Category: Foreign Affairs

  • Liz Truss – 2022 Statement on the British Virgin Islands

    Liz Truss – 2022 Statement on the British Virgin Islands

    The statement made by Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons on 8 June 2022.

    On 18 January 2021 [Hansard, HCWS716, column 32WS], the House was informed that the then Governor of the British Virgin Islands, or BVI, had launched a commission of inquiry, or COI, into claims that corruption, abuse of position and serious impropriety had taken place in public office in recent years.

    On 4 April, the BVI Governor received the report of the independent commissioner, the right honourable Sir Gary Hickinbottom. The Governor announced that publication would follow in June after discussions between BVI political leaders and the UK Government on the report’s findings and recommendations. However, the arrest by US authorities on 28 April of the then Premier of BVI, Andrew Fahie, led to the Governor publishing the report the following day.

    The report is a thorough, evidence-based assessment of the state of governance in the BVI. The commissioner has identified that serious impropriety and gross failures of governance by elected officials through several administrations is highly likely to have taken place. I have today placed copies of the report in the Library of both Houses.

    The report makes 48 recommendations to address underlying issues, including urgent reforms, investigations and medium-term measures. These will help deliver the deep change that the people of the BVI deserve.

    The commissioner made a further recommendation, assessing that elected officials in the BVI would not deliver the essential reforms required: he reluctantly concluded that the only way to ensure required change would be for a temporary suspension of those parts of the constitution by which areas of Government are assigned to elected representatives, and the assumption of related powers by the Governor.

    Since the commissioner delivered his report, there have been a number of significant developments, not least with the removal of Andrew Fahie as Premier through a vote of no confidence and the creation of the new Government of National Unity, or GNU. The Governor has also ordered a number of criminal investigations, as recommended in the COI report.

    The UK and the Governor have worked with the GNU since its formation to turn its public commitments to reform into a strong implementation plan with a strict and comprehensive set of milestones that need to be met. If they are, that will protect against corruption and ensure the return of good governance.

    I believe, in the first instance, that the new Government should have an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to reform through the implementation of the 48 COI recommendations and the further measures they have proposed.

    The Governor and UK Government will monitor implementation and assess progress quarterly. Each BVI Government Ministry and Department will also provide a monthly report. The detailed implementation plan will be published by the GNU in due course.

    If it becomes clear that this approach is not delivering the reform that the people of the BVI want and deserve, we will take action. This may require the swift implementation of the final report recommendation.

    In order to be able to do so quickly if required, the UK Government has submitted an Order in Council to the Privy Council that would allow this administration to be introduced. The Order will be laid in Parliament, but not brought in to force. Should it prove necessary to do so, I will instruct the Governor to make a proclamation in the BVI Gazette appointing a day that the Order will come into force.

    The people of the BVI want and deserve change and have made their desire for better governance clear. Elected officials know this. We want to support the new Government in making this change and allow them the opportunity to reform. The Order in Council will provide the people of the BVI with complete reassurance that change will happen.

    We have a duty to protect the people of BVI from corruption, criminality and poor governance. We will stand by them.

  • Vicky Ford – 2022 Statement on Violence Against Religious Groups in Nigeria

    Vicky Ford – 2022 Statement on Violence Against Religious Groups in Nigeria

    The statement made by Vicky Ford, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in the House of Commons on 6 June 2022.

    I am horrified by the attack that took place against a church in Ondo state, south-west Nigeria yesterday. I publicly express the UK Government’s condemnation of this heinous act and stress the importance of those responsible being brought to justice in accordance with the law. The high commission in Nigeria has also expressed our condolences to the governor of Ondo state and offered our support. I know that the House will join me in sending our condolences to the families and communities of those killed.

    Rising conflict and insecurity across Nigeria are having a devastating impact on affected communities. I have raised this issue with the Nigerian authorities on several occasions, including in conversations with Nigeria’s vice-president and Foreign Minister during my visit in February. During that visit, I also met regional governors, religious leaders and non-governmental organisations to discuss intercommunal violence and freedom of religion or belief.

    It is clear that religious identity can be a factor in incidents of violence in Nigeria and that Christian communities have been victims, but the root causes are often complex and frequently also relate to competition over resources, historical grievances and criminality, so the UK Government are committed to working with Nigeria to respond to insecurity. At our security and defence dialogue with Nigeria in February, we committed to work together to respond to the conflict. We are supporting local and national peacebuilding efforts in Nigeria, including through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and National Peace Committee. We provide mentoring and capacity building to support Nigerian police force units, to improve their anti-kidnap capacity, and we support efforts to address the drivers and enablers of serious and organised crime in Nigeria. At our security and defence dialogue, we reiterated our shared understanding and commitment to protecting human rights for all.

    We are committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all, and to promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. I discussed FoRB with the Nigerian Foreign Minister only last month, and we look forward to hosting an international conference on FoRB in July. We will continue to encourage the Nigerian Government to take urgent action to implement long-term solutions that address the root causes of such violence.

  • Jeremy Quin – 2022 Comments at the Canadian Defence Exhibition

    Jeremy Quin – 2022 Comments at the Canadian Defence Exhibition

    The comments made by Jeremy Quin, the Defence Minister, at the Canadian Defence Exhibition on 1 June 2022.

    Whether in the North Atlantic, the Indo-Pacific or the High North we need to work together to defend our values.

    Canada and the United Kingdom enjoy a steadfast bond, and it is through such alliances that we can protect ourselves against those who wish to undermine the international rules-based order.

    It has been a privilege to meet my Canadian counterparts and speak to industry partners. I am left in little doubt that as two key NATO allies, we have the shared capability, the shared industry and the shared talent to address current and future threats.

  • John Baron – 2022 Speech on Evacuations from Afghanistan

    John Baron – 2022 Speech on Evacuations from Afghanistan

    The speech made by John Baron, the Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay, in the House of Commons on 26 May 2022.

    Last summer, Operation Pitting brought over 15,000 people to the UK from Afghanistan. We all commend those who were directly involved on the ground in that operation. However, the recent report by the Foreign Affairs Committee—whose Chair, my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat), is sitting behind me—sets out that there was no comprehensive plan detailing who should come, how many should come and in what order. Many people who should be in this country in safety are still in Afghanistan in fear for their lives.

    A key example is British Council contractors. They did not work directly for the Government, or indeed for the British Council, but they still did their bit promoting the English language, British culture and British values; the Taliban do not see or recognise the difference. We have about 170 British Council contractors and their families in Afghanistan, of whom about half are deemed to be at very high risk, according to our own definition, and a further 93 or so are deemed to be at high risk. Many of them live in constant fear for their lives, moving from house to house as they are actively hunted by the Taliban.

    I had a positive meeting with the Minister for Refugees last week, but we are coming up against constant FCDO red tape and bureaucracy, which is preventing the FCDO from immediately helping those who are in the greatest danger through the ACRS. It is bureaucracy at our end; we have identified the individuals who are in danger in Afghanistan.

    As somebody who opposed the morphing of the mission into nation building in Afghanistan—I think I was the only Conservative to vote against it when we had the opportunity—I feel that the Government owe these people a debt of honour. There is an obligation to help them. I appreciated the Prime Minister’s answer to my question yesterday, in which he said he would do something about the issue, but I have been raising it since November and they have been in danger since the fall of Kabul. What undertakings can the Government give that they will finally break the bureaucratic deadlock? Time is running out.

  • James Cleverly – 2022 Statement on Evacuations from Afghanistan

    James Cleverly – 2022 Statement on Evacuations from Afghanistan

    The statement made by James Cleverly, the Minister for Europe and North America, in the House of Commons on 26 May 2022.

    The Government are grateful to the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs for its inquiry and its detailed report. We will consider the report carefully and provide a written response within the timeline that the Committee has requested.

    The scale of the crisis in Afghanistan last year is unprecedented in recent times. The report recognises that the Taliban took over the country at a pace that surprised the Taliban themselves, the international community and the former Government of Afghanistan. Many months of planning for an evacuation, and the enormous efforts of staff to deliver it, enabled us to evacuate more than 15,000 people within a fortnight, under exceptionally difficult circumstances. The Government could not have delivered an evacuation at that scale without planning, grip and leadership.

    The evacuation involved the processing of details of thousands of individuals by Ministry of Defence, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Home Office staff in the UK and teams on the ground in Kabul. In anticipation of the situation, the FCDO had reserved the Baron hotel, so the UK was the only country apart from the United States to have a dedicated emergency handling centre for receiving and processing people in Kabul International airport. RAF flights airlifted people to a dedicated terminal in Dubai, reserved in advance by the FCDO, where evacuees were assessed by other cross-Government teams; they were then flown on FCDO-chartered flights to the UK, where they were received by staff of the Home Office and other Departments, who ensured that they were catered for and quarantined. The evacuation was carefully planned and tightly co-ordinated throughout its delivery.

    As it does following all crises, the FCDO has conducted a thorough lessons learned exercise. We have written to the FAC with the main findings of that exercise. Changes have already been implemented by the FCDO, for example in response to the situation in Ukraine.

    We all regret that we were not able to help more people who worked with us or for us to get out of Afghanistan during the military evacuation. Since the end of the formal evacuation last summer, we have helped a further 4,600 people to leave Afghanistan. We will continue to work to deliver on our commitment to those eligible for resettlement in the UK through the Afghan relocations and assistance policy and the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme.

  • G7 – 2022 Joint Statement on North Korea’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Test

    G7 – 2022 Joint Statement on North Korea’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Test

    The joint statement made by the G7 on 30 May 2022.

    We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, condemn in the strongest terms the test of yet another Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) conducted on May 25, 2022, by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Like a number of ballistic missile launches the DPRK has conducted since the beginning of 2022, this act constitutes a further blatant violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and undermines international peace and security as well as the global non-proliferation regime.

    We are very concerned by the unprecedented series of ballistic missile tests with increasingly versatile systems across all ranges, building on ballistic missile tests conducted in 2021. Together with the evidence of ongoing nuclear activities, these acts underscore the DPRK’s determination to advance and diversify its nuclear capabilities. These reckless actions flagrantly breach the DPRK’s obligations under relevant UN Security Council resolutions, which the Security Council most recently reaffirmed in resolution 2397 (2017). They also pose a danger and unpredictable risk to international civil aviation and maritime navigation in the region.

    We, the G7 Foreign Ministers and the High Representative of the European Union, reiterate our urgent call on the DPRK to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and to fully comply with all legal obligations arising from the relevant Security Council resolutions.

    We deeply regret that the Security Council has failed to adopt the draft resolution aimed at condemning the series of recent ballistic missile launches by the DPRK and strengthening measures against it despite support from 13 members. We urge all UN Member States, especially Security Council members, to join us in condemning the DPRK´s behaviour and reaffirm its obligation to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. These acts demand a united response by the international community, including a united stance and further significant measures by the UN Security Council.

    We reiterate our call on the DPRK to engage in diplomacy toward denuclearization and accept the repeated offers of dialogue put forward by the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan. By diverting its resources into weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs the DPRK further aggravates the already dire humanitarian situation in the DPRK. We urge the DPRK to facilitate access for international humanitarian organizations and for independent assessment of humanitarian needs such as food and medicines as soon as possible.

    We also call on all States to fully and effectively implement all relevant Security Council resolutions, and to address the risk of weapons of mass destruction proliferation from the DPRK as an urgent priority.

    The G7 remain committed to working with all relevant partners towards the goal of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and to upholding the rules-based international order.

  • Liz Truss – 2022 Statement on Visit to Prague

    Liz Truss – 2022 Statement on Visit to Prague

    The statement made by Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, in Prague on 27 May 2022.

    Well, thank you very much. It’s very good to be here in Prague with my friend Jan.

    We are very close allies and together we have backed Ukraine against the appalling war perpetrated by Vladimir Putin.

    The Czech Republic knows what occupation is like, first with the Nazis and then with the Soviets. And earlier today, I was pleased to join the commemoration of Operation Anthropoid, celebrating the bravery of heroic Czech resistance fighters who were trained by the British in the Second World War.

    And I saw from the Czech Republic public the strength of opinion in the face of adversity and also the outrage of Vladimir Putin’s appalling war in Ukraine. And it very much reflected the way that we have seen public opinion in Britain, absolutely horrified by what Putin is doing in Ukraine.

    Here in the Czech Republic, we saw the rebirth of democracy and freedom in the 1990s.

    And I know that that is the spirit that Jan and the Czech government represents today. More than any other government and any other country, the Czech Republic, knows the dangers of appeasement and compromise in the face of aggression.

    And that’s why we’ve agreed that we need to keep up the pressure on sanctions both through the G7 and through the EU. And we need to make sure that the brave Ukrainian people have the weapons they need to defend themselves.

    The United Kingdom was the first European country to send weapons to Ukraine and the Czechs were the first country to send tanks to Ukraine.

    Together, we are training Ukrainian fighters through the British Military Advisory Training Team and in the Czech Republic we’ve also discussed the importance of rebuilding Ukraine and having a Marshall Plan supported by the free world to rebuild this vital country.

    Together, we’re fighting Russian and Chinese disinformation, and I want to commend the Czech Republic for the strong stance that they have taken against Chinese economic coercion.

    We must ensure that Taiwan is also able to defend itself.

    We both agree that NATO needs to step up. We need to do more to protect the edges of Europe, including Moldova and the Balkans, which I visited earlier this week. We also need to strengthen the eastern flank, and we need to make sure that Finland and Sweden are able to join NATO as soon as possible.

    We need to do a lot more on cyber warfare to protect ourselves against the hybrid threat.

    We have to be ready for the long haul in supporting Ukraine because we are committed to protecting freedom and democracy.

    Now is not the time to be complacent. There should be no talk of ceasefires or appeasing Putin. We need to make sure that Ukraine wins, that Russia withdraws, and that we never see this type of Russian aggression again.

    Thank you.

  • Ben Wallace – 2022 Comments on Spanish and British Defence Plans

    Ben Wallace – 2022 Comments on Spanish and British Defence Plans

    The comments made by Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, on 25 May 2022.

    Across the globe, the UK and Spain are deployed helping our allies upholding our common values. Spain, as one of the leaders in European defence, is a key partner for the UK armed forces and a vital NATO ally.

    Spain and the UK have been NATO Allies for forty years and our armed forces have worked together in operations right across the world.

    As we have seen through Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, this defensive cooperation matters, as we continue to support Ukraine and focus on the wider stability and security of Europe.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Agreement with Qatar

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Agreement with Qatar

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

    Today’s announcement of up to £10bn in new investment from our Qatari friends is another vote of confidence in the UK’s brilliant businesses and cutting-edge industry. The new UK-Qatar Strategic Investment Partnership will create quality job opportunities across the country in key sectors, delivering on our vision of economic growth through trade and investment.

    Qatar is a valued partner for the UK, supported by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad’s leadership. We had a rich discussion on the issues that matter to both of our countries, including boosting the economy, ensuring regional stability and improving energy security following Russia’s appalling invasion of Ukraine.

  • Liz Truss – 2022 Statement on China’s Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang

    Liz Truss – 2022 Statement on China’s Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang

    The statement made by Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, on 24 May 2022.

    Today, further shocking details of China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang have emerged, which add to the already extensive body of evidence from Chinese government documents, first-hand testimony, satellite imagery and visits by our own diplomats to the region.

    New evidence shows the extraordinary scale of China’s targeting of Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities, including forced labour, severe restrictions on freedom of religion, the separation of parents from their children, forced birth control, and mass incarceration.

    The UK stands with our international partners in calling out China’s appalling persecution of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities. We remain committed to holding China to account.

    We reiterate our longstanding expectation that China grants the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights full and unfettered access to the region so that she can conduct a thorough assessment of the facts on the ground, and we are following her visit this week closely.

    If such access is not forthcoming, the visit will only serve to highlight China’s attempts to hide the truth of its actions in Xinjiang.