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Queen's speech debate on Wednesday, 10 December 2008, in the House of Commons, led by David Miliband. The answering member was Lord Hague of Richmond.

Foreign Affairs and Defence

Queen's speech debate (fourth day) on foreign affairs and defence.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
485 c559-646 
Session
2008-09
Department
Ministry of Defence
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 485 c584 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the House that a 15-minute limit will apply to Back Benchers' speeches as of now.
Speaker | 485 c646 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's point is now on the record. The occupants of the Treasury Bench have heard it, ...
Show all contributions (119)
Liam Fox | 485 c646 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I appreciate that the Secretary of State was short of tim...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c643 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to assure the House that no work is going on in th...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 485 c644-6 (Link to this contribution) I can give that assurance. I thought I recently answered a parliamentary question on that from my ho...
Sharon Hodgson | 485 c628 (Link to this contribution) I, too, was part of the delegation that went to Sderot in September. We all recognise the need to do...
Andrew Gwynne | 485 c626-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I was pleased to see the reference made i...
Lord Benyon | 485 c630-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a feature of being fairly low down the parliamentary food chain that my remarks will be curtai...
Andrew Gwynne | 485 c628-30 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The situation is terrible for the people who live in that town. ...
Mike Gapes | 485 c635-7 (Link to this contribution) I would like to begin by paying tribute to the staff who work in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 485 c632-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be able to contribute to this debate. I intend to be brief because I know that o...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 485 c642-3 (Link to this contribution) Let me begin by picking up the theme and the tone of the final comments of the hon. Member for Woods...
Liam Fox | 485 c637-42 (Link to this contribution) Everyone in the House will agree that, when he becomes President, President-elect Obama will find th...
Kim Howells | 485 c594 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an interesting speech. Is he as worried as me about the export from a c...
Ed Davey | 485 c594-5 (Link to this contribution) I agree. I was in Israel recently and asked for a special briefing from the relevant people in the M...
Marquess of Lothian | 485 c595 (Link to this contribution) If I understood the hon. Gentleman correctly, he said that the ““nothing is agreed until everything ...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c592 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that one of the problems is that there is no clear war aim in terms of...
Malcolm Rifkind | 485 c600-2 (Link to this contribution) I listened with interest to the remarks of the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn) abou...
Ed Davey | 485 c595-6 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the right hon. and learned Gentleman has given me the opportunity to clarify that I d...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c597-600 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that, and I entirely endorse and agree with her intervention. What happen...
Baroness Hoey | 485 c597 (Link to this contribution) I should like to pay tribute to the work that my hon. Friend has done to bring that small part of th...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c602 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman not think it would be helpful if the US were to stop the w...
Malcolm Rifkind | 485 c602-4 (Link to this contribution) I think both that the United States has been premature in giving such emphasis to a ballistic missil...
Derek Twigg | 485 c605-9 (Link to this contribution) I wish to make most of my remarks on Afghanistan, but I must first say that I have been privileged t...
Marquess of Lothian | 485 c609-12 (Link to this contribution) I was interested to hear what the hon. Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) had to say about Afghanistan,...
Jim Sheridan | 485 c604 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman is obviously well versed in these issues. He mentioned the ambi...
Malcolm Rifkind | 485 c604-5 (Link to this contribution) President-elect Obama will start with far greater authority than any other recent American President...
Baroness Hoey | 485 c614-6 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman had been here at the beginning of the debate, he would have heard me intervene...
Paul Keetch | 485 c614 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady not recognise what the President of Botswana, who met the Foreign Secretary and P...
Baroness Hoey | 485 c612-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram), with whom I h...
Robert Walter | 485 c617 (Link to this contribution) This has been a very good debate, because the sense of agreement in all parts of the House has been ...
Mark Hendrick | 485 c620-1 (Link to this contribution) I want to focus on the European Union's relations with Africa in particular, following on from the h...
Lindsay Hoyle | 485 c621 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made an interesting point, but does it not worry him that China could now become ...
Mark Hendrick | 485 c621-3 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree, but that is very difficult to achieve. I was interested in the speech made by my h...
Mark Hendrick | 485 c626 (Link to this contribution) As I have spoken already, I shall not say a great deal, but during the summer I was in China. Althou...
Patrick Mercer | 485 c623-6 (Link to this contribution) Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I welcome you to your place? It is a pleasure to fol...
Patrick Mercer | 485 c626 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has no doubt heard me dilate on that point in the past. We must concentrate on no...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c584 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is so nice that I will give way to him.
Kim Howells | 485 c584-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c584 (Link to this contribution) I am a little worried to hear that the hon. Gentleman is in such agreement with me; that is a little...
Harry Cohen | 485 c584 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has said some fine words on a couple of issues, certainly on Iraq and on nu...
Ed Davey | 485 c591-2 (Link to this contribution) Sometimes one wishes that one had not given way. I will not bother to respond to that. Although we ...
Ed Davey | 485 c588-91 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Pontypridd (Dr. Howells) made a very thoughtful speech on Afghanistan, which was...
Shailesh Vara | 485 c561 (Link to this contribution) Given that there is much talk of increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan, which I visited two...
David Miliband | 485 c561-2 (Link to this contribution) I will certainly come on to that, but it is good news that the French and Germans have increased the...
David Miliband | 485 c560 (Link to this contribution) Precisely because it is a joint unit between the three Departments. By definition, if it is a joint ...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 485 c560 (Link to this contribution) In that case, can the right hon. Gentleman explain why no Minister is directly responsible for the s...
David Miliband | 485 c560 (Link to this contribution) It is, of course, the Prime Minister who is in overall charge—[Interruption.] It is the Prime Minist...
Tobias Ellwood | 485 c559-60 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way so early in his speech. He talks about soldie...
David Miliband | 485 c561 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree with the right hon. Gentleman that the herding of staff and their family members f...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 485 c561 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State agree that one of the most chilling aspects of the terrorist attack was ...
David Miliband | 485 c560 (Link to this contribution) It is held to account by asking all of us about it, which Opposition Members quite rightly do. We ar...
David Miliband | 485 c559 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to introduce this annual debate on the Gracious Speech, not least as the amendment ta...
David Miliband | 485 c565 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, we do support an inquiry into the origins of the Iraq war, when our tro...
Ed Davey | 485 c565 (Link to this contribution) Given that both the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have said that there will be a fundamen...
Nick Harvey | 485 c566 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
David Miliband | 485 c566 (Link to this contribution) For the same reason that it is entirely appropriate for four House of Commons Committees to hold inq...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 485 c566 (Link to this contribution) May I return the Foreign Secretary to the issue of an inquiry into the war? He will know that my rig...
Harry Cohen | 485 c565 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary explain why the Government have such an abysmal record in connection with...
David Miliband | 485 c565 (Link to this contribution) Yes. Let me say, in the nicest possible way, that many Members do not feel that we have been quick, ...
Sammy Wilson | 485 c565 (Link to this contribution) On a recent visit to Iraq, a number of us observed the pride taken by those serving on our behalf in...
David Miliband | 485 c564-5 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to repeat what I have made clear on many occasions, both publicly and privately with the ...
Patrick Mercer | 485 c562 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary spare a moment to expand on our improving, or otherwise, relationship wit...
David Hamilton | 485 c563 (Link to this contribution) A serious discussion is taking place in America about it recognising India as a preferred partner, a...
David Miliband | 485 c563 (Link to this contribution) I shall take one more intervention and then, if I may, I shall make some progress.
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c564 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State use this opportunity to condemn the Israeli blockade of Gaza—the denial ...
David Miliband | 485 c563-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right that it is important that the United States has good relations with both Ind...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 485 c562 (Link to this contribution) On the civilian Government, is the Secretary of State having discussions with American colleagues ab...
David Miliband | 485 c562 (Link to this contribution) The important thing to say is that big changes are going on within the Pakistani armed forces, led b...
David Miliband | 485 c562-3 (Link to this contribution) Yes; my hon. Friend raises an important point, not least in the light of the Biden-Lugar Bill, spons...
Malcolm Rifkind | 485 c571 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the Foreign Secretary for giving way again. It is undoubtedly the case that so...
David Miliband | 485 c571-3 (Link to this contribution) I take seriously the experience with which the right hon. and learned Gentleman speaks. What I say t...
Baroness Hoey | 485 c570 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute the Foreign Secretary for the work he has done on this issue over a long period. He se...
David Miliband | 485 c570-1 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute in return to my hon. Friend, who has done extraordinary work on this issue over a long...
David Miliband | 485 c573-4 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I have given way more than enough. The US welcomes those stronger efforts because i...
Marquess of Lothian | 485 c569-70 (Link to this contribution) Following on from what the Foreign Secretary has just said, does he accept that the situation in Zim...
David Miliband | 485 c570 (Link to this contribution) The commitment to action not just words was best exemplified when we went to the UN Security Council...
Malcolm Rifkind | 485 c569 (Link to this contribution) Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the only external non-violent action that would force non-viol...
David Miliband | 485 c569 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman raises important and difficult issues that deserve a serious re...
David Miliband | 485 c567 (Link to this contribution) The circumstances are obvious. A battlegroup will be deployed when that is the most appropriate resp...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c567 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Foreign Secretary for giving way to me a second time. Can he make it clear, first, that ...
David Miliband | 485 c567 (Link to this contribution) The troops would not be under UN authority if they consisted of an EU battlegroup. That does not mea...
David Miliband | 485 c568 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will have a chance to make a speech later, but I will give way to him.
Ed Davey | 485 c568 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary. He has told us that on Monday Ministers instructed Javier So...
David Miliband | 485 c568-9 (Link to this contribution) He is going to respond to the UN Secretary-General's request for a bridging EU force, and examine it...
Nick Harvey | 485 c566 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary has restated the position that the inquiry should take place when our troops h...
David Miliband | 485 c566-7 (Link to this contribution) No, we are not. We are not going to hide behind the idea that the last troop must have come home. We...
Robert Walter | 485 c567 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary visited the DRC at the beginning of November with his French counterpart. He i...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c583-4 (Link to this contribution) Certainly, we should hope for that, and the Governments that my right hon. and learned Friend mentio...
Harry Cohen | 485 c584 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c583 (Link to this contribution) I am on my last paragraph, and I said that I had given way for the last time, but given that it is m...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c583 (Link to this contribution) It is certainly a weakness of the non-proliferation treaty that the nations to which the hon. Gentle...
Malcolm Rifkind | 485 c583 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c578-82 (Link to this contribution) I share my hon. Friend's puzzlement. He is really asking a question of the Defence Secretary, who wi...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c582 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that one of the non-proliferation treaty's limitations is that i...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c578 (Link to this contribution) I am asking whether that is the case, because it was reported in the newspapers. I know not to belie...
Patrick Mercer | 485 c578 (Link to this contribution) Can my right hon. Friend shed any light on why the Government promised before the Queen's Speech to ...
Nicholas Winterton | 485 c576 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend will know of my long-standing and deep interest in Zimbabwe. Will he accept tha...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c576 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point and he does have a long-standing interest in these issues. He ...
Lord Benyon | 485 c576-7 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend share the concern I felt when I heard recently of a conference of what one...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c577-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. He is right, and the story to which he draws attention is par...
Marquess of Lothian | 485 c575 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned Pakistan. Does he agree that it would be helpful to the Government of...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c575 (Link to this contribution) The most helpful thing would be for Pakistan itself to take on the full responsibility of ensuring o...
Harry Cohen | 485 c575 (Link to this contribution) Before we leave the point about bipartisanship in foreign policy, how does that square with the fact...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c575-6 (Link to this contribution) The Opposition should say what they think is the right thing to do, and not necessarily be governed ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 485 c574-5 (Link to this contribution) The combination of circumstances in world affairs presents some of the greatest dangers for decades:...
Mark Hendrick | 485 c591 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on having been consulted by President Obama when he drafted his po...
David Miliband | 485 c566 (Link to this contribution) Someone just mentioned translators, but that is not the information for which the hon. Gentleman has...
Malcolm Rifkind | 485 c583 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, and I applaud what he just said. Does he agree that it would ...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c596-7 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the fact that we have this annual debate, although it is a shame that this one coincides w...
Robert Walter | 485 c617-20 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his support of the Iranian Government's decision. I want to speak briefl...
Ed Davey | 485 c592-4 (Link to this contribution) I was about to come to the points that the hon. Gentleman raises. Although there is the review being...
Baroness Hoey | 485 c616-7 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way because there are a number of things that I want to put on the record. In the pa...
Subjects
Asylum Armed forces Defence Armed conflict Iraq Economic situation Foreign policy India Foreign relations Nuclear power Peacekeeping operations Politics and government Piracy Nuclear disarmament Pakistan Terrorism USA Afghanistan Addresses to the Crown Sudan Zimbabwe Iran Middle East Reconstruction Peace negotiations Democratic Republic of the Congo Somalia Trident Stabilisation Unit EU battlegroups
Link
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