Contributions
387 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI believe that is correct. If I am incorrect, I will correct it in writing to my hon. Friend, but I believe he is correct.04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyAs if to prove that lightning does sometimes strike twice, even in this unnatural world of politics, I am here to address this issue again, as I was on 25 October, deputising for…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. I will touch on two aspects of what he said. The first is what losing the INF treaty means for extending New START, which is a…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank my right hon. Friend, who has great knowledge of and great interest in these matters. He is absolutely right that there needs to be an evidence-based approach. I have to…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI think there is little doubt that all of us feel it would have been better had nuclear weapons never been invented, but the fact that the capability is there does make it…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI think I speak for everyone in the House when I say that no one wants to see a return to an arms race. It is also worth pointing out that broader Russian interests extend well…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI reassure my hon. Friend that Ministers will keep the House up to date, not just on this issue—and obviously, it affects other Departments, including particularly the Ministry of…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank my right hon. Friend for his wise words. I do not think there is much that I can add to what he said, other than to say that I wholeheartedly agree with it and that it is…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank the right hon. Gentleman for his thoughts on this matter. He will be aware that we have to deal with security and intelligence-rated issues carefully, but I am confident…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyMy right hon. Friend puts it very well. I should perhaps say that decisions on US nuclear weapons policy are obviously fundamentally a matter for the US Government. However, the…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI think we all recognise that these are dangerous times. The questioning of the rules-based international system from all sorts of quarters should give rise to very grave…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI think it is hereditary, Mr Speaker. Others can perhaps judge that. I thank my hon. Friend for her comments. I hope she does not feel that her father’s work was in vain. My late…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank the hon. Gentleman for his question—I know he takes these matters very seriously. Yes, trust has clearly broken down. It is difficult to try to restore trust. It is worth…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank the hon. Gentleman for his brave words, and I agree entirely, but that makes it all the more important that we continue to work with the international community. The UN is…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyThe hon. Lady will be aware that this is a specific treaty within Europe between the US and Russia signed some 32 years ago, but she makes a valid point that these issues are not…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyBy my right hon. Friend’s standards, that was rather a long question, but let me keep the answer short. He is correct.04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyThe issue is about deterrence. As I said, if these weapons had never been invented, or if they could be mysteriously or mystically dis-invented, we would all be grateful, but that…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank my hon. Friend for his arguably slightly optimistic view on these matters. I will not speculate about the state of the Russian regime, but I am not convinced that this…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI am not going to become involved in speculation about arms races in other parts of the world, and, as the hon. Gentleman will appreciate, issues concerning the location of…04 Feb 2019HANSARDIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyI thank my hon. Friend for his youthful engagement in these matters. I am not sure that even at 23—which was my age in 1987—I realised quite what was going on when the INF treaty…04 Feb 2019