Fiona Bruce: I rise to support the motion, and to commend my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Mrs Latham) for bringing the debate to the House. Central European countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Croatia and, of course, Ukraine are the most active countries in the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, which I...
Fiona Bruce: On behalf of my constituents, particularly in Middlewich and Sandbach, I warmly welcome the excellent news on the rebuild of Leighton Hospital. I thank Ministers for responding to the determined local campaigning on this, commendably led by my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Dr Mullan) and also involving my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Edward Timpson) and...
Fiona Bruce: Can we have a debate on the widespread need to reduce speed limits on rural roads for safety reasons, and to reduce the protracted procedures that can apply when trying to achieve that, even on one individual road? This is an issue of great concern to my local councillors Patrick Redstone and Liz Wardlaw, who are working hard on the issue, as is the Cheshire police and crime commissioner,...
Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to facilitate the process for consideration of the Full Business Case for the Middlewich Eastern Bypass in the Congleton constituency.
Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to help promote peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of recent military tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan on civilian farmers in the village of Tegh.
Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to provide humanitarian support to people affected by shortages of food, medical and other supplies as a result of the closure of the Lachin Corridor in 2023.
Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to press for the reopening of the Lachin Corridor; and what recent discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the reopening of the Lachin Corridor.
Fiona Bruce: I thank every Member, without exception, across the House who has spoken during the debate, for their authoritative, impassioned and moving speeches, many if not most of which were well informed by personal visits. Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank you for calling me, but in the light of such a high-quality debate, I feel that all I can do is echo the profound concerns that have been expressed...
Fiona Bruce: Good progress has been made on the Truro review, which this Government have given a commitment to implement. Of the remaining work, crucial is recommendation 6 to ensure the freedom of religion or belief special envoy role is permanently constituted—and, Mr Speaker, if I should declare an interest at this moment, I do, although I am speaking of course of the role itself. A short Bill would...
Fiona Bruce: What discussions the Church of England has had with the Church of Nigeria on the killing and abduction of Christians in that country.
Fiona Bruce: Open Doors reports that on Good Friday “32 Christians were killed…in an attack by suspected Fulani militants on an IDP camp in Benue State…while people were asleep”, and that the camp “houses nearly 30,000…mostly Christians, mainly women and children, who…fled their villages because of Fulani militant attacks.” Open Doors described this as part of a number of “widespread...
Fiona Bruce: I am very encouraged by what the Minister is saying. Actually, some charges, rather than being reasonable, should be not there at all. Let us take play areas as an example. Will the Minister consider whether local authorities should take over a play area if, for example, it has been created as a result of an agreement with the developer? Such play areas are used not just by the residents...
Fiona Bruce: My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech on an issue that affects many of my constituents. Does he agree that another issue is that, when the local authority is in the room at the start of a development, there should be some way of agreeing a time-bound point at which that local authority takes over, making certain the services or the facilities within some of these developments,...
Fiona Bruce: There is also the situation of some homeowners buying early on in a development and then finding that they are bearing charges for the subsequent development of the site or the maintenance of the site during its development, which, realistically and fairly speaking, should be borne by the developer itself.
Fiona Bruce: I am so pleased that the hon. Lady has mentioned Ben Rogers, because when I spoke about him earlier I did not know that he was here in the Chamber today. I would like to express my appreciation to him for that, and for his continued support of those who express such deep concerns about the people of Myanmar and their situation.
Fiona Bruce: The hon. Member is, as ever, making a compassionate speech. He referred to churches being targeted. Does he agree that the Myanmar regime’s deliberate targeting of places of worship for attacks, burning and, in some cases, wholesale destruction should be particularly condemned, not only because international instruments such as The Hague convention call for the protection of places of...
Fiona Bruce: Of course, we are not just talking about the members of that particular faith group; we are talking about support for the wider community, which is so often offered in such cases.
Fiona Bruce: The hon. Gentleman is making a particular plea to the Minister, who has vast experience of development work—indeed, we spent many recesses with others on the Umubano project, working on aid internationally. What often seems not to be recognised, although I am confident that the Minister will do so, is that the specific targeting of people because of their beliefs, and the specific targeting...
Fiona Bruce: It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. The hon. Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah) made a powerful speech, and I commend her for securing this debate. It will probably come as no surprise to colleagues that the issue I want to speak about is the fundamental right of freedom of religion or belief, which is being stamped on in Myanmar, with targeted repression of...
