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Debate on Thursday, 27 October 2011, in the House of Commons, led by David Lidington. The answering member was Emma Reynolds.

Council of Europe (UK Chairmanship)

Debate on a motion that this House has considered the matter of the UK's Chairmanship of the Council of Europe. Agreed to on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
534 c505-74 
Session
2010-12
Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Alan Meale | 534 c514 (Link to this contribution) At the moment, the judges are elected in the Assembly by all Members of the Assembly, but the Interl...
Emma Reynolds | 534 c513-4 (Link to this contribution) I agree that the court needs to be reformed, and I will come to that, but I do not agree with everyt...
Show all contributions (152)
Emma Reynolds | 534 c514-5 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the Europe Minister has noted the hon. Gentleman's concerns. Any reform of the Court...
Mike Hancock | 534 c514 (Link to this contribution) For those of us who have had the privilege of being in the Council of Europe for any length of time,...
Emma Reynolds | 534 c514 (Link to this contribution) I am a great supporter of gender equality, but the selection process needs to be improved.
Dominic Raab | 534 c516 (Link to this contribution) I agree that we should not automatically, in a knee-jerk way, blame Strasbourg for everything. Howev...
Michael Connarty | 534 c529 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening to the hon. Lady expand on her point. I think she has got the matter wrong. Wh...
Speaker | 534 c527 (Link to this contribution) No, it is not the hon. Lady's fault. The hon. Gentleman should know better. If he wants to intervene...
Sandra Osborne | 534 c527 (Link to this contribution) He is just very enthusiastic, Madam Deputy Speaker. The internet, as we have found, knows no nation...
Priti Patel | 534 c527-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate, primarily because I have been calling...
Sandra Osborne | 534 c526 (Link to this contribution) There is a civic partnership that was not previously available—
Michael Connarty | 534 c526 (Link to this contribution) What the hell is civic partnership?
Speaker | 534 c526 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are not conducting a conversation; this is a debate.
Alan Meale | 534 c532-3 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for that guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker. To give a very short reply to the question, let m...
David Burrowes | 534 c531-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important case regarding the human rights of the people of Cyprus. Is it...
Speaker | 534 c532 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are not discussing the issue of Turkey per se and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will b...
Alan Meale | 534 c530-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right. I apologise if I have led him up the path of thinking that these minor ...
Brian Binley | 534 c530 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not appreciate that many of the decisions by the European Court of Human Rig...
Alan Meale | 534 c530 (Link to this contribution) I said that I was not going to be able to speak in the debate, but I managed to get somebody else to...
Priti Patel | 534 c529-30 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for making that point so clearly and succinctly. Our chairmanship of the Coun...
David TC Davies | 534 c529 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a number of excellent points. Does she agree that the human rights of viole...
Priti Patel | 534 c529 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. In February we debated the sovereignty and decision mak...
Bob Stewart | 534 c538 (Link to this contribution) I have a question because I am slightly ignorant on the procedures. If a judgment came back to this ...
Michael Connarty | 534 c538 (Link to this contribution) That is a very important question. If the Government should bring back a proposal on, for example, w...
Brian Binley | 534 c538 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is a very dedicated member of the Parliamentary Assembly, and it is a pleasure to...
Michael Connarty | 534 c534 (Link to this contribution) I just want to get the hon. Member to clarify and put on the record the fact that all of these count...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 534 c535 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend regret as I do the fact that, notwithstanding the Forfeiture Act 1870, which est...
Michael Connarty | 534 c536-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for North Thanet (Mr Gale). Having been in the Council o...
Michael Connarty | 534 c537-8 (Link to this contribution) We came in together, and hopefully they will carry us out together. I recall that we also came to th...
Oliver Heald | 534 c537 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will recall that he and I were both there on the Friday of the last part-session,...
Oliver Heald | 534 c547 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman has researched the Council of Europe at all, but its budget...
Lord Mann | 534 c547-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman, but I would say, ““Count the pennies and we'll have the pounds.”” I woul...
Speaker | 534 c544 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next speaker, I would like to draw it to Members' attention that this debat...
Brian Binley | 534 c542 (Link to this contribution) I am again most grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who is being very generous with his time. Does he th...
Michael Connarty | 534 c538-42 (Link to this contribution) I think that is correct in what I have seen of the Council of Europe. It can make judgments, it can ...
Lord Mann | 534 c547 (Link to this contribution) Having heard about the worthy deeds of the Council of Europe, I shall start on the question of value...
Martin Horwood | 534 c545-7 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that there is any suggestion that we will repeal the Human Rights Act, which actually...
Edward Leigh | 534 c545 (Link to this contribution) During the lifetime of this Government, will the Liberal part of the coalition veto any attempt to r...
Martin Horwood | 534 c544-5 (Link to this contribution) This has been quite a consensual debate. It has not been as noisy and pacey as the debate about Euro...
Martin Horwood | 534 c552 (Link to this contribution) I am tempted to discuss the issue of immigration and suggest that it is more to do with providing th...
Lord Mann | 534 c550 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that information, and let me stress that I do not celebrate such cuts...
Lord Mann | 534 c550-1 (Link to this contribution) Turning for a moment to what is happening in my constituency and that of my hon. Friend, I could men...
Edward Leigh | 534 c551-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) is my next-door neighbour across the Trent, so I hope that...
Lord Mann | 534 c548-9 (Link to this contribution) Yes, the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey). He rightly convened a conference of experts, and I not...
Oliver Heald | 534 c550 (Link to this contribution) The point being made was how on earth can the hon. Gentleman criticise the Council of Europe about t...
Lord Mann | 534 c550 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is a very good parliamentarian and he used to be my MP, but he sometimes gets ove...
Robert Walter | 534 c550 (Link to this contribution) I want to give the hon. Gentleman some reassurance. The delegation from this place to the COE has ha...
Brian Binley | 534 c559 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann), who is leaving his place, for reminding me that I...
Alan Meale | 534 c557 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman confirm, so that the House is not left with the wrong impression, that we re...
Oliver Heald | 534 c557-9 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and of course the answer is not to find a way of letting unsatisfactory candidates through; it ...
Lord Mann | 534 c556 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has spent too much time on top of mountains, I think; he needs to listen a little...
Oliver Heald | 534 c556-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman made his speech, and I have disagreed with several points that he made, so we wil...
Edward Leigh | 534 c554-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that; my hon. Friend speaks with personal knowledge. I shall end in a minute. I t...
Oliver Heald | 534 c555-6 (Link to this contribution) May I start by congratulating you, Mr Deputy Speaker, on being made an honorary member of the Parlia...
Edward Leigh | 534 c552-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman because this addresses precisely the point I want to make. I bel...
Bob Stewart | 534 c554 (Link to this contribution) The Human Rights Act also has a direct impact on operations for our armed forces, and often constrai...
Martin Horwood | 534 c560 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way again?
Brian Binley | 534 c560-1 (Link to this contribution) I want other people to be able to speak, and many Members have spoken for a long time, so I will rej...
David TC Davies | 534 c561-2 (Link to this contribution) May I, too, begin by congratulating the Europe Minister on a speech that I think united not just all...
Brian Binley | 534 c563 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend knows that I am very interested in football, and in fact played for a long time. Does...
Damian Collins | 534 c563-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. For a review of FIFA to have any meaning, there needs to be a fu...
James Clappison | 534 c565 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins)...
Brian Binley | 534 c559-60 (Link to this contribution) I am sure he will. The European Court of Human Rights has a proud history of defending the rights o...
Martin Horwood | 534 c560 (Link to this contribution) In arguing for an awareness of our code of law, cultural traditions and values, is the hon. Gentlema...
Brian Binley | 534 c560 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to say that most senior judges believe in the primacy of Parliament, and I have no co...
Emma Reynolds | 534 c516 (Link to this contribution) I do accept that, and I think it is a debate that we will have today. Although modernisation and re...
Robert Walter | 534 c516 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister for Europe said in his opening remarks, this is an interesting week in the House of ...
Robert Walter | 534 c517-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. I will come on to say why I believe that there could be danger...
James Clappison | 534 c517 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the conscientious and diligent way in which he has led the Briti...
Robert Walter | 534 c518 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Lady is right. She is making the point for me that we must be seen to be fair ...
Sandra Osborne | 534 c518 (Link to this contribution) I, too, pay tribute to the fantastic job that the hon. Gentleman does as the leader of the delegatio...
Robert Walter | 534 c516 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds) pointed out, the fact that there are...
Edward Leigh | 534 c516 (Link to this contribution) Nor should it ever be. [Laughter.]
Robert Walter | 534 c516-7 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but I think he will find that more members of the d...
Jim Sheridan | 534 c516 (Link to this contribution) Notwithstanding the hon. Gentleman's enthusiasm for Europe, does he accept that his party's delegati...
Robert Walter | 534 c519 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very significant point about the sovereignty of member states, whether they b...
Alan Meale | 534 c519 (Link to this contribution) Like the hon. Gentleman's colleagues, I pay tribute to him for his work at the Council of Europe ove...
Roger Gale | 534 c518-9 (Link to this contribution) It gets a bit worse than that. There is a thing called the transfrontier broadcasting directive, whi...
Brian Binley | 534 c520 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend concerned that most of us sitting in the Chamber today might not be here when the ...
Robert Walter | 534 c520 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that point, because it sums up the fact that what I have described will b...
Oliver Heald | 534 c519-20 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one thing that is quite hard to understand for people who are not on ...
Robert Walter | 534 c519 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman knows that I am an avowed supporter of Turkish membership of the European...
Robert Walter | 534 c520-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for making that point, which brings me neatly to the next one that I wanted t...
Oliver Heald | 534 c522 (Link to this contribution) By way of a rider to my hon. Friend's point on seeking leave to appeal on a point of law, which I ba...
Robert Walter | 534 c522 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to raise that point. We must strike the right balance—strike out spurious cl...
Brian Binley | 534 c522 (Link to this contribution) Do the people sent to prison not have the choice about whether they go to prison, and should that no...
Robert Walter | 534 c522-3 (Link to this contribution) Of course, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is the point that we are making. We could have a...
Robert Walter | 534 c523 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course, we cannot get through them. We know that about 97% of...
Bob Stewart | 534 c523 (Link to this contribution) Did the commission not also recommend that the judges be able to dismiss cases, in order to reduce t...
Keith Vaz | 534 c525 (Link to this contribution) I am following my hon. Friend's speech carefully, and I welcome all the work that she does in the Co...
Sandra Osborne | 534 c523-5 (Link to this contribution) I rise to follow the hon. Member for North Dorset (Mr Walter) with some trepidation. He has an encyc...
Sandra Osborne | 534 c525-6 (Link to this contribution) I totally agree with my right hon. Friend, and I will come on to that subject later in my speech. If...
Sandra Osborne | 534 c508 (Link to this contribution) Can the Minister give a few examples in a UK context, of where the court has been guilty of deprivin...
David Lidington | 534 c508 (Link to this contribution) I ask the hon. Lady simply to look at the sheer volume of cases before the Court. We argue that ther...
Michael Connarty | 534 c508 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way on that point?
David Lidington | 534 c508 (Link to this contribution) I will give way once more, then I really am going to make some progress.
Michael Connarty | 534 c508-9 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister. I am trying to be helpful, because I totally agree with and follow his logic o...
David Lidington | 534 c509 (Link to this contribution) I do not differ from the hon. Gentleman in principle, but we need effective criteria that everyone—f...
Jim Sheridan | 534 c509-10 (Link to this contribution) On declarations, there is no more fundamental right than that of a person to live freely and indepen...
David Lidington | 534 c510 (Link to this contribution) With respect, I may correct the hon. Gentleman, because the chairmanship proceeds in alphabetical se...
David Lidington | 534 c510 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I will not give way, because he has had one bite of the cherr...
David Lidington | 534 c511 (Link to this contribution) We take all the independent commission's advice very seriously, and we look forward to the fruits of...
Roger Gale | 534 c511 (Link to this contribution) If I am fortunate enough to catch your eye, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will return to the internet prob...
Dominic Raab | 534 c510-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for setting out the policy so clearly, and I have had an opportunity to look at...
David Lidington | 534 c512 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, who is the leader of the United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of ...
Robert Walter | 534 c511-2 (Link to this contribution) Discussions on the budget take place in Strasbourg, and 27 of the 47 member states are members of th...
Edward Leigh | 534 c513 (Link to this contribution) We all accept that, but the fact is that the process has gone way beyond what was envisaged by peopl...
David Lidington | 534 c512 (Link to this contribution) I must make some progress, because other hon. Members want to contribute to the debate. During our ...
Emma Reynolds | 534 c512-3 (Link to this contribution) This is an important and timely debate, and it is absolutely right that we have an opportunity to di...
David Lidington | 534 c506 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend's suggestions, and indeed proposals from the Parliamentary Assembly as...
John Hemming | 534 c506 (Link to this contribution) There have obviously been concerns about some of the ways in which the convention's basic rights hav...
David Lidington | 534 c505-6 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House has considered the matter of the UK's Chairmanship of the Council of ...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 534 c506 (Link to this contribution) While my right hon. Friend is talking about the European Court of Human Rights, will he acknowledge ...
David Lidington | 534 c506 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my hon. Friend. If the Court is to continue to be treated with respect, it i...
David Lidington | 534 c508 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with my hon. Friend. The second reason also explains why the backlog has been all...
Edward Leigh | 534 c506 (Link to this contribution) Has not the whole process become ludicrously abused? Has my right hon. Friend had a chance to read t...
David Lidington | 534 c508 (Link to this contribution) I have taken careful note of my hon. Friend's interest in participating and will ensure that the par...
Mike Hancock | 534 c508 (Link to this contribution) The real problem with the backlog is that reforms to the Court cannot restructure the backlog or eff...
David Lidington | 534 c507 (Link to this contribution) Yes, the hon. Gentleman is right. The convention played an important role after the second world wa...
Christopher Chope | 534 c507-8 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend announced yesterday that the Government will host a conference at Wilton Park o...
David Lidington | 534 c507 (Link to this contribution) I will give way one last time, and then I must make progress.
Alan Meale | 534 c507 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister confirm a bit of information? As he touched on earlier, there are about 800 millio...
David Lidington | 534 c506 (Link to this contribution) I have to tell my hon. Friend, who is a distinguished member of the United Kingdom delegation to the...
Martin Horwood | 534 c565 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
James Clappison | 534 c565 (Link to this contribution) I will certainly give way to the hon. Gentleman, who is an enthusiast for the convention if nothing ...
James Clappison | 534 c566-8 (Link to this contribution) I think it has been conceded that any citizen in the European Union who feels that their human right...
David Lidington | 534 c568-70 (Link to this contribution) With the leave of the House, Mr Speaker. First, let me thank every Member who has taken part in wha...
James Clappison | 534 c570 (Link to this contribution) I welcome my right hon. Friend's approach to this matter. Can he confirm that in his discussions at ...
David Lidington | 534 c571-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right: there has to be unanimity within the EU before accession can take place. Fu...
David Lidington | 534 c573-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to accuse him of having further territorial ambitions. The hon. Member for Linlithgow...
Emma Reynolds | 534 c514 (Link to this contribution) I join the hon. Gentleman in that view. I recognise that Members across this House have played very ...
Oliver Heald | 534 c514 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady mentioned some distinguished contributions to the Council of Europe by Conservatives i...
Emma Reynolds | 534 c515 (Link to this contribution) I wrote it, thank you very much. That is very patronising of the hon. Gentleman. I might be a young ...
Roger Gale | 534 c533-4 (Link to this contribution) I wish to touch briefly on three issues. The first relates to the European convention on human right...
Roger Gale | 534 c534-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who is absolutely right. The implication is that because we hav...
Michael Connarty | 534 c542-4 (Link to this contribution) I think that we have quite a developed idea among those who take it seriously that with rights come ...
Ian Mearns | 534 c550 (Link to this contribution) I want to correct a possible misapprehension. As well as the 10% and 17% overall cuts already mentio...
Damian Collins | 534 c562-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be called, and a privilege to have the chance to play a small part in this debat...
Robert Walter | 534 c521 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why the Government were right to set up the commission o...
Edward Leigh | 534 c521 (Link to this contribution) The European Court often gets blamed unfairly for judicial activism, but the real judicial activism ...
David Lidington | 534 c511 (Link to this contribution) Ambitions must sometimes be tempered by the need to obtain the necessary consensus. In the context o...
Sandra Osborne | 534 c526 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with my hon. Friend, but I would say that heterosexual people have the option to m...
Roger Gale | 534 c535-6 (Link to this contribution) I have already made my view abundantly plain: I regret the situation very much indeed. If there is a...
Michael Connarty | 534 c526 (Link to this contribution) It has always struck me that in some other countries—this is certainly true where my son lives—peopl...
Martin Horwood | 534 c565 (Link to this contribution) Surely the point is that the European Union institutions should not be beyond the reach of the conve...
Subjects
Cyprus Democracy Homosexuality Human rights European Convention on Human Rights Gender European Union Internet Discrimination Freedom of expression European Court of Human Rights Parliament Sovereignty Reform Rule of law Turkey Council of Europe FIFA
Link
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