Results 1-20 of 1,466 for speaker:Mike Gapes

Debate on the Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence (23 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: I welcome some aspects of the Queen's speech, particularly the international development spending Bill, which is about to be introduced, and the legislation on cluster munitions, which is in line with what the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs has called for over a long period. I am also disappointed, however, that legislation has not been proposed to regulate private military and security...

Debate on the Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence (23 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: I accept that there are big problems. Another problem is the continued failure of the Zimbabwe Government, under the leadership of Mugabe, to allow Roy Bennett, a Minister, to be released from detention and to take his place within the political system. Other issues have also led to difficulties, but I believe that it is important that we in this country give support to those in southern...

Debate on the Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence (23 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: I am concluding on this section.

Debate on the Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence (23 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: Madam Deputy Speaker, the concluding sentence of the letter expresses the hope that "the TCI will continue on its path towards good governance"-

Debate on the Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence (23 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: I wish to conclude on this matter by saying very clearly that serious questions need to be answered by the Leader of the Opposition-I hope that he will do so-and that the matters relating to the TCI and the fact that the Caribbean bank plays a role in other territories in that region, including Trinidad, need to be looked at very seriously. In conclusion, much has been said in the debate...

Debate on the Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence (23 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: rose-

Debate on the Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence (23 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: The shadow Foreign Secretary has remarked on the two posts of President of the Council of Ministers and High Representative, but, given his party's evolution and movement away from the mainstream of Europe, will he tell us when he thinks that a British Conservative will ever be in a position to take up such a post?

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: Will the Minister take this opportunity to answer my specific question about whether the Sri Lankan armed forces used equipment supplied by the UK—licences have now been revoked—in the recent conflicts?

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: Perhaps the Minister will write to me.

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir John Stanley). May I begin by endorsing his remarks, with which I completely concur, about my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Roger Berry) and his work as Chairman of the Committee in this Parliament? I want to concentrate on only one area of the report and the Government response. I do so because over...

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the report. An annexe sets out information sent by the organisation Saferworld, which listed arms exports year by year from the UK to Sri Lanka. We were told by the then Foreign Office Minister, now the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell), that there had been a pause in those exports as a result of the...

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: I do not have any direct evidence to confirm or deny what my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North says, but it is a matter that the Foreign Office and other Departments should take up. If, as the Government say, there is a culture of impunity in Sri Lanka, and if, as they say, there are serious human rights concerns, is it not appropriate that we should take a much more rigorous...

[Mr.Greg Pope in the Chair] — Arms Export Controls (5 Nov 2009)

Mike Gapes: I should like to update my hon. Friend. Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee were at the United Nations last week, and we had discussions with a number of people. I will not reveal the conversations because they were confidential, but there was a level of optimism that progress is being made on the arms trade treaty. The Obama Administration's shift away from the approach of the Bush...

Written Answers — Communities and Local Government: Allotments (14 Jul 2009)

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what applications each Government Office has (a) received, (b) approved and (c) not approved from each local authority in its region for disposal of statutory allotments between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2009; what the proposed alternative use of the allotments was in each case; and what the reason for (i) approval and (ii)...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: G8 Summit (13 Jul 2009)

Mike Gapes: The Prime Minister is to be congratulated on pushing climate change up the agenda of the meeting. Does he agree that climate change is a bigger threat to the future of humankind than any of the regional conflicts, the economic crisis or the terrorism so prevalent in the world today? We need to act urgently on the climate change agenda.

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Global Security (Iran) (9 Jul 2009)

Mike Gapes: We met that somebody of whom the hon. Gentleman had never heard: his name is Jalili, and we had a very interesting, intense and frank discussion with him.

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Global Security (Iran) (9 Jul 2009)

Mike Gapes: I am pleased to introduce this debate on the Foreign Affairs Committee report, "Global Security: Iran", which was published in February 2008, and the Government's response, which was published in May 2008. Although those documents were published some time ago, many of our conclusions are unfortunately still pertinent. This is a good opportunity for the House to have a three-hour debate on...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Global Security (Iran) (9 Jul 2009)

Mike Gapes: Yes, I do agree, but I also think that we need to be careful. The situation that the hon. Gentleman has described is appalling. Iran executes more people per head of population than any other country in the world, and carries out more executions than any country except China. People are still stoned to death and there is a criminal code that is used in a most brutal and repressive...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Global Security (Iran) (9 Jul 2009)

Mike Gapes: I absolutely agree; we were very well looked after, not just by our diplomats but by the Iranians who worked in the British embassy. They worked tirelessly to make our visit in November 2007 such a success. The one person who is still detained, and who has apparently been threatened with being put on trial for acting against national security, is a 44-year-old Iranian who is the British...

[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair] — Global Security (Iran) (9 Jul 2009)

Mike Gapes: I think the Minister has heard the hon. Gentleman's point. Before I move on to one or two other matters, I would like to raise the question of how we get out of the current situation. It seems that calls for a recount of the election—although those have now been rejected—were, in any case, mistaken. The regime has clearly shown that it does not in any way wish to give up power,...