Did you mean set male 1995-01-01..2005-01-08?
Bill Rammell: In September at the UN General Assembly, the Foreign Secretary and his French counterpart, Mr. Dominique De Villepin, jointly hosted a breakfast seminar on XNew Partnership for Africa's Development" (NEPAD) with Foreign Ministers from 10 African countries. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary last met Mr. De Villepin on 7 October to discuss the strengthening of the St. Malo accord and...
Iain Duncan Smith: The Prime Minister is right that NATO is the foundation stone of our national security. No other organisation could come close to fulfilling that task, which is why we particularly welcome the Prague statement on Iraq. The Prime Minister is also right to highlight the threat from terrorists as well as from weapons of mass destruction, particularly those possessed by rogue states. Those who...
Lord Wallace of Saltaire: My Lords, we must start the debate with the most immediate issue: the Middle East and the potential war with Iraq. I congratulate the Government on their efforts to ensure that there was a successful UN resolution that could be adopted by unanimity. It was worth the effort, the countless telephone calls and the weeks of delay. To witness Syria voting for that resolution and then the Arab...
Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to improve the detection of clandestine immigrants coming to the UK via (a) St. Malo, (b) Caen, (c) Le Havre and (d) Cherbourg; and if he will make a statement.
Beverley Hughes: The establishment of juxtaposed immigration controls, whereby French and UK immigration officers will carry out entry controls on behalf of their respective countries in the UK and France prior to the commencement of inward journeys was agreed by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, when they met on 12 July 2002. UK Immigration Service/Police...
Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he has discussed with his French counterpart the proposal of placing British officials in French cross-channel ports to assist in detecting clandestine immigrants coming to the UK via France; and if he will make a statement; (2) when he last met his French counterpart to discuss improving the situation concerning clandestine...
Bernard Jenkin: No. Of course, diplomacy can function in the war against terrorism only if it is ultimately backed by the threat of military force. Both diplomacy and military action depend on broad international support and unity. I am surprised that the Secretary of State made little reference to the upcoming Prague summit. It is the drifting apart of the Atlantic alliance that is by far the most dangerous...
Lord Howell of Guildford: My Lords, like many others in this debate, I congratulate the sub-committee on producing an excellent and stimulating report under the skilled chairmanship of my noble friend Lord Jopling. Indeed, I am proud that I had a passing association with the earlier work of this very well informed and expert committee. Like the noble Lord, Lord Owen, I particularly welcome the reference to, and...
Desmond Swayne: My hon. Friend's point is well made. It is not only a question of high-intensity war fighting—we have found armour to be extremely useful in peacekeeping operations in the Balkans. I am sure that Ministers will confirm that. I want to move on to an area of defence policy on which I am tempted to congratulate the Government almost unreservedly. [Interruption.] Wait for it. The position that...
Lord Howell of Guildford: My Lords, as I explained, the article to which the Minister referred is an editorial from The Times. That does not make much difference, but it was not just one journalist firing off; it was a considered piece by a team from a fairly distinguished newspaper. However, there is not much to be gained by contrasting that with a string of quotations about the importance—an importance that I...
Robert Key: Absolutely. I remember it well, and I shall return to that. However, much of that housing development has taken place irrespective of the presence of the barrage. Some of the most consistently energetic waves in the world are found on the British and Irish coastlines. That is important because consistency is one of the problems that we face. It therefore makes good sense to exploit that...
Peter Viggers: The right hon. Member for Swansea, East (Donald Anderson) always has the ear of the House and we listen to his comments with great interest. Over the past dozen years, we have passed through three distinct phases of defence threat. The first was the cold war, when the Soviet Union built a wall to keep its people in. We faced the massive military threat of Russia, which had both conventional...
Richard Spring: The right hon. Lady knows perfectly well that there was never any intention to establish a separate command structure outside NATO, but if one looks at exactly what was agreed at Nice, one sees that it is entirely different. I remind her that, originally, the Prime Minister himself bitterly opposed the moves that arose out of St. Malo. That is on the record. The most practical thing that we...
Lord Howell of Guildford: We come to Amendment No. 35 which is concerned with Declaration 1 adopted by the conference. While these declarations are part of the command paper and are included in the treaty document they are not part of the treaty itself. This amendment is concerned with the first declaration which focuses on European security and defence policy. It states that, "the objective for the European Union is...
Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The noble Lord, Lord Howell, has built an extremely elaborate castle on the modest foundations of this amendment. First, I remind him that I was listening again—for the second time in two weeks—to a group of visiting American officials, who began by reminding us that the United States strongly supports a European security and defence policy. As one of them said, "We bought into this after...
Lord Howell of Guildford: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for setting out some comments and answers on the debate. I accept that the noble Baroness, Lady Ramsay, is right about General Hagglund. He is a Finn—not a NATO member country—but he is the chairman of the military committee, not the political and security committee. I am also grateful to the Minister for her assurance that there is no European army...
Lord Howe of Aberavon: My Lords, I shall follow the example of others and commence with a word of congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, on her emergence in such a distinguished position. I look forward to hearing her in that enlarged capacity on future occasions. With great regret, I offer the House an apology because I may not be able to be present for the wind-up of the debate. I have a...
Andrew Murrison: I congratulate the hon. Member for East Lothian (Anne Picking) on delivering an excellent maiden speech, full of eloquence and obvious feeling for her constituency. She and I have in common a background in health and constituencies with strong martial traditions. I am hugely privileged to represent the Wiltshire county constituency of Westbury. As hon. Members might expect, Europe features...
Bill Cash: I have no idea. The matter is one of historical record. Indeed it is already on the record, so I am saying nothing that has not been said already. The significance of all this is very simple: through Feira, St. Malo and Cologne we are moving towards not merely a rapid reaction force or enhanced Petersberg tasks, but a European army. I believe that it was Romano Prodi who said—I am...
Mike Gapes: ...to new hon. Members on their maiden speeches. I remember that there was an empty Chamber when I made my maiden speech on a Friday morning in 1992, while the Queen's Speech was being debated. It must be far more difficult to make such a speech to a House that is relatively full, at least on the Labour Benches. The Conservative Benches are rather empty at this moment. I wish to concentrate...
