the humanitarian situation in the Berm. We are one of the biggest deliverers of aid to the area. In recent months we have had meetings on several occasions with the Government of Jordan to try to address growing concerns about conditions, and I know that the Prime Minister has raised that.