Ukraine, Middle East, North Africa and Security

David T C Davies Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

When Parliament met last year to discuss military action in Syria, I asked myself two questions. The first was: does Assad’s Government pose some sort of threat to the United Kingdom? In my opinion, the answer was, and still is, clearly no. The second question that was important to answer was: would the action we took be likely to improve things for the civilians living in Syria? Again I felt that the answer was no. That was based partly on conversations that I had had in Syria with leaders of Christian communities, who condemned Assad but warned that the alternatives would be far worse. In considering whether we should support military action against ISIS, as we are now, I asked myself the same questions.

This has been a tremendous debate. I have listened with interest and have learned something from virtually everyone who has spoken. I have agreed with much that has been said by Opposition Members. This time, I have come up with slightly different answers. I believe that ISIS does pose a threat to the United Kingdom. Its aim is to spread its warped version of its religion at the point of a sword. Many of its followers come from Britain and may come back to Britain and commit atrocities here. My answer to the question whether intervention would help civilians in the area is also yes. It would help not only the Christians, but the Yazidis, the Kurds, the Shi’a and even the Sunni Muslims who do not want that kind of Sunni Islam to be imposed upon them. I therefore believe that there are humanitarian reasons for taking military action.

If that conclusion is correct, we have to consider working with other people who are opposed to ISIS. That clearly means talking to Iran, which has an enormous role in the region. Uncomfortable though it may be for some, myself included, it also means considering talks of some sort with Assad’s Government. I am mindful that during the second world war we were forced to work with Stalin, who killed more people than Hitler. We were right to do so, because Hitler posed the obvious threat to our security. Since then, we have continued to work with regimes with dubious human rights records because we have been afraid of the alternatives. If we are committed to ridding ourselves of the evil that is ISIS, we have to be willing to work with anyone who is prepared to share the commitment to get rid of it.

Gibraltar

David T C Davies Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mark Simmonds]

The right hon. Gentleman makes a very fair point, and that is why, while we are making sure that we deter, as far as possible, any further incursion into those waters and are trying to put in place mechanisms to resolve the challenges and the significant unacceptable delays at the border, the focus is on returning to the talks—both the ad hoc talks that the Foreign Secretary proposed in April 2012 and, hopefully, the tripartite talks that were under way before the current Spanish Government came to power, in which there was detailed discussion of the operation of the border and other matters between the Spanish, British and Gibraltarian Governments. In the long term, that has to be the way forward.

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

Given the Spanish Government’s sudden enthusiasm for rigorous border controls, will the UK Government consider setting up a special line at Heathrow airport for planes coming from Spain, and a line dedicated to Spanish passport holders, so that we can show the same rigour with regard to their entry to the United Kingdom as they are showing in allowing our citizens to enter Spain from Gibraltar?

[Mark Simmonds]

My hon. Friend makes a passionate point, but he will no doubt be aware that the majority of people who are inconvenienced by the significant delays at the Spanish-Gibraltar border are Spanish citizens trying to get into Gibraltar; many of them work there. We have to try to make sure that the Spanish implement what the European Commission set out in its correspondence with Spain, which I outlined earlier, to ensure that any citizen of any country wishing to travel across the border between Spain and Gibraltar can do so in an expeditious manner.

Iran and Syria

David T C Davies Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

That is very much something that we discuss with the Arab League and its individual members. When we are looking for greater contributions to humanitarian support, it comes bilaterally from the individual Arab nations. Many of them are substantial contributors to humanitarian assistance, although not always through UN channels. We will encourage them to do more. The fact that Kuwait is holding the next donor conference in the middle of January is a strong signal of the commitment of Gulf states to assist. Of course, we will encourage that hard over the coming weeks.

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

May I commend the Foreign Secretary for his efforts to normalise relations with Iran? How much support does he think there is for the Syrian National Council among the Shi’a, Christian and Alawite minorities? Does he agree that, without their support, no future Government will be stable?

[Mr Hague]

The Syrian National Coalition represents many groups, communities and political persuasions. For instance, I mentioned in my statement that the Kurdish National Council will become part of the national coalition. The coalition has Christian representatives, not only among its membership, but among the leaders of the national council, which is a component of the national coalition. It has to be said that most Alawite support in Syria sticks with the Assad regime. However, I believe that it is important for Alawites to see that a political solution, along the lines of a transitional Government, is necessary for progress to be made.

Oral Answers to Questions

David T C Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I absolutely will. I welcome everything that the right hon. Gentleman has just said and I think that that message should resound clearly from both sides of this House—his question means that it does so.

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

Since geographical proximity has become such a priority for the Spanish over national borders, will the Foreign Secretary instead suggest at the next meeting that they turn their attentions to Ceuta and perhaps hand it back to the Moroccans, who have been after it for many years?

Oral Answers to Questions

David T C Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 28th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Bellingham]

On 17 January, the European Commission released its analysis of the incompatibility of specific elements of the new Hungarian constitution with EU treaty obligations. Letters of formal notice were sent to the Hungarian Government as the first stage of EU infringement proceedings.

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

Notwithstanding the EU’s concerns, is it not the case that the vast majority of Hungarians voted for Fidesz at the last election? We should remember that that party is led by a man who was at the forefront of the battle against the socialist dictatorship in Hungary, a country in which I have a great personal interest.

[Mr Bellingham]

I certainly respect the will of the Hungarian electorate. However, we strongly urge the Hungarian authorities to consider the implications of the new laws for political balance and to work with the Commission to ensure that the laws are consistent with EU norms.

Council of Europe (UK Chairmanship)

David T C Davies Excerpts

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks.

In February we debated the sovereignty and decision making of this House in relation to a particular judgment. By refusing to accept the sovereignty of our Parliament and the democratic decision making of this House, Europe is demonstrating a lack of legitimacy and democratic accountability, which I find astonishing given that the Council of Europe was established precisely to promote democracy. Therefore, in my view, attacking our Parliament and seeking to undermine our democracy is simply counter-productive.

The prisoner votes issue is just one well-known example of the problem—and it is still ongoing. There are other similar Strasbourg decisions, however, such as in the Sufi and Elmi case, where Britain was prevented on human rights grounds from deporting two individuals back to Somalia, despite their being responsible for a very serious spate of crimes, including threats to kill, robbery and dealing in class A drugs. We should bear in mind that such decisions can end up setting a legal precedent, so they can impact on subsequent deportation cases. In the Sufi and Elmi case, human rights were used as an excuse to allow people to remain in Britain.

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a number of excellent points. Does she agree that the human rights of violent criminals and terrorists are too often being put ahead of the human rights of law-abiding British subjects? She is right to draw attention to that.

[Priti Patel]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that point so clearly and succinctly. Our chairmanship of the Council of Europe is coming up and this is a big opportunity for us to address, if nothing else, the perception issues and the fact that we need to remain vigilant on these matters to ensure that powers and decision making stay in this country.

In pulling my remarks together, I wish to emphasise to the Minister and the Government that there are issues to be addressed. Britain is signed up to a range of international agreements on human rights-related matters, which are all welcome and important. However, decisions on human rights laws must be brought back home, because having British courts interpreting British laws is a better and more democratic position than having European judges and their officials ignoring our national interest. It is unhelpful and counter-productive for them to be foisting their particular laws on us.

It is time to draw a line in the sand on many of these matters, and to free up our courts, our public bodies and, in particular, Parliament from some of the excessive intrusion and integration on human rights matters that we have seen. I hope that, through the chairmanship of the Council of Europe, the Government will take this opportunity to address these matters, in addition to the areas of priority that the Minister outlined.

--- Later in debate ---

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

May I, too, begin by congratulating the Europe Minister on a speech that I think united not just all on the Government Benches but many members of all parties? It is obvious that he intends the chairmanship of the Council of Europe to be used in a positive way and to reform the European Court of Human Rights, which I fully support. That institution was set up in 1949, as we have heard, when we had just come out of a war against dictators and other dictators were still ruling parts of Europe—as they did until well into my lifetime, in the 1970s. It was right that a country with 1,000 years of democracy and a history of supporting human rights should be part of that process, and we should be proud of what we have done and achieved. However, there are things that have come out of the Court that rightly give everyone concern. I wish briefly to mention two with which I have had a personal involvement.

First, a lady came to speak at a meeting I organised about four years ago. I have not spoken to her this afternoon, so I will not mention her name, but she has been in the papers. She was the victim of a sexual assault by somebody who had five convictions for sexually assaulting women, but who was successfully able to use article 8 of the European convention on human rights to ensure that he was not deported back to Sierra Leone. That is a very good example of the human rights of women in this country not being put first. We are putting the rights of rapists and serial sex attackers first, and that has to be wrong.

The second issue, which has also been mentioned today, is the interference in the Government’s decision to try to raise the age for marrying a foreign spouse from 18 to 21. When I served on the Home Affairs Committee under the excellent chairmanship of the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz), who was here earlier, we took part in an inquiry into forced marriages. We heard terrible and shocking evidence that they were widespread in some communities, and that some young women had said in private to British embassy officials, “Please don’t give this man a visa. I don’t want to marry him,” but were unable to say that in public because of family pressure. As a result, judges in immigration tribunals did not take account of evidence that had been given in private, and they granted spouse visas. That is why the Government wanted to raise the age—to protect the human rights of young females in certain communities in this country. That should be a priority.

I absolutely support gay rights and think it is totally unacceptable that anyone should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. I sometimes think, though, that that battle has already been won. I would not have thought that many people would think that acceptable any more, certainly in this country. I therefore wonder whether we should prioritise what I think is an even bigger issue for all of us—the thousands of young girls in this country and across Europe, and young males in some instances, who become the victims of forced marriage, domestic slavery, genital mutilation and other such completely unacceptable things.

I am not a member of the Council of Europe, although I would be more than happy to support it in any way if I were asked to do so. None the less, I look forward very much to the UK’s chairmanship of that organisation, and to seeing some of the reforms that have been mentioned today.

Africa and the Middle East

David T C Davies Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Such decisions are made not by me but my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. She has to take into account all relevant considerations, and I have absolute confidence in her doing so.

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that his efforts abroad are undermined when we allow racist, homophobic extremists such as Raed Salah to come into the country and stir up hatred? What we need is peace across Europe and the rest of the middle east.

[Mr Hague]

That is the alternative view to that expressed by the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), who has received his answer.

Western Sahara

David T C Davies Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)]

I will, of course, be extremely brief, because I know that the Minister wants to respond.

I should like to declare that I was in Laayoune about two weeks ago as a guest of the Moroccan Government, along with several other parliamentarians. There were no problems at all with getting access and moving around, and in our discussions with MINURSO, it made it clear that at no time had it had any problems in that regard. It made it pretty clear to us that it felt the Moroccan Government had behaved well on human rights issues in the area. That came from a completely independent body, and we should take it seriously.

The dispute is long running, and it is important for all of us that it is settled. I may not be an expert on north Africa, but I know a thing or two about devolution and the need to compromise sometimes. That is why it is important that we look very favourably at the autonomy agreement, which would provide far more autonomy than has been granted to Wales or Scotland. In fact, I would definitely have opposed it had it been offered in Wales or Scotland, because it is a big step on the route to independence. If that is what is required to settle the problems of the region, and to allow the Sahrawi people the access to human rights and growing wealth that we have seen around the rest of Morocco, we should view it favourably.