Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Henry Smith

Tuesday 5th November 2019 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson]

I pay tribute to the right hon. Lady for her years of service to the House, particularly her years of service on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and for always keeping a laser-like focus on such issues. As she will be aware, we operate one of the most robust export control regimes in the world and take our licensing obligations seriously. When mistakes are made, things are investigated. As the Secretary of State for International Trade has said, the Government have apologised for the fact that export licences were issued in error, and we are investigating what happened.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

May I be the first Sussex Member of Parliament to be called in your Speakership to congratulate you on your election to the Chair, Mr Speaker? In that county, I am privileged to represent probably the largest number of Chagos islanders anywhere in the world. I have no doubt about UK sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory; however, human rights have been neglected ever since the Wilson Administration forcibly evicted the Chagos islanders from their homeland in the late 1960s. Will the Minister assure me that, as we go forward, Chagos islands human rights will be better respected in terms of a right of return and nationality issues?

[Andrew Stephenson]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for always doing all he can to speak up for his constituents. The United Kingdom Government have expressed sincere regret over this issue; however, in November 2016, the UK Government announced that the resettlement of Chagossians would not be supported on the grounds of feasibility, defence or security interests. The UK Government continue to the work with Chagossian communities to design a support package worth approximately £40 million, the intent of which is to support Chagossians here in the United Kingdom.

Climate Change, the Environment and Global Development

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Henry Smith

Wednesday 10th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson]

We are the best in the G20 in terms of our reductions. Between 1990 and 2017 we reduced our emissions by 42% while growing our economy by 72%. I will happily take some criticism from the Committee on Climate Change, but we should acknowledge that this country is a global leader in our efforts to tackle climate change.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I congratulate the Government on leading the way as the first major industrial country to call for net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We lead the world on our international development commitments, and as a member of the International Development Committee—the Committee is meeting in a few minutes’ time, which is why many members of the Committee are not here today—may I urge the Government to make sure we do so on the environment, too?

[Andrew Stephenson]

I thank my hon. Friend for what he says, and I pay tribute to him and to other members of the International Development Committee for their inquiry on this subject. I know the Committee heard many different pieces of evidence, and it made firm recommendations to the Government. I hope we will have the official response soon—hopefully next week—and then we can all reflect on how we can go further and faster, because we do need to go further and faster in all these areas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Henry Smith

Tuesday 10th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to support the aerospace industry.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

16. What steps he is taking to support the aerospace industry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Henry Smith

Monday 15th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

13. What steps she is taking to empower local communities to tackle alcohol-related antisocial behaviour.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

14. What steps she is taking to empower local communities to tackle alcohol-related antisocial behaviour.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Henry Smith

Thursday 22nd March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

7. What steps he is taking to improve the effectiveness of scrutiny of legislation.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

8. What steps he is taking to improve the effectiveness of scrutiny of legislation.