Alan Duncan: Indeed I am—wholeheartedly.
Alan Duncan: Mr Speaker, may I echo the heartfelt comments that have been made about you from so many quarters over the past few days? May I do so by way of two confessions, which I have been needing to get off my chest? The first is that I was at a primary school—it is always there that you get the difficult questions—and I was asked, “What is the rudest thing that anyone has ever said to you in...
Alan Duncan: When a high-profile person has been wrongly accused of a sexual crime and has had his livelihood and reputation destroyed, following which the police, it seems, would rather fight him in court than compensate him, might the Prime Minister consider making it clear to the police that it is their duty to address injustice rather than create and perpetuate it and that they should pay...
Alan Duncan: Mr Speaker, if you were to reread your Samuel Pepys, you would find a line in the diaries of over 350 years ago, which says that so low had the rump fallen in the eyes of the people, that the lads in the street “do now cry, ‘Kiss my Parliament’”. If we are to avoid that same reputation persisting today, in our current politics, may I ask the Minister and all in this House to apply to...
Alan Duncan: I had no intention a few moments ago of speaking in this debate, but I would like to say three things that I hope the House will take on board. The first is to appreciate the catastrophic constitutional significance of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. I tried to repeal it in a ten-minute rule Bill in 2015. We all understand why it came into being—it was to be the glue in the coalition...
Alan Duncan: No, I will not give way to anybody.
Alan Duncan: No! Those are the three points that I simply want to make. I hope that, as this House goes through what is a very difficult and painful process as we approach the election, when it is recomposed after that election, we can appreciate the importance of legislation in this House and pay it proper attention so that Members of Parliament can see that making law is probably their most important...
Alan Duncan: The British Embassy in Budapest have discussed this with the Hungarian government on various occasions, stressing that Central European University's (CEU) relocation to Vienna is a great loss for Budapest and Hungary. We regret that the Hungarian government and CEU could not find a mutually acceptable solution as a vibrant and diverse education sector brings substantial benefits to any country.
Alan Duncan: The Government rigorously assesses arms export licences against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. We draw on a wide range of sources of information in making our assessments, including reports from the UN Panel of Experts. We will not issue any export licences for Saudi Arabia that are inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria, including Criterion 2(c): where...
Alan Duncan: We regularly discuss improvements planned for Romanian prisons with the Romanian Ministry of Justice. Through our embassy in Bucharest, we have official guarantees from the Ministry that persons sent back by the UK serve time in prisons which meet EU standards.
Alan Duncan: We are not aware of any allegations of serious abuses in the Romanian legal justice system relating to UK citizens imprisoned in Romania. When prisoners have approached us with concerns, we have contacted the local authorities to raise them - but they have usually been related to personal inconveniences and not abuse.
Alan Duncan: I am grateful to my hon. Friends the Members for Croydon South (Chris Philp) and for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), and to the hon. Members for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and for Glasgow East (David Linden) for securing the debate. The Minister for the Middle East, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), would have liked very much to be here to respond to the debate,...
Alan Duncan: Thank you for the offer. There are not many saints in this House, but the hon. Gentleman is about as close as anyone gets to being one. On Monday 8 July the Foreign Secretary welcomed the publication of the Bishop of Truro’s independent review of the persecution of Christians worldwide, and I would like now to set out in more detail the response of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The...
Alan Duncan: I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend, and in fact he is making my point for me: this is not just a Foreign Office thing. Indeed, it is not just an envoy thing; it is an everything thing, which means that all Departments, all of Government, and all Government policies must bear this in mind. And in doing so we should not be timid; we should be bold and ensure that the UK’s response...
Alan Duncan: We cannot have one set of standards for abroad and a different set of standards for our own domestic life; they all have to be consistent, and in that sense my hon. Friend is absolutely right. Freedom of religion or belief is already a fundamental part of Foreign Office work, in accordance with article 18 of the universal declaration of human rights. We have a team here in London dedicated to...
Alan Duncan: When I met with First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov in February, I made clear that Russia must address the concerns of the international community, including ending their destabilising activity in Ukraine. Our position is clear that Russia needs to end its financial and military support for armed separatists and fully respect Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity. We will...
Alan Duncan: The British Government has regular discussions with Ukraine, including at Ministerial level, on Russia's aggression against Ukraine and continued threats to Ukrainian sovereignty. Our position is clear that Russia must end its financial and military support for armed separatists and fully respect Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity. We will continue to be one of the strongest...
Alan Duncan: The Government has not made representations to the US Administration in relation to this specific case. The British Government's long-standing position remains that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay should close.
Alan Duncan: The British Government's long-standing position remains that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay should close and we continue to engage with the US Government on this issue to make this position clear. The UK continues to work closely with the US on a wide range of national security issues.
Alan Duncan: EU sanctions against members of Ukraine's Yanukovych regime were originally imposed on 5 March 2014 and were renewed on a yearly basis. The decision by the European Court of Justice annuls sanctions decisions made in March 2017 and March 2018. However, the EU decided on 4 March to extend asset freezes against the individuals in question until 6 March 2020. The UK continues to freeze the...