Contributions
1,800 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDInternational EngagementsI reassure the noble Lord that I completely respect his commitment to the Commonwealth and his engagement when he had that responsibility; he did an excellent job, and I hope to…31 Oct 2024HANSARDInternational EngagementsLet me be clear that we are committed to supporting overseas development and those countries that face challenges today. That is what we will do. I do not have a problem with…31 Oct 2024HANSARDInternational EngagementsI will address the latter point first. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that the hundreds of thousands of people affected get that aid. Our problem currently is getting it…31 Oct 2024HANSARDSudanI completely understand and sympathise with the noble Baroness and her arguments, but, as she knows, we need to ensure that, whatever we do, we can win support for it and make it…30 Oct 2024HANSARDSudanI reassure the noble Lord of the importance of Taqaddum and the engagement with civil society in Sudan. I not only met His Excellency Mr Hamdok yesterday but saw him at the FT…30 Oct 2024HANSARDSudanWe are taking a series of actions. Our first focus is to look strongly at humanitarian access and getting in support, in relation to the UN decisions. On 18 October, we led a…30 Oct 2024HANSARDSudanI thank the noble Lord for his question; we obviously debated it last night in the general debate on the Horn of Africa, when I took the opportunity to go into some detail about…30 Oct 2024HANSARDSudanI thank the noble Lord for the range of questions. There are very good reasons for the difficulties with the no-fly zone, in terms of security and escalation. However, I will give…30 Oct 2024HANSARDHuman Rights Violations: Consular AssistanceI start by congratulating my noble friend on her appointment as chair of the high-level panel. As she knows, during the United Nations General Assembly, she and I were at the same…30 Oct 2024HANSARDHuman Rights Violations: Consular AssistanceI hope I made it clear in my opening response that we are actively exploring with officials the implementation of our manifesto commitment. It is not just a statement from the…30 Oct 2024HANSARDHuman Rights Violations: Consular AssistanceAgain, let me reassure the noble Lord that we do take his imprisonment seriously. He knows very well that I raised these issues, together with him, when others did not. I assure…30 Oct 2024HANSARDHuman Rights Violations: Consular AssistanceI thank my noble friend, but I think he knows very well just how seriously we take Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment. He will recall my questions to the previous Government on this. He…30 Oct 2024HANSARDHuman Rights Violations: Consular AssistanceI was just looking at the eligibility criteria and it is quite clear that we offer this service to British nationals overseas. They establish their rights through establishing…30 Oct 2024HANSARDHuman Rights Violations: Consular AssistanceMy Lords, our consular operation offers British nationals a 24/7, 365 days a year service. We welcome feedback to help improve our support to British nationals, including from…30 Oct 2024HANSARDHuman Rights Violations: Consular AssistanceI can reassure the noble and learned Baroness that, yes, that is the case. We are determined to continue to offer the best possible service to all our citizens who are affected by…30 Oct 2024HANSARDVolunteering AbroadI thank the noble Earl for that question. The point I was trying to make to my noble friend Lord Boateng is that this is what our diplomatic engagement is about. I hesitate to use…30 Oct 2024HANSARDVolunteering AbroadJust to reassure my noble friend, I will do that. In my first three months in post, I have visited seven African countries to ensure that we develop a very strong partnership that…30 Oct 2024HANSARDVolunteering AbroadI cannot be specific about that. I can assure the noble Lord that we are keen to encourage the widest possible range of volunteering and youth engagement. If he follows my…30 Oct 2024HANSARDVolunteering AbroadI do not understand why the noble Lord suggests we are not moving in any direction. We are supporting the principle of volunteering and working across the globe. Our relationships…30 Oct 2024HANSARDVolunteering AbroadMy noble friend is absolutely right. We need to understand how successful ACTIVE was in terms of volunteering. The VSO operated the Volunteering for Development programme and…30 Oct 2024