Proceeding contribution from Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Monday, 22 February 2010. It occurred during Urgent question on British Passports (Dubai).
British Passports (Dubai)
I am grateful to the Minister. Across the House, we are agreed that the misuse of British passports is a grave matter that must be prevented. I have three quick sets of questions. On the timing, can the Minister clear up the discrepancy between the Dubai police saying on 30 January,""we have the identities of the people involved"" and""are approaching all the channels including embassies and consulates"," and the Government's insisting that they knew nothing of the forged identities until 16 days later? Was it simply that the police did not pass on those identities, what efforts were made to secure them, and why does the Minister think that the information was not supplied for so long? Yesterday, the Dubai authorities indicated that diplomatic passports may have been used by other suspects, without naming any other country. Is that the matter to which the Minister referred in relation to the information obtained from Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed yesterday? On the wider implications, is the Minister concerned that relations with the United Arab Emirates have been damaged by these events? Our ambassador was summoned to its Foreign Ministry yesterday; can the Minister say what message was delivered? It has been reported that the cloned passports contained irregularities which could have marked them out as suspect. What plans are there to guard against the future fraudulent use of British passports? Finally, looking to the future, have the Government sought, or has the Foreign Secretary sought in his meeting with Mr. Lieberman today, assurances from Israel, as a friendly nation, that it will not sanction, for whatever reason, including in any intelligence operations, the misuse of British passports?
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 506 c23-4
- Session
- 2009-10
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Fraud Passports Criminal investigation Personation Israel Dubai Assassination Serious Organised Crime Agency al-Mabhouh, Mahmoud
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
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