North Africa and the Middle East

Alistair Burt Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I am glad that I have helped to perpetuate the sense of equality that we are observing this afternoon.

Obviously, this is a vital debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Walsall North rightly drew attention to its historical connotations, and to Britain’s historical involvement in the region. We tend to delude ourselves in the House that Britain is seen as a benign liberal democracy that never operates out of self-interest but is concerned only with the greater good of mankind as a whole, and that we seek to promote the rule of law, democracy and independence throughout the world. Sadly, the history of Britain’s involvement in north Africa and the middle east hardly adds up to that. We have seen, for instance, the 1952 coup in Iran and all its subsequent ramifications, the Suez operation in 1956, the United States bombing of Libya in 1986 when the planes took off from this country, the obsessive dealing in arms in exchange for oil, and the turning of a blind eye to volumes and volumes of human rights abuses in countries that we claim are close friends of ours.

Last week I tabled what I thought was a perfectly innocuous and reasonable question to the Secretary of State, asking him to tell me on which occasions since June last year

“human rights issues have been raised with… (a) Morocco, (b) Tunisia, (c) Algeria, (d) Libya, (e) Egypt, (f) Yemen, (g) Saudi Arabia and (h) Bahrain”.

I was very disappointed to be told that the Minister would answer “shortly”. I hope that he will answer shortly—

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt)]

rose—

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I will give way to the Minister immediately so that he can give me the answer to my question.

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[Alistair Burt]

I will not give the answer quite yet, but I signed off the question this morning, and it is therefore in my mind. I will ensure that the text is available to me in time for my winding-up speech so that I can make one or two references to it. The hon. Gentleman can be sure that a very good and complete answer is well on its way to him.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I would expect nothing less, but I should have loved to have it before the debate so that I could have referred to it. That is why I tabled the question. However, I thank the Backbench Business Committee for securing the debate in the first place.

We need to embark on a complete reappraisal of our policy on the whole region. We cannot go on supporting potentates and dictators, absolute monarchs and abuses of human rights. We cannot continue to sell arms, tear gas, riot shields and all kinds of weapons of destruction, and then not be surprised when they are used. As my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall North said in relation to the sale of arms to Libya, who on earth was supposed to be attacking Libya? Why should it require such a vast array of armoury, along with Saudi Arabia among other countries? We need to think carefully about that.

According to an article in the online edition of The Guardian,

“NMS took up to 50 British companies to arms fairs in Libya in 2008 and last November. The last exhibition reportedly showcased military wares such as artillery systems, anti-tank weapons, and infantry weapons.”

All those are being used as we speak. As for the question of arms sales, the Campaign Against Arms Trade refers to

“UK weapons used against pro-democracy protesters in the Middle East”,

and goes on to report:

“The UK sold tear gas, crowd control armament and sniper rifles to Libya and Bahrain in 2010.”

As we speak, they are being used against protesters there. The Prime Minister, rather bizarrely, took a number of arms salespersons with him on his recent trip. Only a year before that, we were selling equipment to Saudi Arabia that is currently being used in Bahrain. And so the list goes on and on.

We cannot continue to assume that none of that has anything to do with us. It is time that we changed our policy on arms sales completely, and ceased to have an economy that is apparently so dependent on the sale of arms to so many people around the world. You cannot sell arms and then complain about human rights abuses when those arms are used against people who suffer as a result.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt)]

I thank the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg) for his contribution, which has been absolutely up to the high standards we have seen this afternoon; I agree with much of what he said. I also commend the House for the excellent standard of contributions in these genuinely extraordinary times.

We began with an outstanding contribution by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, in which he analysed the broad sweep of events into the turn of the year. He then looked at the more immediate issues on which we urge or will an end to the violence, which prevents the establishment of the conditions necessary for the peaceful pursuit of legitimate aspirations and the chance of a response from existing Governments.

It has become a commonplace to recognise the events we are living through in north Africa and the middle east as a generational shift—a massive historical change in the Arab psyche. As my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Nicholas Soames) noted, in what I thought was a succinct, deep and well-informed speech that set the tone for the debate, the stability we went along with for so long was frozen in time and nothing will ever be the same again. He is right; it will not.

My hon. Friend the Member for Croydon South (Richard Ottaway) said that history would ask whether we should have anticipated these events and what we could have done. I suspect that that will be a matter of debate for a long time to come as we examine all the ramifications. It should not go unsaid, however, that this countryhas persistently maintained in relation to many other countries—both publicly and privately, and often quietly—that although there may be different roads to stability, there are certain building blocks for democracy. It may not necessarily be a Westminster style of democracy, but key factors are freedom of expression and assembly, human rights, some form of representative system to express opinion, free trade, and peaceful relations with neighbours.

Equally, as has been recognised in several speeches today, the strategic needs of the United Kingdom have required, and still require, that we maintain relationships with Governments of many kinds, not all of whom have demonstrated the fullest adherence to international obligations or been free from problems with their own people. That applies to the region that we are discussing, and to other parts of the world. A number of Members have reflected today that these events provide an opportunity to reset relationships, and that must be true. The Prime Minister has referred to the “precious opportunity” that they have created, an opportunity that should be seized and not denied. I think that the House will re-examine those relationships with great excitement and genuine relish.

It is in that atmosphere of change, and recognition of change, that today’s debate has taken place. Let me set the tone by making some key points before dealing in more detail with issues that Members have raised.

There must be a recognition of the sovereign position of the peoples in the region. This is not a west-inspired change; it is an Arab-inspired situation, locally driven and locally led. I too have met some of the young people in Egypt. I met some just last week who had been part of the Tahrir square protest, and who are now part of the national dialogue. Their style and commitment should give any of us in this place genuine hope for the future.

Our policy needs to be resilient. We need to remain on a crisis footing. Members did not linger on consular issues today, but they will be aware that some of the changes in the region have raised significant consular issues for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, both here and overseas. In the main, that office has responded remarkably. There are tales all over the world of people who have been brought back to this country thanks to its extraordinary work and effort. I appreciated what the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane) said about that. However, we must remain alert to future emergencies.

We need to keep an eye on strategic issues, including immediate issues that may pop up. We have discussed the middle east peace process and Iran, and I will return to those subjects later. We need to continue to make a case for those building blocks for the future, based not on western values but, as the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby said, on universal values. We need to take account of the clearly expressed views of the Arab League. We must recognise that the case for Arab exceptionalism may now be weaker than it has ever been before, and that the tides of history affect all. We must also recognise that all countries are different, and will handle the pathway to reform in different ways.

Finally, we must build on relationships in the region. When we came to office, we recognised that both north Africa and the Gulf would repay closer attention. With the Gulf initiative and our activities in relation to north Africa, we sought to build and boost relationships. I do not think we expected then that quite so much attention would be focused on the Gulf and north Africa, but I think that both this Government and this Parliament are ready to meet the challenges.

I want to divide some of the issues that have been raised today into themes, and then answer some of the questions that have been asked. The broad sweep of the events in the region was mentioned by a number of Members, notably my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex. My hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Laura Sandys) spoke with great passion about the opportunities for relationships between peoples that had been generated, and my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory Stewart) brought his experience to bear in discussing that broad sweep of events. More colleagues raised a number of these issues, but I have not mentioned them now as I want to try to refer to Members only once.

Several Members addressed future opportunities for the exercise of soft power. I am pleased that the Westminster Foundation for Democracy was mentioned by, among others, the hon. Member for Ilford South (Mike Gapes), the right hon. Member for Rotherham—again—and my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael). When any of us visit any of the countries mentioned, we are struck by the extraordinary respect that there is for our language, the British Council and the Chevening scholarships, all of which help to create a relationship between peoples, and we can only see greater opportunities for them in the future. The House can rest assured that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is alert to the opportunities that are available in this regard.

A number of colleagues mentioned specific countries. My hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Mr Gale) spoke of Tunisia. I recently met the ambassador, who is a first-rate ambassador for his country. We have spoken to him about the opportunities for economic progress. My hon. Friend was right to say that the economics of what has happened is as important as the politics. A number of these countries—especially Tunisia and Egypt—have been greatly affected by the changes in tourism and other industries. It is essential that the work on the economic package that we are currently doing with our European partners bears fruit, and that support is made available. I can assure my hon. Friend that that is indeed the case. We have drawn up priority areas for our own bilateral support, and we are also working with the EU on new, more substantial financial packages, which are likely to be available in the new financial year. My hon. Friend’s comments were well drawn.

On Morocco, we welcomed the recent statement by His Majesty the King, and the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) rightly drew attention to issues there, as he often does. Egypt was mentioned by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Stephen Phillips), and I want to turn briefly to that country as the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mr Alexander), made a number of remarks on it, and I am keen to respond.

The sense that I got from being in Egypt last week was one of optimism. I do not think there is any sense there that the military are looking to hang on to office. Indeed, the reverse is the case; I think they wish to push power back to the people as quickly as possible. There is widespread debate about the sequence of the elections. There is no firm timetable yet; indeed, there is no agreement as to whether the presidential should come before the parliamentary, and there is much talk about that.

There is a general sense of optimism in respect of the engagement between the politicians, and their relationship with those activists who were outside the Government, as well as the relationship between all of them and the military. Many things can go wrong, and there is concern about those who might have ties to the old regime seeking to create trouble between different communities such as the Muslims and the Copts, but the people seem to be alert to that. There is a lot of time still to go, but the signals from those with responsibilities were good, and I suspect any colleague visiting would pick that up.

The right hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South asked about asset freezes. The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of the arguments within the EU to take action on Egyptian requests to freeze the assets of several members of the former regime. A decision on that has not been taken, but we expect that a decision will be taken soon at EU level. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary suggested, the difficulty has been the lack of information that has been supplied by the Egyptian authorities. We need to see evidence of corruption as well as further information about the individuals in question, but that process is under way.

I have mentioned the election timetable. The right hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South asked about representations made in respect of political prisoners. We have continued to urge the authorities to respect fully human rights and democratic freedoms, including freedom of expression and communication and the right of peaceful assembly. On numerous occasions throughout the revolution we raised our concerns with the authorities about the mistreatment of journalists and human rights defenders, and during the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Egypt he called on the Government to release all political prisoners and end the state of emergency. I think the right hon. Gentleman and I find ourselves in tune on that.

A number of colleagues mentioned the middle east peace process and issues affecting Israel and Palestine. My hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex raised the Arab peace initiative, and we support that. There is a huge sense of urgency in this House about the need to get an element of certainty introduced to an uncertain area. That is why we are working so hard to help both the Israelis and the Palestinians appreciate that seeking a settlement now, or at least getting the parameters set out, would be of such benefit to all. We have been working tirelessly on this over the past few months and we are not letting this ball drop just because people’s minds have been distracted by other things.

Many colleagues, including my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr Offord), the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman), the hon. Members for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman) and for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi), my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and the hon. Member for Walsall North (Mr Winnick), spoke of some of the misery on both sides. This House knows of this catalogue of misery only too well, and what it does, whether we are talking about the Fogels or another group, is increase the urgency of finding an answer. This Government will press on that, with all parties, as much as we can.

Iran was mentioned by a number of colleagues, principally my hon. Friends the Members for Harlow (Robert Halfon) and for Harrow East, and we are all watching to see what exploitation there might be of the current situation. Despite everything else that is going on, we remain concerned about Iran’s nuclear activities. Following the disappointing talks in Istanbul, which were sabotaged by the attitude of the Iranians, we are continuing not only to keep a door open, but to make clear suggestions that the tightening of sanctions will continue. They are having an impact and we all want that process to lead to an abandonment of the Iranians’ desire for nuclear capability. Civil nuclear power is something that we all support and that can be controlled, but Iran must be open about its nuclear ambitions. It must open its doors and its books to the International Atomic Energy Agency in a way that it has not done before. It must come back to the open negotiating table of colleagues in order to reassure the world community.

Understandably, the no-fly zone and Libya dominated a great deal of what my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and other colleagues said, and the concerns expressed echoed the warnings that the Prime Minister gave here just the other day. If Gaddafi were able to secure victory at the point of a gun and again dominate and terrorise his people, that would send out a sad signal. So far, the work that has been done to isolate and shrink that state, and warn it of the consequences, has had an effect: it has reduced the money that could have gone towards arms and it will have affected behaviour on the ground. However, as the troops advance, the urgency gets ever more acute. That is why the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister are working so hard, and why so much work is going on in New York today on the resolution. We are hoping that the urgency of the situation will convince those who have been reluctant. Nobody should underestimate either the difficulty or the commitment that this Government have to see that through. We have heard the pleas of the people of Libya for what it is they wish to see and we, too, call on the international community to respond to the resolution that we have put forward with others and, crucially, with the support of the Arab League, to make some of this a reality. It is much needed and time is short.

We watch the situation in Bahrain with great concern. We know that the Government of Bahrain have been involved in a political dialogue, but that it has been stalled for a period of time. We are monitoring the situation closely. We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid violence, so that a political dialogue can begin.

Arms is the only substantive topic that I have not really touched on, and I have only a minute in which to do so. The issue has been raised before, and the Prime Minister said the other day that although we have the most rigorous arms control legislation, which does require looking back and revoking licences when necessary, there probably are some questions to be asked. It must remain rigorous and colleagues are right to examine the issue in terms of the future. The regime will remain as rigorous as possible, not only to satisfy the legitimate desires of nations to defend themselves—this is an industry that we are able to supply well—but to ensure that neither internal repression nor regional conflict is supported.

The House of Commons has been thoughtful and informed this afternoon. It has expressed itself optimistic that the changes sweeping the region could be beneficial. We have said that we would desire such an outcome and that both bilaterally and with friends we will do all we can to will the means—economic, political and social—to make such an end possible. But we have rightly also been wary. Long experience of such matters in this place means that we would not be doing our job if we were not cautious and careful of what we wish for and of dangers that lurk around the corner. We have reasserted the values that uphold us, although we are not blind to our past or to the reality of the future. We seek to support those in other places who have the same wishes as us. The great thing about what has happened is that it is led by those in those countries who wish to see the freedoms and freedoms of expression that we have. We hope that we will stand by them. What the Prime Minister has called a “precious moment of opportunity” will be watched carefully at Westminster—