Contributions
1,953 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathMy hon. Friend is right; human rights are absolutely at the heart of this Government’s foreign policy. They are a topic that I discuss regularly with my right hon. Friend the…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathThe hon. Gentleman conflates two fundamentally different issues when he talks about the export licences and our sanctions regime. The sanctions regime that my right hon. Friend…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Bahraini Government have demonstrated a desire to improve. They want to have a free and robust judicial system, and we want to help them to…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathOne of the first events in which I took part on being appointed as Minister was when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosted journalists from north Africa and the middle east…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathThe best way of ensuring that Bahrain understands our position is to state it loudly, regularly and directly. As I say, we have had a relationship of over two centuries with the…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathThe UK and Bahrain continue to have a close and important relationship. We benefit from an ongoing, open and genuine dialogue in which we work together on mutually beneficial…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathThe UK Government remain committed to promoting universal freedoms and human rights around the world. That is and will remain at the heart of our foreign policy, to ensure that…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathI was incredibly proud when my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary announced the UK’s independent sanctions regime and demonstrated to both the House and the world that the…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathMy right hon. Friend and predecessor knows better than many the nature of our relationship. I commend him for his work on this issue directly with the Bahrainis. As I have found…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathOne by-product of the strength of our relationship is the ability of Her Majesty’s ambassador to attend trials of this nature in Bahrain. I have spoken to Her Majesty’s ambassador…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathI know that the Bahrainis do take seriously the views of the United Kingdom and this House. As yet, we do not know what the outcome of the Court of Cassation will be. If the death…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathI thank the hon. Gentleman for the points he raises. I can assure him that the United Kingdom Government, Her Majesty’s Government, oppose torture as well as the death penalty,…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathI thank the right hon. Gentleman for the points that he has made. It was a Conservative Foreign Secretary who brought in the OSJA process, and as I have said, it is, by…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathI thank my hon. and gallant Friend. I am not in a position to go into the details of all the evidence that was put forward in the trial of the two men, but the oversight bodies…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathI thank my hon. Friend; his points are very well made. One of the advantages of having more than 200 years of relationship with the Bahrainis is that we can speak candidly,…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathBahrain remains one of only two countries in the Gulf with an elected Parliament. UK support has strengthened the institutional capacity of the Bahraini Parliament’s secretariat,…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not currently provide funding or training to the Bahraini Royal Academy of Policing. The UK has been providing a range of technical and…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathMy hon. Friend is right; the UK, both in society and in government, is opposed to the death penalty across the world. We make that point clearly and regularly to our friends…09 Jul 2020HANSARDBahrain: Prisoners Under Sentence of DeathI am always happy to meet parliamentary colleagues about important issues such as this. The likely timing of the Court of Cassation judgment may make it difficult to do so before…09 Jul 2020HANSARDYemenMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is impossible to separate our development work from our wider diplomatic work. The greatest step forward that we could have for the people…30 Jun 2020