Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Nigel Adams and Marion Fellows(2 years, 5 months ago)
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Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)
The Minister without Portfolio (Nigel Adams)
The Government do not currently plan to conduct a review. The constitutional position in this country is that the Prime Minister is responsible for advising Her Majesty on appointments to the House of Lords. The House of Lords Appointments Commission offers the Prime Minister probity advice and can make Cross-Bench recommendations concerning these appointments.
Nigel Adams
The answer to the hon. Gentleman’s final point is no. Peerages reflect long-standing contributions to civic life and a willingness to further contribute to public life. In Britain, taxpayers do not have to bankroll political parties’ campaigning. We must be transparent about donations, but those who oppose party fundraising need to explain how many millions they want taxpayers to pay for state funding instead.
Marion Fellows
The Minister may deny that the House of Lords is crony-stuffed, but 15 of the last 16 Tory treasurers gave £3 million to the Tory party to get a life peerage and 80% of the UK public think that corruption is fairly or very present in our politics. Does he agree that abolishing the House of Lords—this is another chance—would send out a clear anti-corruption message by ensuring that friends of a sitting Government are never again given life power over our democracy in exchange for their donations?
Nigel Adams
I have a lot of time for the hon. Lady, but we will not be abolishing the House of Lords any time soon. Peerages, as I said, reflect long-standing contributions to civic life and give these people an opportunity to put something back and contribute to public life.
Uyghur Slave Labour: Xinjiang
Debate between Nigel Adams and Marion Fellows(3 years, 4 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend is right to raise this again. We welcome the Chief Rabbi’s intervention, and we share his serious concerns about the violations that are being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. I can assure my hon. Friend that we are playing a leading role internationally in holding China to account for these violations. We have led or co-ordinated multiple joint statements on this issue. This groundswell of international concern does send a powerful message, and I can assure him that it is increasing the pressure on the Chinese authorities to change course.
Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) [V]
As future post-Brexit trade deals are negotiated, can the Minister confirm that the UK will not back down on its moral and ethical principles to secure any economic gains and that China agreeing to put an end to violations of its citizens’ human rights is an unmoveable precondition to the UK signing such a deal?
Nigel Adams
The hon. Lady raises a really important point. We have a high level of ambition for our trade and investment partnership with China. We want to work with China to increase trade and investment flows, to make sure that our companies can get market access and to set a mutual ambition for a future relationship, but as we strive for that positive future relationship, we will not sacrifice either our values or our security.
Xinjiang: Uyghurs
Debate between Nigel Adams and Marion Fellows(3 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) [V]
The actions of China would today be considered one of the most serious threats to human rights in any state anywhere in the world. Hongkongers are facing intervention, against international law. Millions are imprisoned for their ethnicity, and these reports of forced sterilisation—if proven to be true—now show the full extent of China’s disregard for human rights. Given the question marks over that country, how can this Government, in good conscience, pursue a commercial agreement with Huawei—a company with direct ties to the Communist party of China?
Nigel Adams
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. We have always been very clear-eyed about the challenge posed by Huawei. She will be aware that, following the US announcement of additional sanctions against that company, the National Cyber Security Centre has been looking carefully at any impact that it could have on the UK’s networks. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has received that advice and will respond in due course. She is right to raise serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang.