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Geneva Conventions and United Nations Personnel (Protocols) Bill [Lords]

That is indeed a problem. It was partly such arguments that stimulated the debate some 60 years ago, in which it was asserted with some force—for me, it was a compelling argument—that the red cross should be a universal symbol. My right hon. Friend will know why that is not the case. In the early days following the establishment of the conventions in the 1860s the Ottoman empire objected to the use of the cross, and it was as a compromise that the red crescent was introduced. My right hon. Friend could still, however, make a compelling case for the universal use of the red cross.