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1,897 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDChagos IslandsAs my noble friend says, the Chagossian people have been badly treated since the very beginning of all of this. This is an agreement that has been reached between the United…02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsThere will be legislation before the House to do this. I do not know exactly the process or whether a debate will be in government time—the Chief Whip is sitting to my right. As…02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsThe numbers that have been quoted are completely incorrect. This is an agreement with Mauritius that we have worked out respectfully and collaboratively. The characterisation that…02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsWe went through quite a few Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries. My recollection is that there were 12 or 13 rounds of negotiation under the previous Government.02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsWe have received formal confirmation from the White House that the United States supports the UK proceeding with the deal. This follows a rigorous US inter-agency process. We…02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsThe whole purpose of the negotiations was to enable the joint base to continue, because we feel that we work very well together as allies. That is the situation that we want to…02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsWhat I am embarrassed by is that we inherited such a mess in our overseas development spend, with asylum accommodation being paid for by our development spend, and an Army that…02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsMy Lords, as we and Mauritius have repeatedly said, including in joint statements on 20 December and 13 January, both sides remain committed to concluding a deal on the future of…02 Apr 2025HANSARDChagos IslandsReducing this to who pays rent to whom does not really reflect the nature of the benefit to each country. We have a very close relationship with the United States. We could not be…02 Apr 2025HANSARDG7We have been very clear that we think that Israel ought to allow aid into Gaza, and that it is wrong to disrupt that flow and to cut off the electricity supply. What matters is…20 Mar 2025HANSARDG7The noble Lord is right that we have committed to protecting our support for Sudan, because so many thousands of people find themselves in such a horrific situation in that…20 Mar 2025HANSARDHIV/AIDS: US Withdrawal from WHOAbsolutely not. Why would we do that? It is our ambition to regain the 0.7% spend on official development assistance. We have been very clear about that. Why would we repeal that…20 Mar 2025HANSARDHIV/AIDS: US Withdrawal from WHOIt is vital that we do that, and we are doing that. I met the executive director of the WHO earlier this week, and that is something we spoke about in some depth. The noble Earl…20 Mar 2025HANSARDG7I thank the noble Baroness for raising that point, and particularly for mentioning women and girls—she is right to do so. On sanctions, obviously we do not talk about designations…20 Mar 2025HANSARDHIV/AIDS: US Withdrawal from WHOI completely agree. There are encouraging things happening around some of the medical devices and the drugs that can be used now to provide protection against HIV, including…20 Mar 2025HANSARDHIV/AIDS: US Withdrawal from WHOThere is no doubt that research and development is critical to making progress on this and many other agendas in development. We are working through the impact, as the noble…20 Mar 2025HANSARDG7I hear what my noble friend says about demining, and he is right. He urges me to commit to protecting that programme, and I will take his very wise counsel seriously. I get a lot…20 Mar 2025HANSARDG7I am not aware of any such discussions. I believe that the G7 has been focused on, as the noble Lord said, the vital issues that it faces.20 Mar 2025HANSARDG7I do not have anything specific to say on the content of those negotiations. It would be strange to disclose things such as that—were I aware of them, which I am not—while those…20 Mar 2025HANSARDG7I would like the noble Baroness to consider herself invited. I would be very keen to hear what she has to say, to consider the evidence she has and to discuss ways in which she…20 Mar 2025