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Category: Foreign Affairs

  • Robert Jenrick – 2022 Speech on Iran’s Nuclear Programme

    Robert Jenrick – 2022 Speech on Iran’s Nuclear Programme

    The speech made by Robert Jenrick, the Conservative MP for Newark, in the House of Commons on 30 June 2022.

    I beg to move,

    That this House expresses grave concern at the imminent prospect of a nuclear armed Iran; calls on the Government in its ongoing negotiations in respect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) agreement to seek to extend the sunset clauses, enact a stricter monitoring regime, retain terrorist proscriptions, and expand its scope to include Iran’s other destabilising activities in the region.

    There are significant concerns, as set out in the motion, at the negotiated deal that is apparently about to be signed. I have been actively seeking an opportunity to raise those concerns over Iran’s destabilising activities for a number of months. I give thanks to the Backbench Business Committee for granting time in the main Chamber, and to my many cross-party colleagues who supported the application.

    This debate could not come at a more important time. On 9 June, the UK, Germany and France released a joint statement saying that they are ready to conclude a deal with Iran that would restore the joint comprehensive plan of action, and urging Iran to seize the diplomatic opportunity it presented. On Monday, indirect talks between the United States and Iran resumed in Doha.

    This is by no means the first time that we have debated Iran in this place, and I dare say it will not be the last, but today’s debate could perhaps be the last opportunity to evaluate the merits or otherwise of a return to the JCPOA nuclear agreement. I firmly believe that, whatever one’s view—we will hear a range of them today, no doubt—it is vital that, before any deal is signed, our Government hear the opinions of Members of this House.

    Anxieties over Iran are felt acutely by many across the House, as I am sure we will hear. I am on the record as having been very sceptical of the original 2015 deal, believing it to be too limited in scope to prevent Iran’s malign activities and far too weak in enforcement to prevent a nuclear Iran, should Iran choose that path. That view was shared at the time by many—including, we have subsequently learned, a number of those who were close to the negotiations. I think, for example, of the noble Lord Hammond and the former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon, who have both subsequently expressed their concerns at the limited nature of the deal that was ultimately signed.

    Whatever one’s thoughts about the JCPOA, the fundamentally different circumstances we face today must be confronted. It is always easy to stick with what one has been involved in for a long time; of course there is pride among those who have negotiated relentlessly on this issue, both here in the UK, in the Foreign Office, and particularly in the Biden Administration, among those officials who were previously in the Obama Administration. However, it is time to appreciate what has happened in the seven years since the deal was signed.

    Iran’s nuclear programme has continued apace. While the terms of the JCPOA restricted Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 3.67% fissile purity and a stockpile of only 300 kg of uranium, as of last month the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran has been enriching uranium up to a purity of 60%—a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

    Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con) rose—

    Gareth Davies (Grantham and Stamford) (Con) rose—

    Robert Jenrick

    I am spoilt for choice, but I will give way first to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers).

    Theresa Villiers

    My right hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. Does he agree that, far from the JCPOA-minus that seems to be in prospect, we need a tougher deal with Iran that reflects its transgressions in compliance with the current agreement? We must reflect those transgressions in a deal that is actually powerful in preventing Iran from developing its nuclear programme.

    Robert Jenrick

    I agree wholeheartedly with my right hon. Friend, who has been interested and engaged in this issue for a long time. The point she makes, which I hope I will make over the course of my remarks, is that we do want a negotiated settlement and agreement, but it must be one that is robust and has the effect of preventing both Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and its wider malign activities in the region that are harming our key partners, our friends and ourselves.

    Gareth Davies

    I am grateful to my right hon. Friend and neighbour for giving way. He mentions that Iran has developed uranium to 60% purity. Is he aware of any country on Earth that has enriched to that level for peaceful purposes?

    Robert Jenrick

    No, and I do not think anyone would believe that that is Iran’s ultimate intent. The latest intelligence, for example, showing that bunkers have been constructed underground in which to hold some of that material, makes clear what the ultimate intent of Iran is on this issue.

    Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con) rose—

    Robert Jenrick

    I will give way one last time, and then I shall make some progress.

    Dr Offord

    I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. Many people have focused on transgressions against the JCPOA, but because of the infamous sunset provisions in the 2015 deal, Iran will be able to legitimately undertake a full nuclear programme. That means that we could be facing a nuclear Iran as early as 2025. Without doing anything, we are already in a very difficult and dangerous scenario.

    Robert Jenrick

    My hon. Friend is correct. I will make this point in a moment, but there is no harm in restating it now: the original deal contained a number of sunset provisions, and the proposed deal, as reported, merely keeps those sunset provisions in exactly the same form. Even if we were to sign the deal tomorrow, it would begin to fade away in 2023. One really has to question the point of signing up to the proposed deal.

    Iran stands on the verge of possessing a nuclear bomb. In fact, intelligence suggests it has sufficient enriched uranium today for at least two nuclear weapons. It has progressed far beyond the parameters of the JCPOA, so restoring Iran to the old deal has none of the benefits we once thought it would. The JCPOA’s time has been and gone; the Rubicon has been crossed.

    After earlier talk of a longer and stronger deal, more recent rounds of the nuclear talks have seen US negotiators make concession after painful concession in an attempt to bring Iran back to the deal. We now see before us the contours of a shorter and weaker agreement—one that many have taken to dismissing as JCPOA-minus. In that agreement the Iranian regime will be reintegrated into the international community and afforded huge economic benefits that, crucially, will be channelled not into education, healthcare or infrastructure projects but into supporting and promoting terrorist activities, for instance through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s web of proxies across the region, and the restrictions on its nuclear programme will last for a fraction of the time. It is unclear whether this stands to strengthen efforts for non-proliferation.

    I believe that a new framework is required. Proponents of the JCPOA spoke of its ability to restrict Iran’s break-out time to one year. In view of the reduction of this to as little as a few weeks, we need the Government to recognise that this is simply not going to work, and that any agreement that could obtain the consent of this House—certainly of Members who take my view—will need to have very significantly longer sunset clauses.

    Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)

    My right hon. Friend is absolutely right in everything he has said. However, it is not only the potential for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons that is a concern, but its ability then to deliver those weapons through ballistic missiles. Clearly Iran has enhanced its capability in that regard and could, if it has nuclear weapons, deliver them now. What would he say about how we need to restrict Iran’s capability to develop such weapons?

    Robert Jenrick

    My hon. Friend makes an important point. The JCPOA contains the word “comprehensive”, but it was anything but comprehensive. It certainly did not speak to the malign activities of Iran throughout the region, but nor did it address the seeking of enriched uranium, the weapons that would be able to deliver the nuclear weapons or the other infrastructure and equipment that is required in the process. Any deal that we now sign needs to address all those matters. In fact, as I said, on the pursuit of enriched uranium, the ship has already sailed because Iran already has it.

    The agreement as reported in the media seems set to include the same structural problems as we saw in the 2015 deal. Unless the new nuclear terms are expanded in scope to allow a more rigorous inspection regime, I fear we will repeat the same mistakes. Iran has reached the nuclear threshold under the watchful eye of what was supposed to be the most intrusive inspection regime ever. By its own admission, the UN’s nuclear watchdog is “flying blind”—the IAEA chief said as much in June 2021. One year on, Iran has taken a series of steps to further restrict IAEA access to its nuclear sites, including the deliberate removal of cameras from its most sensitive facilities. Years of tolerating Iran’s flagrant breaches out of fear of the talks collapsing has led us down this path.

    A glaring weakness of the JCPOA was that it did nothing to address Iran’s wider activities throughout the world. Our failure to address Iran’s support for its network of proxies continues to reverberate to this day. Iran was and remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism—a point I was pleased to hear my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary acknowledge in front of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The regime’s commitment to exporting the Islamic revolution has been underwritten by an active embrace of violence since it first came to power in 1979. In recent weeks, Istanbul has been the setting for an extraordinary Iranian terror plot. Thanks to the close co-operation between the Israeli and the Turkish security services, an Iranian terror cell attempting to kidnap and kill Israeli tourists—innocent civilians—was thwarted. In one incident, several Israeli tourists visiting a market had to be intercepted before they returned to their hotel room, where their would-be assassins were reportedly waiting for their return.

    The Iranian threat is very clear and present here at home. In 2019, it was revealed that British intelligence services had identified a Hezbollah cell stockpiling 3 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate in residential north-west London for use in a terror attack—the very same chemical that was recently inflicting such terrible damage in Beirut. The misplaced notion that the JCPOA would moderate the Iranian regime was dispelled when its Intelligence Ministry sought to bomb an opposition rally in Paris in 2018 with the help of an Iranian diplomat.

    Behind all these examples—and there are many others I could cite—sits the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s premier agent for terrorism. The organisation funds, trains and provides the ideological underpinning for many of the world’s terror organisations, from Hamas to Hezbollah to the Houthis. Reports from the previous round of negotiation that the Biden Administration was considering delisting the IRGC from its foreign terror list have been worrying, to say the least. Quite simply, it would be a grave miscalculation and a great dishonour if our Government were to support any such action. It would make a mockery of the efforts that we have made in recent years to proscribe Hamas and Hezbollah if we signed up to a deal that legitimises the very organisation that funds Hamas and Hezbollah. That really would be a perverse and absurd outcome.

    The negotiations in Doha cannot be detached from the broader geopolitical landscape. A dangerous new dynamic is at play in the latest round of nuclear talks. As the EU desperately tries to wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons, we see an ill-advised pivot towards Iran for energy supplies. In a visit to Iran over the weekend, Josep Borrell openly called for Europe to seek new sources of oil and gas following its move away from Russia and spoke of the high potential economic benefits awaiting Iran. At the G7 summit in Germany, Macron pointedly called for more Iranian oil to enter the market. The west can ill afford to end its dependency on one rogue regime merely by pivoting towards the religious fundamentalists in Tehran. How ridiculous would it be for us to invest so much time, effort and energy in defeating Vladimir Putin merely to make an advance—an opening—towards Tehran, Venezuela or other authoritarian regimes? It is troubling enough that the talks have been mediated by Russia, the world’s only nuclear-armed state currently threatening to actually use those weapons. If restrictions are lifted, Russia will receive a financial boost from sales of military equipment as well as the construction of nuclear power plants in Iran.

    Iran’s list of nuclear transgressions is as long as it is troubling and has long necessitated an urgent response. The UK Government were right to say in March:

    “Iran’s nuclear programme has never before been this advanced, and is exposing the international community to unprecedented levels of risk.”

    At this critical juncture, the west urgently needs to change its strategy. We valiantly pursued diplomatic avenues to their limit, and beyond. Dedicated officials here in the Foreign Office, and in the Obama and Biden Administrations, have invested immense time and resources in negotiating the JCPOA, but that is not a reason to sign a bad deal. As Iran continues to stall negotiations, it is time for a more robust approach reimposing snapback sanctions on Iran and tightening the economic screw until it is willing to countenance the serious proposals that I have shared here today.

    This position is no longer that of ultra-hawkish Republicans. In March, despite a polarised political climate in the United States, 70 Democrats and Republicans in Congress wrote to the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, to demand that the new deal signed with Iran must include an extension of the sunset clauses that we discussed earlier, retention of the IRGC proscription—I would like the UK Government to proscribe it as well—and a toughening of the monitoring regime, with an extension in scope to include Iran’s other destabilising activities such as its ballistic missile programme. President Obama can press ahead with a weak deal, but if he does, there is a strong likelihood that the Senate and the House of Representatives will do everything in their power to frustrate it, and were there to be an incoming Republican President, which seems quite likely, it would be their day-one act to end the agreement. Why would we do something that is of such a short-term benefit, if any? In doing so, we weaken our relationships with some of our oldest friends and key partners, whether that be the state of Israel, the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia or others, all of whom publicly or privately are pleading with our Government to listen to their concerns and not to proceed with this agreement.

    Those countries in the middle east already fear that the west is retrenching and is an unreliable ally, particularly having seen the events of our messy and embarrassing retreat from Kabul a year ago. To impose this agreement in addition, against their best wishes, merely pushes them further away from us and towards new friends and relationships, whether that be Russia or China. That would be a very sad outcome.

    To conclude, the Iranian regime brutally represses, persecutes and tortures its own people. It wastes the Iranian people’s resources on terrorism, foreign aggression, missiles and nuclear-weapon capabilities. I hope to see the day when we and our partners have no need for sanctions on Iran or the proscription of its affiliates. I hope to see the day when the UK and Iran can enjoy normalised relations and when the people of Iran have a Government who respect human dignity and exist in peace with their neighbours, but that day will not come if we provide sanctions relief to fuel the regime’s corruption, incompetence and terrorism. Nor will the day come through weak and naive responses to the pursuit of and now the establishment of nuclear-weapon capabilities. I humbly urge the UK Government to change course, to learn from the first JCPOA’s failures, to listen to the concerns of many across the House and our partners in the region, and to work with us and them to impose maximum pressure on Iran.

  • Alok Sharma – 2022 Speech at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Rwanda

    Alok Sharma – 2022 Speech at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Rwanda

    The speech made by Alok Sharma in Kigali, Rwanda, on 23 June 2022.

    Thank you for the introduction.

    I am delighted to be here today.

    Over the past two and a half years, I have spoken at numerous conferences and summits around the world.

    Virtually and, of course, physically, I have delivered many, many hundreds of speeches.

    In doing so, I’ve shared stages with representatives from government, from business, and from civil society.

    You’ve just heard from FIFA. I think someone was lucky enough to get a ball too.

    You will soon hear from Google, the Norwegian-African Business Association.

    And each organisation is working to shape a future in which we can deliver prosperity, but without sacrificing the planet.

    For me, it is truly encouraging to see such broad agreement on the need for climate action.

    And I do believe that we have hit that inflection point where governments, business and civil society are broadly united in wanting to tackle climate change,

    And deliver both an environmental and economic dividend.

    And I am pleased therefore that Rwanda and its role as Commonwealth Chair in office is using this session to consider how we deliver economic prosperity without sacrificing the planet.

    And it is a key question that our family of Commonwealth nations needs to address, and address urgently,

    How we can achieve collective prosperity, economic sustainability and societal resilience, all at the same time.

    That, my friends, is the ball that I am kicking to you.

    And if we are to achieve these goals, working through the international system, it’s going to be absolutely critical

    I mean, just look at COP26. Some of you who are with us today were also with us in November

    Back then, under the UK’s stewardship, almost 200 countries forged the historic Glasgow Climate Pact.

    Despite challenging global geopolitics even then we were able to bring nations together.

    Because each of us recognised that it was in our collective self-interest to act on climate.

    The Glasgow Climate Pact forges a path to a clean global future.

    It keeps alive the possibility of limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees.

    And it told a watching world that leaders – including many of the leaders who are here at this conference – it told the world that leaders could and would rise above their differences, and unite against that common challenge.

    The Pact calls on countries to phase-down unabated coal power and phase-out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.

    It contains big commitments on climate mitigation, on adaptation and on finance.

    And it also sets out a way forward on the crucial issue of loss and damage.

    It was for me an extraordinary privilege to play my part as Shepherd-in-Chief at that event.

    Of course, we have to acknowledge that the world has changed since then.

    We meet today against the backdrop of multiple global crises.

    Indeed, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has described our situation as “the most universally complex policy environment of our lifetime”.

    Therefore, climate is understandably no longer on the front pages.

    But the current crises should increase, not diminish, our determination to deliver on what the world agreed in Glasgow.

    Even as we deal with the immediate challenges facing us, all the evidence, including the latest findings from various UN reports, makes clear that the chronic threat of climate change is getting worse.

    My friends I have to say this to you, climate change does not recognise borders – look in your own countries and see what’s happening – and the Commonwealth is no exception to facing the harsh impacts of global warming.

    Last year we saw wildfires rage in Australia.

    This year, India and Pakistan have experienced unbearable temperatures.

    A billion people exposed to extreme heat in some of the hottest months since records began.

    And in South Africa where I have just come from, floods have swept the province of KwaZulu-Natal, destroying buildings and claiming lives.

    At the same time, Vladimir Putin’s illegal, brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine has amplified that climate and environmental security are interlinked with energy and national security.

    And that is why the UK is so focused on using the remaining months of our COP26 presidency to turn commitments into action.

    What it needs, friends, is for us to focus on implementation.

    Every country must respond to the Glasgow Climate Pact’s call to revisit and strengthen their 2030 emissions reduction targets this year.

    And we need countries to submit those emissions reduction targets by the UNFCCC’s deadline, on September 23rd including their long term strategies.

    We are continuing to push for practical progress on mitigation, on finance, on adaptation, and on loss and damage.

    We continue to press for further progress in critical sectors and on clean technologies.

    And I remain especially focused on the most climate vulnerable countries and communities, many of whom are represented here.

    Because, for these nations in particular, the situation is devastatingly clear.

    As Prime Minister Mia Motley of Barbados told us in Glasgow, for her country, “a two degrees rise is a death sentence”.

    For many, tackling climate change is literally that, it’s the difference between life, and death.

    So to deliver on effective climate action we are going to continue to push forward for more funding through Just Energy Transition Partnerships.

    We’re going to be working on increasing finance for adaptation, including ensuring the private sector is mobilising finance as well.

    And it means listening to the consistent calls from climate vulnerable countries to improve access to finance as well.

    If I just say to you that in Africa, Africa is responsible for less than 3% of global emissions and yet on this continent there are very many countries that are on the front line of climate change.

    And therefore we know that change is necessary.

    We know that change is in our collective self-interest.

    And we know that change will not happen unless we act, and unless we act now.

    And so it is time for world leaders, the leaders here at this conference to demonstrate that they are delivering on the commitments they have made.

    Together, we can, and we must, make this a year of delivery, to keep 1.5 degrees alive, and to deliver prosperity, without sacrificing the planet.

    Thank you.

  • Amanda Milling – 2022 Comments on Visit to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Jordan

    Amanda Milling – 2022 Comments on Visit to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Jordan

    The comments made by Amanda Milling, the Minister for Asia and the Middle East, on 27 June 2022.

    I was delighted to make my first official visit to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Jordan as Minister for the Middle East.

    I covered a lot of ground in a short space of time in Israel where the relationship has never been stronger. From fascinating examples of Israeli tech and innovation, to the upcoming UK-Israel Bilateral Roadmap, to peacebuilding projects and efforts to promote the two-state solution.

    Visiting the Occupied Palestinian Territories was a fantastic opportunity to meet a whole range of Palestinians to discuss the UK-Palestinian bilateral relationship and understand the impact of the occupation. I was particularly pleased to meet with Palestinian civil society to reassure them of the UK’s unwavering support for media freedom and human rights defenders.

    Last year we celebrated 100 years of friendship between the UK and Jordan, a friendship that the UK is fully committed to sustaining and developing into its second century. I expressed my gratitude for the Kingdom’s extraordinary and generous role in supporting refugees from regional conflicts, and announced two major new UK-funded programmes totalling £95m designed to support both vulnerable Jordanians and refugees.

    I look forward to visiting the region again soon.

  • Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Comments at Press Conference with President Michel and President Macron

    Ursula von der Leyen – 2022 Comments at Press Conference with President Michel and President Macron

    The opening remarks made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 24 June 2022.

    Today, we had the opportunity to hold an in-depth discussion on the economy during the Euro Summit. The euro area is forecast to continue growing both in 2022 and 2023 although by less than we anticipated before the war. Obviously, the war in Ukraine is having a heavy impact, both on growth and on inflation. We have seen Russia’s disruptive action on gas. And we are seeing price increases beyond energy, on food and elsewhere in the economy. Therefore, we discussed how to mitigate the economic and social impacts, especially on the most vulnerable of our societies.

    This starts with being adequately prepared to deal with potential further disruptions in deliveries of Russian gas to Europe. We are working hard on this. We have reviewed all the national emergency plans to help make sure everyone is ready for further disruptions. And we are working on a common European emergency demand reduction plan with industry, but also with the 27 Member States. We do this because we have learnt our lesson from COVID-19. There we have seen that, when we act together as 27, when we avoid fragmentation, we are strong and we have an enormous impact. I will present this plan in July to the Leaders. There will not be a return to cheap fossil fuels, I think. And therefore, alongside temporary and targeted support to vulnerable families and businesses, it is essential to help our economies and societies adapt to the new conditions. The root cause of our problem is our dependence on fossil fuels, which we must get rid of.

    This is basically the essence of REPowerEU. We are providing through REPowerEU resources of round about EUR 300 billion to do three things: The first pillar is to diversify our energy supply. The second pillar is to increase the energy efficiency. And the third pillar is the supply of our own green renewable energy. We are already seeing results. If I may give you an example for the first pillar, the diversification away from Russian gas: We see that the US LNG deliveries to the European Union are up by 75% this year compared to last year. We have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Israel, Egypt and the European Union to make sure that there is natural gas from Israel, liquefied in Egypt and then brought via LNG to the European Union. The Norwegian pipeline gas is up by 15%; Azerbaijan is up by 90%. So there is a lot on the move to really diversify away from the Russian gas to other trustworthy suppliers. Looking at the renewables, I think that there is one interesting figure: The European Union was and is the second largest market globally in terms of increased capacity of renewables in 2021, and will be in 2022. So you also see the big move forward of heavy investment in renewables. That is the energy of the future. That is the way to go.

    A second topic that we have been discussing is, in parallel, that we are working on the review of the economic governance. We know that debts and deficits have soared in all Member States after COVID-19. And at the same time, investment needs are very large for a successful transition to a green, digital and resilient EU society and economy. Therefore, we need to design rules that in a way reconcile these higher investment needs – they are necessary – and at the same time to safeguard sound fiscal finances. One goes with the other: that is fiscal sustainability and growth.

    And let me also end, dear Emmanuel, by congratulating you on an extremely successful French Presidency. The work you have done was colossal. I witnessed every day how intensive your team – and I really want to thank you and your team – has been working on progress in the European Union. It really made a difference. We should keep in mind that when you started, there was a lot on your plate, but you had no clue that there was a war coming. In record time, we delivered together six packages of heavy sanctions. And I think that it was a hallmark and a very defining moment to see the determination of the European Union and the speed at which we can move forward. We have, in this time, welcomed 7.5 million refugees from Ukraine. 3 million are still here. And you and your team, as Presidency, made it possible that we very quickly granted temporary protection, that is access to the labour market, to the education system, to the social security system. All this thanks to the French Presidency.

    I thank you personally for the enormous progress that we have made on the European Green Deal – and here, specifically the huge package of Fit for 55. Dozens of proposals have now been pushed forward. And this is a real step forward. The same goes, and I know that this is very close to your heart, for the DSA and the DMA, so putting the online world in order as well as we have it in the offline world, to protect our citizens and to keep up the competitiveness of our businesses in the online world. This has been – the DSA and the DMA – negotiated with ambition and adopted in record time. You really delivered. There was the Conference on the Future of Europe.

    But I am personally very proud on one specific file that you have concluded during the French Presidency, and this is Women on Boards. It took ten long years; it was stuck for ten years. The French Presidency made it possible that it reappeared and was negotiated and adopted in record time. So not only did you put an end to an injustice for women, but also to an enormous loss of earnings for companies. It is a real big step forward that we have now this agreement on Women on Boards.

    Last but not least, and I would not miss to mention it, we have made good progress on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, especially on the voluntary solidarity mechanism and on the governance of Schengen. Important files. They were difficult to manage, you really pushed it forward. I stop here, but as you can see, dear Emmanuel, I think that France can be very proud of this Presidency. It was outstanding. Many thanks for that.

  • Liz Truss – 2022 Comments on Support for Afghanistan Following Earthquake

    Liz Truss – 2022 Comments on Support for Afghanistan Following Earthquake

    The comments made by Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, on 24 June 2022.

    The recent earthquake is a tragedy for the people of Afghanistan. The scale of need was already severe before the earthquake struck, with more than half of the population requiring humanitarian assistance.

    UK support will enable lifesaving supplies to be provided on the ground. Our aid budget for Afghanistan is one of the UK’s largest bilateral programmes and we will continue to work urgently with our international partners to respond to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments at CHOGM in Rwanda

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments at CHOGM in Rwanda

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 24 June 2022.

    It is an extraordinary and moving experience to be here in Rwanda today. A country that experienced some of the worst horrors of the 20th century in recent memory, and now finds itself with a thriving social and economic life and near-universal primary education.

    Today, Rwanda is hosting leaders representing two-thirds of the world’s population, stretching from the remotest islands of the Pacific to the southern tip of Africa.

    Rwanda was never a British colony – it joined the Commonwealth of its own volition in 2009, recognising the benefits that come from being part of a progressive alliance representing two thirds of the world’s population and some of its fastest-growing economies.

    As many British Prime Ministers before me – and of course both her Majesty the Queen and the Prince of Wales – have recognised, there are few forums more quietly important for our nation’s peace, prosperity and global influence.

    We benefit from the incredible Commonwealth advantage – the ‘fertilizer’ I talked about yesterday – of shared language and institutions, which opens doors and cuts the costs of doing business.

    We want to seize those opportunities, and that’s why I announced this week major new British investments in green infrastructure projects, as well as trade schemes designed to break down the barriers to doing business.

    This is where the UK is positioning ourselves post-Brexit, in close alliance with our European neighbours but also deepening our ties with old friends in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

    More trade, more commerce brings prosperity and stability to other countries, but it also cuts costs for British consumers and opens opportunities for UK businesses – jobs and growth at home.

    Unfortunately, that global prosperity and stability is being threatened by Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine.

    Many of the countries represented here in Kigali today find themselves bearing the brunt of Putin’s folly, their populations brought closer to poverty by spiralling food and energy costs.

    I know of course, and deeply appreciate, that many families and businesses in the UK have been hit hard as well by the rising cost of living.

    That is why in our country the Chancellor has introduced an unprecedented package of financial support to support the most vulnerable households.

    But we should also recognise the challenges around the world.

    The UN estimates that an additional 48 million people will be pushed into acute hunger this year – that is, to the point of starvation – caused by climate change and post-pandemic supply shortages but also by the war in Ukraine.

    I spoke to President Zelenskyy last week in Kyiv last week about how we can unblock Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s grain exports.

    But today we are also announcing a new £372 million package of UK aid.

    That funding will support the UN’s emergency response in the hardest-hit countries, as well as providing cutting-edge science partnerships to look at drought-resistant crops and new agricultural techniques.

    And as I go tomorrow night to the G7 in Germany we will also commit to looking at what more richer countries can do to bring down global commodity prices and increase food supplies to get the world economy back on track and stick up for the freedoms in which we all believe.

    Thank you very much.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Food Security

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Food Security

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 24 June 2022.

    While Vladimir Putin continues his futile and unprovoked war in Ukraine and cravenly blockades millions of tonnes of grain, the world’s poorest people are inching closer to starvation.

    The Government has put in place an unprecedented package of support to help the most vulnerable households in the UK deal with the rising cost of living.

    But it is also right that we step up to support countries on the frontlines of conflict and climate change, where an increase in the price of bread can mean the difference between a child living or dying. From emergency food aid to reviewing our own biofuel use, the UK is playing its part to address this pernicious global crisis.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments at Opening of CHOGM in Kigali

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments at Opening of CHOGM in Kigali

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in Kigali on 24 June 2022.

    Your Royal Highness, President Kagame, Madam Secretary General, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I’m honoured to perform the final duty of the United Kingdom as Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth and hand over the baton to President Kagame, and wish him every success as Chair of our unique association, encompassing 54 countries and a third of humanity.

    One of the newest members is now at the helm, and more nations are seeking to join, which tells you everything about the health and vitality of our Commonwealth, because for all the differences between us, we are united by an invisible thread of shared values, history and friendship.

    The Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty the Queen, incarnates everything that brings us together and it’s fitting that in the year of her Platinum Jubilee, the association she cherishes should be gathering in the continent where she became Queen.

    When the UK became your Chair-in-Office in 2018, the word “Covid” had not been invented many of us had no idea what a “coronavirus” was, and nobody could have known that the worst pandemic for a century would soon claim millions of lives.

    The British government put together the partnership between Oxford University and AstraZeneca that produced the world’s most popular vaccine, and during our time as Chair-in-Office, the UK supported the delivery of more than 1.4 billion doses of Covid vaccines to Commonwealth countries.

    The pandemic posed a common threat to all humanity and the same is true of catastrophic climate change.

    No-one understands this better than our Commonwealth friends in the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean who can see the incoming tides surging ever higher up their beaches, threatening to inundate their villages and towns, and, in time, the entire land mass of some island states.

    For them, the baleful effects of climate change are not vague or theoretical, but already happening before their eyes.

    When we hosted COP26 in Glasgow last November, it was these fellow Commonwealth leaders who spoke with greatest urgency and authority about the perils of quilting the earth with greenhouse gases.

    And we in the developed world have an obligation to help our friends to cope with a danger they had no hand in causing, and during the UK’s time as Chair-in-Office, the Commonwealth Finance Access Hub mobilised over $38 million for the most vulnerable members, but of course we must press on and do more.

    And if I could imagine a silver bullet that would solve an array of problems and transform countless lives, it would be to give every girl in the world the chance to go to school.

    At the last CHOGM in London in 2018, the UK announced £212 million for the Girls’ Education Challenge, and I’m delighted to say that this initiative is now at work in 11 Commonwealth countries, ensuring that girls are able to gain at least 12 years of quality education.

    We need to empower them to play their full part in the economy when they leave school, so the UK is funding the “She Trades” Commonwealth programme, which has already helped over 3,500 women-owned businesses to become more competitive and generate more than £32 million of sales.

    And if there is anyone who doubts the ability of the Commonwealth to speak with one voice, it was in 2020 that the UK delivered the first ever Joint Statement by all 54 Commonwealth members before the Human Rights Council in Geneva, recalling – and I quote – our “proud history of acting to strengthen good governance and the rule of law”.

    One of the gravest affronts to everything we stand for is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s blockade of the ports that would otherwise be shipping food to the world’s poorest people.

    At this moment, nearly 25 million tonnes of corn and wheat is piled up in silos across Ukraine, held hostage by Russia.

    Britain supports the United Nations plan to get that food out and we will invest over £370 million in global food security this year, including £130 million for the World Food Programme.

    We want to work alongside our Commonwealth friends to understand your needs and priorities and deliver joint solutions to a crisis that Putin has deliberately engineered.

    For now, it only remains for me to thank every Commonwealth member for having given the United Kingdom the chance to serve as Chair-in-Office.

    And as I pass on this responsibility to President Kagame, a close friend and partner, I know that he shares my boundless optimism about the future of the Commonwealth at the forefront of the international agenda, and benefiting all our peoples.

    Thank you all very much.

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2022 Speech on British Council Contractors in Afghanistan

    Fabian Hamilton – 2022 Speech on British Council Contractors in Afghanistan

    The speech made by Fabian Hamilton, the Labour MP for Leeds North East, in the House of Commons on 23 June 2022.

    I am grateful to the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) for securing this important urgent question.

    On behalf of the Labour Opposition, I extend my thoughts to all those currently suffering in Afghanistan following the dreadful earthquake earlier this week.

    In February it was revealed that hundreds of British Council staff were left stranded in Afghanistan following this Government’s botched evacuation from Kabul. The Minister told the House at the time that the Government were supporting those in need and that 50 British Council contractors had been evacuated. Four months on, we are faced with the same problem: hundreds of former British Council contractors are stranded, with reports that they are being attacked and beaten by the Taliban due to their previous work on behalf of the United Kingdom.

    Many of those still in Afghanistan are security guards who protected British staff at the embassy as they undertook an extremely difficult task during the evacuation last August. We owe so much to these courageous British Council contractors, and the fact that they are still in Afghanistan and facing daily violence due to their co-operation with the UK is, frankly, nothing short of a disgrace.

    I would therefore be grateful if the Minister could tell us how many British Council staff are still stuck in Afghanistan today. What urgent measures are being put in place to evacuate the rest of the staff who are still stranded in Afghanistan? What engagement has she had with regional partners to facilitate safe passage for the former staff who attempt to leave? Once again, what message does it send to other British Council contractors who work in challenging environments around the world if the UK leaves Afghan contractors stranded in this way?

    It is high time the Government got their act together and stood up for those who worked with the United Kingdom to promote security, tolerance and democracy in Afghanistan.

  • Vicky Ford – 2022 Statement on British Council Contractors in Afghanistan

    Vicky Ford – 2022 Statement on British Council Contractors in Afghanistan

    The statement made by Vicky Ford, the Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay, in the House of Commons on 23 June 2022.

    Last August, when the situation in Afghanistan was deteriorating so rapidly, the UK Government worked at great speed to evacuate more than 15,000 people from the country within a fortnight. This was the biggest mission of its kind in generations, and the second largest evacuation carried out by any country. We are right to be proud of what our British forces and others achieved at that time. Those evacuated included British nationals and their families and about 500 particularly vulnerable Afghans, including some British Council contractors, journalists, human rights defenders, campaigners for women’s rights, judges, and many others. All former British Council employees who wished to resettle have arrived in the UK, with their family members.

    The British Council played an important role in Afghanistan in working to support the UK mission there and to promote our values. It is right that the Government do the right thing for British Council employees and contractors, and that includes resettling eligible contractors if they are at risk. Therefore, in January this year the then Minister for Afghan Resettlement, my hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), announced the launch of a new Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, which will resettle up to 20,000 eligible people over the coming years. There is no application process for the scheme, but people can express an interest in resettlement.

    Eligible individuals will be referred for resettlement via three referral “pathways”. Under pathway 3, we are committed to considering eligible at-risk British Council and GardaWorld contractors as well as Chevening alumni. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will refer up to 1,500 people from Afghanistan and the region to the Home Office for resettlement, including eligible family members. On 20 June the FCDO opened an online system, whereby eligible individuals can express their interest in resettlement.