Devolution (Implications for England)

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 16th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The answer is that Members of the other House are not elected representatives of any particular part of the country. [Interruption.] That is the answer. If the hon. Gentleman did not know the answer to that, he does not know the answer to very much. He should be careful about going into the history of the Act of Union with Ireland. He is quite right that William Pitt the Younger advocated that all Members of this House should be equal, but that is because the Irish House of Commons voted itself out of existence in 1799, and the decision was made to have a Union Parliament without any devolved Parliaments. What has happened in the past 15 years is the introduction of devolved Parliaments, so we have an entirely different situation from that prevailing in 1800.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

The issue of cross-border health care, which has been mentioned on a couple of occasions, demonstrates the unfairness of the current system. I have constituents who are registered with GPs in Wales over whom there is no democratic accountability whatever. The cross-border health care issues demonstrate the unfairness of the current system and the urgent need to introduce English votes for English laws.

[Mr Hague]

Yes, as my hon. Friend says, this can be unfair in both directions. He makes an important point about his constituents, and it is a further reason why we have to enhance the rights of English Members of Parliament on English matters in this House.

Iran and Syria

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 11th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, I do agree with that. Close Iranian links with Hezbollah are one of the reasons Iran sends such active and enormous assistance to the Assad regime, because that is the physical connection with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Such support does not contribute—far from it—to international peace and security. I hope that in due course we will address all those issues together, but the right hon. Gentleman will understand that we must first take on the nuclear programme.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

Despite last month’s UN Security Council presidential statement, the Assad Government are still blocking aid to Syria. During the Foreign Secretary’s discussions last week with the Russian Foreign Minister, did the Russian Government make any firm commitment to put pressure on the Assad Government to allow humanitarian relief into Syria?

[Mr Hague]

Russia has not made new commitments to secure such humanitarian aid. Russia is in favour of the presidential statement agreed at the Security Council; we could not have passed it as a presidential statement had it not been. Russia agrees in principle and is signed up to what we are all saying to the Assad regime and opposition groups in Syria, which is to permit humanitarian aid to go to badly affected areas. We would like to see Russia put the Assad regime under greater pressure. I hope that will happen, but so far I have not received a commitment that it will do so.

Syria

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Thursday 12th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman needs to catch up with events. There was no proposition about military action in my statement today. That is not what the Government are proposing. All our efforts are aimed at relieving humanitarian suffering and pursuing a diplomatic track. Nor have I suggested at any moment that the vote of the House of Commons was insignificant. I said that the Government fully respected the vote of the House of Commons. He should not put words into my mouth, and he should catch up with what is going on in the world.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

The longer the Syrian civil war goes on, the more powerful the extremist elements of the opposition become. We heard from the hon. Member for Coventry North West (Mr Robinson) about attacks on the Syrian Christian community. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary says that we want to support the Syrian National Coalition to make sure that more moderate voices are heard and remain dominant. May I push him to say what we are doing to make sure that those moderate voices remain dominant?

[Mr Hague]

We do that through the support that we give to the Syrian National Coalition. I set out to other hon. Friends a moment ago the range of the assistance that we give to the National Coalition, which is to save lives, to help it to function and operate, and to give it every possible diplomatic support in pursuing a course that is moderate, democratic, non-sectarian and pluralistic with respect to the future of Syria, and those are things which it greatly values and for which it is very grateful to the United Kingdom. Of course, it has often asked for additional support, including for lethal support from other countries. We have taken no decision to provide that, but we will continue to look at the additional support that we can give it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 18th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

T9. Will the Foreign Secretary update the House on his meeting with the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister and, in particular, on whether any progress has been made in securing the removal of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy?

[Mr Hague]

The removal of Mr Assange from the embassy would be easy to secure if he walked out. He will be arrested, in line with our law, if and when he does that. I had cordial talks yesterday with the Foreign Minister of Ecuador and explained again our legal obligations: we want a diplomatic solution, but it has to be within our law and we are legally obliged to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden. We did not make any breakthrough or substantive progress, but we have agreed that our officials will meet again to see how we can find agreement.

GCHQ

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 10th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Again, I do not want anything that I say to be taken as a comment on information that has been leaked over the last few days, but the Intelligence and Security Committee will be able to study the issues raised by it, including the issues raised by my hon. Friend. That is the proper forum. I have already stressed the way in which ministerial and independent oversight applies to our relations with other intelligence agencies, including those in the United States, and my hon. Friend should therefore not jump to any conclusions about the absence of such oversight and authority.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the concerns raised by some Members of this House demonstrate the limitations of the current RIPA system, which has failed to keep up with modern technological trends, and that there is a need for new measures, such as the draft Communications Data Bill, as amended by a Joint Committee of the Lords and the Commons, to ensure that our legislation is up to date, has parliamentary oversight and covers all the concerns raised?

[Mr Hague]

The case for the draft Communications Data Bill rests on its own merits. My hon. Friend refers to some of those merits and the Government will bring forward proposals in the near future on that subject.

Syria

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 6th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

There is the potential, as we have discussed, for regional instability, including in Lebanon and in relation to Hezbollah. One of the dangers is of clashes on the Lebanese border in the south of Lebanon between Hezbollah and the Free Syrian army or other elements of the Syrian opposition—let alone with Syrian regime forces. I do not have any other evidence that I can cite about Hezbollah, but that in itself is a great danger and is one of the reasons we are assisting with the stability of Lebanon. In Lebanon two weeks ago I announced additional British funding for the Lebanese armed forces, which are an important part of trying to keep that border peaceful, including our direct help with the construction of border observation posts. Of course, there is everything else we are doing to try to bring about a resolution of the crisis.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend has always been very clear that our priorities are to try to stop the killing and to find a peaceful solution. If a peaceful solution can be found but the price is that Assad stays in power, would we be able to accept that deal or have we reached a stage at which the precursor to any deal must be that Assad goes?

[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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

The whole House will be extremely concerned about the food crisis currently affecting the horn of Africa. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is right that the UK should take a leading role, but that we must also encourage our international partners to take a more active role?

[Mr Hague]

Yes, absolutely. That is really a matter for my colleagues at the Department for International Development. Our strong commitment to put 0.7% of gross national income towards development aid helps us to find the necessary funds to help in this situation. I hope that other nations around the world will be encouraged, emboldened and inspired by the British example, and that some may even be shamed by it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right to raise that issue. I attended the independence celebrations in South Sudan on 9 July, which was an inspiring occasion, but it took place in the shadow of continuing violence and the continuing lack of agreement on citizenship, oil and border issues. It is vital that the international community places the maximum possible pressure—and we will certainly continue to do so—stressing to the Republic of Sudan that what it wants to see on debt relief and working with western nations will depend on a peaceful and co-operative approach to the remaining issues in Sudan. We will continue to stress that very strongly.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

T2. One of the remaining issues in South Sudan is that of Abyei. Will my right hon. Friend give us an update on what action is being taken to ensure that the promised referendum in Abyei goes ahead successfully?

[Mr Hague]

The urgent thing has been to bring peace and order to Abyei, and that is something that I have discussed with those in the north and south in Sudan, as well as with the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on my visit to Ethiopia 10 days or so ago. Up to 4,200 Ethiopian troops will go to Abyei, and we have been active in quickly passing the necessary United Nations authority for them to do so. That is designed to pave the way for political progress in Abyei, but the most urgent thing has been to get that Ethiopian force there and to prevent continuing violence.

Afghanistan

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

That is a very important point, and my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary will include that subject in his assessment when he gives the next of these reports.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

What is the Foreign Secretary’s assessment of last weekend’s WikiLeaks reports, which made reference to 21 incidents in Afghanistan involving British troops?

[Mr Hague]

There is no place in our policies for the mistreatment of detainees, and we have been very clear about that as a Government. We have, of course, published the guidance we give to our intelligence officers and announced an inquiry into previous allegations. But I do condemn the unauthorised release of information, which can endanger our forces and people who have worked with our forces, and which gives a one-sided propaganda gift for insurgent, so I condemn those leaks. It is our forces who are engaged, above all, in protecting the civilian population in Afghanistan, often having to accept casualties because of the work they do to protect that civilian population. The people who indiscriminately attack the civilian population and do not care whether women, children and other people are blown up by their improvised explosive devices are the insurgents and the terrorists.