Contributions
2,684 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI should say to my hon. Friend, whose commitment to advancing peace and to freedom of speech I respect, that all the Bill seeks to do is to ensure that boycotts and boycotts in…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend. Of course we are completely open to the consideration of any amendments that can give better effect to the shared intentions…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNo; they are separated in the Bill. I am afraid the hon. Lady is wrong.03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI have a lot of respect for the hon. Lady and I acknowledge her work to fight antisemitism and stand against the BDS movement—more than acknowledge it, I applaud her for it. I…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI think my right hon. Friend is completely right. Local government has a critical role in delivering public services, including support for the most vulnerable in our communities.…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNo, I am answering the hon. Gentleman’s question first. On the point about the legal advice from Mr Hermer KC, as I have said, we believe that that legal advice is flawed and it…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNo, I absolutely do not. The Bill enhances the UK Government’s ability to protect human rights across the globe. On the point that the hon. Gentleman makes about legal challenge,…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI will make more progress and then give way. Where the BDS campaign has been adopted and endorsed there have, unfortunately, been real community-cohesion problems. We have seen an…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI will give way in due course, but not at this point. The effects of the campaign are sadly manifold. The BDS campaign opposes efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI will take interventions in due course, but I want to make a little progress first. I want to be clear about what the BDS movement is and what it does. The BDS movement is not,…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillI agree, as I do almost always, with every word that the hon. Gentleman said.03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillBritish policy is, as my hon. Friend knows, to promote a two-state solution. I know that he has a long, passionate and committed interest in this subject and I respect the…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNo. The founder of the BDS movement, Omar Barghouti, has been clear in his opposition to the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. He has attacked what he calls the “racist…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNo. But the BDS movement asks that, alone among nations, Israel be treated as illegitimate in itself—03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNo. Nothing in the Bill prevents or impedes the loudest of criticisms of Israel’s Government and leaders, including by elected politicians at all levels of government.03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNot at this point. The BDS movement deliberately asks public bodies to treat Israel differently from any other nation on the globe. It asks them to treat the middle east’s only…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillNo. I am merely pointing out what is in the public domain. Let us turn to the nature of the BDS campaign.03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillMy right hon. Friend raises an important question because the Opposition have tabled a reasoned amendment. I believe they have done so in good faith. As the hon. and learned…03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillAbsolutely. Nothing in the Bill conflicts with any aspect of the ECHR, not least article 10.03 Jul 2023HANSARD Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) BillMy right hon. Friend is absolutely right. I shall go on to say more about the nature of the BDS campaign because we are not talking in the abstract; we are talking in concrete…03 Jul 2023