Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Cunningham and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 10th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I can tell my hon. Friend that the work continues, and that Sir John Chilcot has said that he intends to publish the report as soon as possible. I do not have a fixed date that I can give to my hon. Friend. I can only observe that, had that inquiry been set up when I and others first called for it and voted for it, back in 2006, it would have reported long ago. It was set up late, and it is therefore reporting late, but we look forward to it.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

Q15. Is it acceptable for young people to be fed takeaway pizza at lunchtime because the Government have failed to prepare schools properly for the introduction of free nutritious meals?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Cunningham and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 4th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman is right to refer to the dangers in Lebanon. As I have said, we shall hold the international support group for Lebanon, which I shall attend, tomorrow in Paris. He is also right to emphasise the importance of bringing the parties back to the table. For that to happen, the Assad regime has to be ready to discuss the creation of a transitional governing body. The offer that Lakhdar Brahimi made to both sides when the talks last ended was that they would discuss terrorism, as the regime describes it, and a transitional governing body, as the Opposition wanted, in parallel. The regime refused to do that, but it needs to become ready to do that for the talks to get going again.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

14. What recent discussions he has had with the Government of Pakistan on the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in that country. We remain deeply concerned about the persecution faced by Christians and other religious minorities and continue to raise that with the authorities in Pakistan at the highest level. My right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Warsi most recently raised the matter with the Pakistani Prime Minister during her visit last October.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Cunningham and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 3rd September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Of course, human rights issues are by no means the only issues we discuss with the Chinese Government and others; there is a vast range of issues to discuss. But I think that we should always be clear in the United Kingdom about our belief in universal human rights and never be afraid to give our advocacy for those rights. That includes relations with China.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

9. What advice his Department has given to UK businesses on trading with illegal Israeli settlements.

Foreign Affairs and International Development

Debate between Alex Cunningham and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 15th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I will give way in a moment, because I just want to elaborate on the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton North (Michael Ellis) raised.

Not only is that a reversal of the overall policy of the previous Government, who closed 17 high commissions and embassies, but in some instances we are reopening embassies and high commissions that they closed.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

Will the Foreign Secretary give way?

[Mr Hague]

No. I want to list them to the House.

In Africa we have reopened an embassy in Côte d’Ivoire and opened a new embassy in South Sudan; we are reopening our embassy in Madagascar, which should never have been closed; we are opening an embassy in Liberia; and we have set aside funds to open an embassy in Somalia as soon as circumstances permit. We have opened a new embassy in strategically important Kyrgyzstan, and we are establishing a new honorary consul network for economic and commercial diplomacy in Turkey.

In Latin America we have already opened a new consulate in the north of Brazil; we are reopening our embassy in El Salvador, which was closed in 2003; and on top of that we are strengthening many links with the people of Latin America, with an agreement for example to welcome 10,000 Brazilian students and researchers to British institutions by 2014. I stress that this focus on stronger ties in Latin America goes hand in hand with our absolute commitment to the rights of the people of the Falkland Islands to self-determination and to develop their own economy.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alex Cunningham]

The expansion of the diplomatic network is important and welcome, but does the Foreign Secretary agree that businesses in the illegal settlements on the west bank should not have European Union grants in any shape or form, and that diplomats should be working to stop them?

[Mr Hague]

I will come to the middle east peace process later in my speech, but at the EU Foreign Affairs Council yesterday, we issued an important new and detailed statement about our approach to the two settlements, in particular. I will come back to that, but perhaps I will take the intervention of my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke) on this point.