Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDAfghanistanYes. It is absolutely vital that those who have given so much and have served so bravely in Afghanistan, and indeed their families, should receive the lifelong support they…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistanMy hon. Friend is very wise in what he says. I believe that it is inevitable for us to engage with the Taliban. Indeed, we have been: at the airport, British troops were working…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistanI am sure that many colleagues in the House will ask similar questions. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has been talking to the Government in Pakistan and other…06 Sept 2021HANSARDAfghanistanMy hon. Friend knows whereof he speaks. I have met people who have come from Afghanistan only recently who have helped us greatly in the past 20 years. As the House will…06 Sept 2021HANSARD AfghanistanThat is why it is so important that we maintain a presence at Kabul airport and that is why we have been getting the message out that we want people to come through. As I said…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI think it would be fair to say that the events in Afghanistan have unfolded faster, and the collapse has been faster, than I think even the Taliban themselves predicted. What is…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanAs I said in the House just a few weeks ago, there was an extensive defence review about the Afghan mission after the combat mission ended in 2014, and I believe that most of the…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanThe hon. Lady is entirely right that we will not be sending people back to Afghanistan; nor, by the way, will we allow people to come from Afghanistan to this country in an…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanLike many of us, I have been lobbied extensively about the excellent work done by Mr Pen Farthing. I am well aware of his cause and all the wonderful things that he has done for…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI am very grateful to the right hon. Lady, because I think that she has asked a question that has formed in many people’s minds about the 5,000. Yes, indeed, the 5,000 extra in…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanMy hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and that is why the UK has chaired the UN Security Council, and asked with our French friends to put a motion together to get the world to…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI have given way, I think you will agree, Mr Speaker, quite a lot this morning. Thanks to your generosity and that of the House, there is now ample time for debate until later…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI have been very generous with interventions—I think you will agree, Mr Speaker—and I have made my position clear. Taken together, we are committing almost half a billion pounds…18 Aug 2021HANSARD Afghanistanindicated assent .18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI was telling the House that we are making sure that we bring back the 35 brilliant Chevening scholars so that they can come and study in our great universities. We are deploying…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI want to make some progress. I can tell the House that we have so far secured the safe return of 306 UK nationals and 2,052 Afghan nationals as part of our resettlement…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI beg to move, That this House has considered the situation in Afghanistan. May I begin by thanking you, Mr Speaker, and all the parliamentary staff for enabling us to meet this…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI thank my hon. Friend. I can assure him that, as I will be saying in just a few moments, we will be doing everything we can to support those who have helped the UK mission in…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanThe Government have been working around the clock to deal with the unfolding situation. We must deal with the world as it is, accepting what we have achieved and what we have not…18 Aug 2021HANSARD AfghanistanI am grateful to my right hon. Friend. I spoke to Secretary-General Stoltenberg only the other day about NATO’s continuing role in Afghanistan, but I really think that it is an…18 Aug 2021