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1,897 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDChagos Islands: UK-US Defence RelationshipOur view is that this makes us more secure. The UK-US base has been subject to challenge for the last 50 years, and this agreement would be the first time that the presence of our…05 Dec 2024HANSARDChagos Islands: UK-US Defence RelationshipI would very much like to visit the Chagos Islands some weeks.05 Dec 2024HANSARDChagos Islands: UK-US Defence RelationshipI would be very happy to. I point out that Minister West visited Diego Garcia recently. It was before she was appointed as a Minister, but she is now the Minister for Asia and the…05 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationI have spoken many times in this House about this Government’s unwavering support for Ukraine and the fact that we will be alongside it for as long as it needs us. The noble Lord…04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationWe are very clear that what we have seen the NGOs and civil society more generally experience in Georgia recently is unacceptable, and we will work in any way that we can. This is…04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationYes, I can confirm that we are doing that, and our Minister of State, Mr Doughty, is having many meetings at the moment—bilaterally and multilaterally—to try and make that very…04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationThat is a question on many of our minds. However, I do not think we are trying to involve ourselves in any other country’s decisions relating to accession or otherwise. The…04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationWe take close notice of what our allies are doing in relation to Georgia at the moment. I sometimes feel, when the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, asks these questions, that he has…04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationThe noble Lord is completely right, and I respect the fact that he was there so recently and took part in that process. I will read the PACE report; I have read excerpts from it,…04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationThe noble and right reverend Lord knows what I will say about sanctions specifically, which is that we do not pre-announce our sanctions or our intention to designate any subject…04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationThe noble Lord is absolutely right, and the territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected by all, including Russia, and we will be firm in that position.04 Dec 2024HANSARDGeorgia: Political SituationMy Lords, the Minister of State for Europe, North America and the Overseas Territories raised concerns about Georgia’s political trajectory with the then Foreign Minister Ilia…04 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeThe delay, I believe, is not something that is within my control, if I can put it that way. We are keen to get this moving. As soon as we receive the names from the Opposition in…03 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeMy Lords, the Prime Minister announced the new UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe via Written Ministerial Statement on 14 November. We value the…03 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeI am very pleased to confirm that to the noble Lord, and I pay tribute to the work that he has done to promote the Council of Europe both in this House and earlier in his career…03 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeI am very happy to confirm that on behalf of my honourable friend the Minister for Europe and I welcome the invitation to meet the delegation. We have 18 Members of this…03 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeThat is quite right. I hope that I chose my words sufficiently carefully in my previous answer. Perhaps the term “appropriate action” is where I should have placed a little more…03 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeWe have not as yet, because, as noble Lords will know, the delegation has only very recently been identified. The noble Baroness is right to say that that is one of the key…03 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeI am conscious that this is a Question about the Council of Europe, but I can see the connection, and noble Lords are right to use this opportunity to raise these kinds of…03 Dec 2024HANSARDParliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeI am sure that the leader of our delegation, the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, was listening closely to what the noble Baroness said. To remind noble Lords, the Council of Europe came…03 Dec 2024