Devolution (Implications for England)

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 16th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I take that issue very seriously, as does my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. It is possible for shire counties to join in city deals—just because they are called city deals does not mean they are only for the cities—but I will also be meeting the County Councils Network in the near future to hear its representations.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

As the Leader of the House presses his version of “WesLo-min” for devo-max, does he recognise that some of us do screen ourselves out of voting on legislation that is wholly and solely English? However, many Bills here contain clauses that are varied and variable in scope. In addition, Bills that purport to be “English-only” do have implications for the base loading of the Barnett formula and others represent issues of principle or precedent such as makes them predictive legislation, not least the Welfare Reform Act 2012, which led to the expectation that a karaoke Bill would be passed through the Northern Ireland Assembly. So should people not vote on those issues here?

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman makes some important points and illustrates the complexity of our current arrangements; decisions about welfare payments in England of course have an immediate effect in Northern Ireland as well. Nobody is suggesting that Members of this House should be excluded from voting on matters that do affect their constituents; we are simply talking about determining whether there is English consent to proposals on matters that, in the words of McKay, have a “separate and distinct effect” for England and on England.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 17th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Has the Secretary of State emphasised to the Israeli Government that travel restrictions or other constraints that would prevent Ministers in the technocratic Government from meeting will mean only that they are unable to meet their responsibilities not just to all Palestinians but to the peace process?

[Mr Hague]

Of course we want the technocratic Government of the Palestinian Authority to be able to function. They have committed themselves to the Quartet principles—that, to us, is a very important test—and so we want them to be able to function and to make decisions.

Sri Harmandir Sahib

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 4th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

It seems to have been unique in the context of operations in the Punjab—this is the only such occurrence the Cabinet Secretary has discovered—but globally there will, of course, have been many other occasions in the 1980s when Governments of other countries asked the United Kingdom for military advice, and occasionally Ministers have to deal with that today, so it is not unusual for a foreign country with friendly relations with the UK to ask for military advice.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

According to the Heywood report, the recommendation and decision to agree to the request were based on advice from the British high commission that it would be good for the bilateral relationship, whereas refusal would not be understood by the Indian Prime Minister. However, the report does not tell us—perhaps the Foreign Secretary can—whether the high commission’s recommendation gave consideration to the special sensitivity and sacredness of the Golden Temple site or whether the British Government’s decision to accept the advice gave consideration to the special status of the site?

[Mr Hague]

Further documents, which the hon. Gentleman can study, have been published and attached to the report, and that is the information we have on the motivations and decisions of Ministers and diplomats at the time. Everyone can read the documents for themselves. It is evident from the UK military adviser’s report that he advised that military action in this—and presumably in any other—context should be taken only if negotiations failed. I imagine people would have been conscious of the great significance of the site and the delicacy of the situation, but we can only go for sure on the documents that are there and what they say, and he can read them like the rest of us.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 21st January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I could not possibly disagree with that observation. I congratulate Fresh Start and Open Europe on holding the conference last week, which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor addressed. It was interesting that people were there from many other EU countries who want to have the discussion on how the EU becomes more flexible and more competitive, with greater accountability to national Parliaments. That is the debate we are leading.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

T5. Further to the case raised by the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery) on Colombia, will the Minister address the case of Huber Ballesteros, who will face trial in a number of weeks, also on a contrived charge of rebellion? Will he address these human rights issues in a way that does not just send a signal to the Santos regime that they somehow fall within a margin of tolerable excess in the context of a peace process?

Iran and Syria

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 11th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

The Foreign Secretary has expressed a determination to see a direct role for women’s groups in Syrian peace talks and has stated that he will work with others to support such participation if it can be realised. Is he encouraged about the prospects, and how is the Syrian National Coalition responding to his encouragement to include women in its delegation?

[Mr Hague]

I am encouraged by some of the response, and I pay tribute to the work already done by the Government of the Netherlands to push this idea; we will work closely with them. I think that there is a lot of support for this at the UN, and we will be very determined about it, so yes I am encouraged by some of the initial reaction. Now that the Syrian National Coalition has made its decision in principle about attendance at the Geneva II talks, we will start going into these sorts of issues in more detail with it.

Iran

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 17th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, my hon. Friend is right. There are many ways in which greater transparency can be demonstrated. The International Atomic Energy Agency has pointed to Iran’s failure to provide design information on the heavy water research reactor at Arak and its failure to provide substantive answers to the agency’s detailed questions on the activities undertaken at Parchin. Iran needs urgently to provide the agency with access to all the sites, equipment, persons and documents requested by the agency. There is therefore a good deal of scope for increased transparency.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

The flickering prospect delivered by this result comes from the Iranian people. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that they deserve to understand that our concern to safeguard their human rights is not merely secondary to our nuclear and regional concerns? Given the abuse of the opposition and religious minorities to which he has referred, will he provide an assurance that the current circumstances will not be used by this or any other Government as an excuse to return people who have escaped from Iran and sought refugee status to a place of risk?

[Mr Hague]

The last point is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, but clearly our policy can change only if the circumstances change. The fact that there has been a certain election result does not mean that we can judge immediately that everything has changed. The hon. Gentleman is right to refer to the importance of the human rights issues. The fact that we designate individuals for human rights violations under our sanctions legislation shows how seriously we take such matters. I stress that the main issue of contention in international relations between ourselves and Iran, and between most other countries in the world and Iran, is the nuclear issue. If we could solve that, there would be many new ways in which we could work together. That does not mean that we would stop deploring human rights violations in Iran or in any other country, but solving that issue would be a major diplomatic breakthrough.

Syria

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 6th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

It is not for us to decide who is in power in any other country, including in Syria. It is the position of the Syrian National Coalition and all opposition groups that they want to see the departure of President Assad, but we will not be more like the Syrian opposition than the Syrian opposition. Mr al-Khatib has said that he is prepared to negotiate with the regime without Assad going first and that is a position we should support. It is impossible for any observer of these events to see President Assad ever again being able to unify or govern the country, so we say he should go, but the opposition has offered to negotiate and that is the right thing to do.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

It is clear that the House shares the sense of humanitarian urgency that the Foreign Secretary has articulated so well, but many are also concerned that that urgency should not entail a working disregard for the true character and real agenda of some of the opposition forces. May I acknowledge the particular principles expressed by the Foreign Secretary today? Our foreign policy is inseparable from upholding human rights, protecting lives and supporting international law; we must assist the genuine moderate and democratic forces who are in dire need of help and who feel abandoned by the international community; and we cannot look the other way while international law and human rights are flouted. When will we see those principles manifested in the Government’s engagement in other situations, including Palestine?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 22nd January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

To be clear, the Israeli response is to the passing of the Palestinian resolution, not to the UK abstention; the hon. Gentleman may have misunderstood the motivation behind Israel’s policy, which clearly relates to the passing of the resolution.

As to the implications for future relations with the EU, provided that there is a major initiative on the peace process, in particular from Washington, we will all have to work out the “incentives and disincentives” that we can create to support that. But of course that is work to be done over the coming weeks and months.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

10. What assessment he has made of reported clashes between Sri Lankan security forces and Jaffna university students and the situation of those who have been arrested and detained.

Palestinian Resolution (United Nations)

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 28th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, my hon. Friend puts it very well. This has moved rapidly to the top of the list of international priorities, and this is the time to do so. Given that, as we discussed, it is the beginning of a second term in Washington and the Israeli election campaign concludes in January, it is an important moment to try to achieve exactly what he describes.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

May I ask the Foreign Secretary to show a little less neck to the Palestinians and a little more backbone to the Israelis? He referred to the Northern Ireland peace process. One of the lessons of that is that when give and take is not happening between the parties immediately involved, responsible external weight can be used to establish necessary givens, even against the shrill opposition of key elements at the time. Has he no fear that an abstention tomorrow will only undermine President Abbas and underwrite an Israeli veto in terms that will be seen to underwrite the very Israeli violations that he himself has condemned?

[Mr Hague]

No, I do not think so. I gave the reasons earlier why I do not think that undermines President Abbas at all. Indeed, in his phone call last night with the Deputy Prime Minister, President Abbas was clear about the strong and continuing friendship between us, irrespective of the vote tomorrow. I defer to Northern Ireland Members on some of the lessons of the peace process, but here that requires external parties to say, “Above all, you are going to have to be pushed back into negotiations.” That means pressure on both sides. This is an example of us exerting that pressure on both sides, so the hon. Gentleman should welcome that.

Middle East

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 20th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, of course that is right. I read about the cricket tour, and I applaud that initiative. If cricket can be brought to Israel, peace can be brought to the middle east. It gives us hope for the future. Any nation will wish to protect its own citizens against attack, of course, but at the same time any nation must try to ensure that there is long-term security and peace, so it is very important that Israel does that, as I mentioned a few moments ago.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

In equally condemning terrorising violence against civilians, whether they are in southern Israel or in Gaza, we cannot all subscribe to the hierarchy of blame offered by the Foreign Secretary for the immediate crisis. On the UN resolution, which is a modest proposal from Palestine, does the Secretary of State not believe that if time is running out for a two-state solution, it is time that the international community took the chance to create more of a semblance of a two-state process?

[Mr Hague]

As I explained earlier, that is a completely acceptable argument. The frustrations are intense and there has been completely inadequate progress in recent years. We have to judge what is the best hope for that now, and I do not believe that a debate and vote on a resolution at the General Assembly will improve matters. If it happens, we will do everything we can to try to make it improve matters but it will make things more difficult for the US Administration and possibly for the Israeli Government, whatever their intentions, to engage in the peace process over the coming months. That is why at this moment—not for ever—I counsel against it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

That does not mean that I am going to give a very full or enlightening answer. My hon. Friend is comparing apples with oranges when he talks about the voting age in one referendum and the time elapsed since another referendum. I am sure that he appreciates that.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

In Azerbaijan there is continuing arbitrary detention, torture and trumped-up charges against human rights defenders, journalists and now even YouTube uploaders. What active interest is the Government taking in relation to a number of recent and current cases in the courts?

Syria

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 11th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Russia has a range of defence and, one has to assume, intelligence interests in Syria, and they will all be factors in Russia’s alliance with the Assad regime and in the way Russia has acted over the past year to protect the regime. It is hard to rank those things, but they will all be factors. However, Russia’s important interests in Syria should also now be factors in Russia using all possible leverage to bring about a peaceful transition in Syria, rather than a continuation of the current situation, which could bring about the collapse of the country and, indeed, a very clear danger to all those same Russian interests.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Is the Foreign Secretary worried that a failure to agree on an international conference in, for example, the context of the Mexico meetings could be used as a top-up for the diplomatic “excusory” that we have already had from Russia? In the event of a failure to agree on such a conference, what quick, visible and credible alternative does he envisage?

[Mr Hague]

Of course it is possible that if we cannot agree the terms of an international conference, some commentators or other nations will say, “Well done; we tried, but we weren’t able to go forward that way.” However, it is important for us to try to ensure that such an international conference would actually achieve something. Also, we do not want an international conference that simply allows the regime to play for time. It is therefore necessary for us to negotiate on the terms of such a conference, even though that means that there is some risk of its not being able to take place. If we do not succeed in bringing about such a conference, then our recourse will be to the United Nations Security Council. I mentioned in my statement that we are already working on elements of a draft resolution that would greatly strengthen the previous resolutions. That would return us to the same problem of winning Russian and Chinese co-operation, but it would return the matter to that forum.

British Embassy (Tehran)

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 30th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. In recent times, and particularly during the period this year that we now know as the Arab spring, Iran has become a more repressive system—with greater persecution of minorities, more widespread imprisonment and persecution of journalists, and the house arrest of the two leading Opposition leaders. The constant persecution of members of the Baha’i faith is a very sharp and terrible example of that. My right hon. Friend is right to point to the wider failure to observe the Iranians’ own laws and obligations.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I join the Foreign Secretary in expressing regard for the personnel involved and in his unequivocal indictment of regime complicity in these deplorable attacks. On the respective embassy closures, do the Government have in mind particular conditions for their reopening—conditions that would be clearly and readily achievable? Otherwise there is the danger of a spiral of deterioration, of the UK’s position becoming conflated with that of the US and of the UK becoming dependent on the vicarious good offices of others.

[Mr Hague]

That is a fair question, but the hon. Gentleman will be aware that this has just happened and it is too early to set out such conditions. Clearly, any reopening of the embassies could take place only in a much improved situation in respect of relations with Iran. I would not want to set out those conditions prematurely; we will have to consider the matter over time.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 29th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, my hon. Friend points to a very important development. We have long advocated the liberalising and the opening up of the Indian economy. This will be vastly beneficial to the people of India and to the growth of trade. We want to see progress made on a free trade agreement between India and the whole of the European Union.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Of all the principal concerns and exhortations that the Foreign Secretary has conveyed to the Israeli Government, to which, if any, have they paid most attention?

[Mr Hague]

I hope, of course, that they will pay attention to the entirety of our representations, and to the strong feeling in this House and across the world that it is important to make a decisive move to reach a two-state solution to help to avoid the future strategic isolation of Israel. It is, therefore, the entirety of our representations that I would urge upon them.

Africa and the Middle East

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 29th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Along with much else in the statement, I welcome the urgent attention that the Foreign Secretary is giving to events in Sudan. May I join him in welcoming the ICC’s warrant for the arrest of Gaddafi for his crimes, but should those who provided him with the infrastructure of repression and the weaponry for civilian slaughter not also be deemed complicit in the scale of his crimes?

[Mr Hague]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those words. We will need to reflect on those things over time and learn lessons from them in the future, but let us remember that the ICC is dealing with the people most directly culpable for crimes against humanity. It is important that its work is concentrated on those individuals, but there will certainly be wider lessons to learn.

Middle East and North Africa

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 7th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Israel does have the right to defend its borders but it must do so in a sensible and proportionate way; I think we should stress that. I have no direct evidence of Iranian involvement in the events around the borders of Israel but I have seen a good deal of evidence of Iranian involvement in Syria in attempting to crush dissent, including in the provision of riot control equipment and of expertise in how to flood particular towns and cities with security forces for the purposes of repression. Iran has a strong role in trying to quell the views of the people of Syria and we should condemn it for doing so.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Although I acknowledge the scope and energy of the Foreign Secretary’s personal engagement on these issues, he must accept that there is some concern that he chooses to use language that is so elliptical in relation to some clear-cut events in comparison with others. On the Syrian resolution that the Government are seeking, does any of the resistance voiced include any reference to the possibility that the existing resolution on Libya is being exceeded? If so, how does he refute that?

[Mr Hague]

I do not think that that is a major factor in this. As has been pointed out by hon. Members earlier, Russia, which was not an enthusiast for the Security Council resolution on Libya, has conceded at the G8 that Gaddafi has lost legitimacy and must go. When it comes to the resolution on Syria there are other factors at work. Syria has stronger relationships with various countries around the Arab world and with Russia than Libya has had in recent years. There are more powerful factors at work in making countries reluctant to condemn the Syrian Government, but if these events continue as they are, it must be acknowledged across capitals all over the world that the Syrian Government’s behaviour is unacceptable and we will make a renewed push at the United Nations on that basis.

Africa and the Middle East

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 4th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The strength and determination of the attacks that the regime has mounted on, for example, Misrata, illustrate their determination to try to secure by military force areas in the west of Libya so that if they cannot reconquer the whole country, they can declare an east-west divide, playing on history and trying to return to those days. As well as the humanitarian reasons, that is why it is important for us to support the people of Misrata and try to defend them from attack. The vast majority of Libyans with whom I have discussed these affairs, in the opposition and in the regime, strongly support Libya’s territorial integrity and want a united future for their country. They do not agree with any Gaddafi intention to partition it, or to hang on in part of the country.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

The Foreign Secretary referred to his discussions this morning with Jean Ping about the terrible situation in Côte d’Ivoire. Was he also able to discuss Libya with him? Has he got any clearer understanding of African Union perspectives on that? Was he able to give or take any encouragement about possible African Union influences that might be used, in keeping with what was envisaged in UN resolution 1973?

[Mr Hague]

As the hon. Gentleman can imagine, we discussed Côte d’Ivoire, but also Libya at great length. Mr Ping was clear that the African Union also felt that Gaddafi should go—the vast majority of African Union leaders have no disagreement with us about that. Some African nations might disagree, but the vast majority of the African Union believe that it is inevitable and right. I have encouraged Mr Ping to engage more closely with our work in the contact group. Indeed, I have invited the African Union to the contact group meeting in Doha at the end of next week. It will have to decide at its meeting in Mauritania this weekend whether to attend the Doha meeting, but I see no obstacle to the African Union’s joining in a meeting, where the United Nations is present. I think that we have established this morning a closer working relationship on those matters.

Libya (London Conference)

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 30th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I must be clear with my hon. Friend, as I have been with other hon. Members, that our military mission is defined by the United Nations resolution. As one or two Members have pointed out, neither the mission nor the resolution includes regime change. Yes, we think Gaddafi should go, as does any rational person on earth—it is impossible to see a viable future for his country while he remains there—but in our military activity we will stick absolutely to what is laid out in the UN resolution.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I note that the Foreign Secretary has not told us how much of the Gaddafi hardware now being targeted by coalition forces was provided by those countries in the first place. He also knows that in the debate of 21 March the Government clearly resiled from calls to arm the rebels and offered assurances regarding regime change and questions about the future governance of Libya. They also told us that there was international consensus on a clear and focused interpretation. Does he agree that those interpretations have been moving and varied since then, and is not the spin shift of the past 10 days evidence that the Government and the coalition are struggling to defy gravity and are being sucked into mission creep?

[Mr Hague]

No, that is entirely wrong. I wish the hon. Gentleman could have come along to the conference yesterday. If he had, he would have seen the degree of international support—indeed, unanimity—for these things, which is quite extraordinary for an international event involving such a varied group of nations from both sides of the Atlantic and around the middle east. That international consensus has been strengthened, the international focus on the UN resolution is as strong as it was at the beginning and our commitment to operate within it is as strong as it was at the beginning, so we are not engaging in any mission creep.

North Africa and the Middle East

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I join the Foreign Secretary in condemning the terrorist murder in Jerusalem, and equally the deadly attacks on civilians on Gaza.

The Foreign Secretary has said that the conference on Tuesday will be very much aimed at looking at the whole of the UN resolution. The second item of that refers not only to the high delegation from the African Union but to the UN special envoy. It is also the part that refers to a peaceful and sustainable solution. Will he ensure that that is given due consideration on Tuesday, because there needs to be greater understanding about its meaning and its prospects, and we need to ensure that any pursuit of it is not undermined by any military measures undertaken through other mandates in the resolution?

[Mr Hague]

Yes—basically. It is important to have regard to all elements of the resolution and to ensure that all the international organisations to which the hon. Gentleman refers are involved. I would stress that the creation of a ceasefire and bringing about an end to violence, which is what we are engaged in now—the protection of civilians and implementing those aspects of the resolution—are essential to the kind of work to which he refers, because at the moment there is not the right atmosphere for any of that other work to take place. We will have regard to the whole of the resolution at the meeting in London.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 15th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

These things are of course to be decided in Egypt itself. There has been a tremendous chain of events, which led to the revolution in Egypt. The clear aspiration of the people of Egypt is to have not only good economic development but an open and democratic political system. That will mean the holding of elections, and in the view of the interim Government it means the holding of the referendum as well. It is not for us to determine the outcome of that referendum or what questions are put in it, but it is for us to urge that it is properly and fairly conducted. We would certainly encourage the Egyptian authorities to allow international observers to observe the referendum and the subsequent elections.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

In the UK Government’s diplomatic contribution to current considerations in Egypt and to its future governance, will they have regard to the rights and interests of all minorities there, including Christians?

Middle East

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 14th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, we are in discussion with all of our allies. I had an extensive discussion on north Africa and the middle east during my previous meeting with the French Foreign Minister, and we also discussed these matters at the Foreign Affairs Council on 31 January in Brussels. The situation in Algeria is also uncertain; a demonstration took place there at the weekend and its Government have announced certain reforms, including better media access for opposition groups, and economic and social reforms. That is a further illustration of how Governments across the region are noticing that they need to embark on those things to give better hope and prospects to their populations.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I welcome the strength and balance of the Foreign Secretary’s tone on the middle east peace process. He says that the Government are friends to both Israelis and Palestinians, but does he believe that that statement is believed and understood equally by Israelis and Palestinians? What confidence can he give those who have cause to doubt based on experience?

[Mr Hague]

I hope that it is believed and understood. It is meant sincerely, by not only this Government but the previous Government and hon. Members from right across the House, that we want security and prosperity for all Israelis and Palestinians for the future. We want a secure Israel living alongside a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. Of course, every time one makes a policy announcement or expresses a preference for talks to resume in certain conditions, that can be seen as taking sides in some way, but that should not hold us back from advocating those things. This country believes these things and means them very sincerely, so let us all underline that fact.

Kabul Conference

Debate between Mark Durkan and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 21st July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I recognise that it is my hon. Friend’s constituents who will go out to Afghanistan, and that is often the case with me—Catterick garrison is in my constituency and many of the forces based there have been in Afghanistan in recent months. He is right to point out what has happened with the Kajaki dam, but it is also important to point out the improvements that are now taking place and will be taking place in Afghanistan under the commitments given at the Kabul conference. They include priority programmes on agriculture, on access to safe drinking water, on half a million more jobs in agriculture, and on training in technical skills in the next three years up to 300,000 people who have never attended school, so that we can see—as long as these plans are implemented—major improvements in the lives of the people of Afghanistan.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

There are some future risks in having an ever-stronger Afghan army if it is alongside a still systemically corrupt and weak Government. The Foreign Secretary referred in his statement to the Afghan Government’s drawing together for the first time across government a strategy to deliver widespread reform. However, toward the end of his statement he also acknowledged that measures to enforce transparency, anti-corruption and accountability have slipped. Can he therefore tell us how credible Karzai’s commitment is to a reform strategy, how robust the plans are, and how reliable the oversight and review mechanisms to which he referred will be? Will they ensure that the process of reintegration will not involve simply creating a new matrix of corruption?