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Foreign Affairs and Defence

I am asking whether that is the case, because it was reported in the newspapers. I know not to believe things that are written in the newspapers, but we have to ask Ministers whether they are true. I hope that when the Defence Secretary winds up the debate he can say what the Government are doing to cut through the legal tangle and to find some solution whereby regional states can help in prosecuting apprehended pirates or whereby a temporary international court could be set up to try those who are accused. Without a major international effort to deal with those issues, it seems unlikely that piracy can be defeated and deterred.