Steve Race
Main Page: Steve Race (Labour - Exeter)Department Debates - View all Steve Race's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(1 day, 13 hours ago)
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Yvette Cooper
It is clear that some of the greatest bravery and courage has been shown by women in Iran, who face additional repression in their daily lives. I pay tribute to them for their bravery.
Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)
I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement and condemnations. Some Exeter residents are desperately worried about family members in Iran, as will I. The Iranian regime is one of the chief exporters of violence and instability in the region. Of course, as the Foreign Secretary set out, we are not immune to that here. Money and effort are expended online in particular in order to undermine our democracy. What are the Government doing to combat the regime’s malign activities in this country, including through the work of the new joint state threats unit?
Yvette Cooper
My hon. Friend is right to raise that. The hybrid threats that we have seen include Iranian state-backed activity such as proxies, interaction with criminal gangs and activity, and behaviour that can resemble terrorist threats. That hybrid nature is why we have been increasing co-ordination to deal with joint state threats and why the Security Minister has been driving forward action in this area.