Urgent question on Monday, 7 March 2016, in the House of Commons, led by Alistair Carmichael. The answering member was Michael Fallon.

Royal Naval Deployment: Mediterranean

Urgent question on the announcement that the Royal Navy will join NATO forces in the interception and return of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 607 cc22-35
Session: 2015-16
Department: Ministry of Defence
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions: Alistair Carmichael | 607 c23 (Link to this contribution)
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to make a statement on the announcem...; Michael Fallon | 607 c23 (Link to this contribution)
The scale of the migration challenge requires NATO, the European Union and other countries across...; Alistair Carmichael | 607 cc23-4 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Secretary of State for that answer and, in particular, for coming to the Chamber to m...; Michael Fallon | 607 cc24-5 (Link to this contribution)
There are, of course, already innocent victims of that people trafficking. Several hundred have d...; Lord Redwood | 607 c25 (Link to this contribution)
If it is now established European Union and UK policy that illegal migrants should be returned, w...; Michael Fallon | 607 c25 (Link to this contribution)
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is in Brussels today discussing the entire issue of retur...; Toby Perkins | 607 c25 (Link to this contribution)
I am sure that the thoughts and gratitude of the whole House are with the men and women aboard RF...; Michael Fallon | 607 c26 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments. Let me reciprocate by sending our good wish...; Bernard Jenkin | 607 c26 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and, indeed, the Royal Navy for its commitment to ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c26 (Link to this contribution)
This is a NATO mission—it was proposed by Germany, which is leading this particular standing mari...; Brendan O'Hara | 607 c26 (Link to this contribution)
We welcome the decision by the UK Government to join NATO in trying to tackle the truly awful lev...; Michael Fallon | 607 c27 (Link to this contribution)
On the first point, I welcome the contribution Scotland is making. I am sure that the hon. Gentle...; Heidi Allen | 607 c27 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and the role of the Navy. Many hands do, indeed, mak...; Michael Fallon | 607 c27 (Link to this contribution)
The primary purpose of the mission is to provide monitoring, surveillance and reconnaissance of t...; Yvette Cooper | 607 c27 (Link to this contribution)
Obviously, preventing people from risking their lives by making such a dangerous journey is the r...; Michael Fallon | 607 c27 (Link to this contribution)
The British Government are taking refugees from Syria, as we have made clear, and some of them ha...; Bob Stewart | 607 c28 (Link to this contribution)
May I ask my right hon. Friend about the rules for interception? For instance, what would happen ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c28 (Link to this contribution)
It was certainly our experience last year that migrants in boats that were sinking or in distress...; Keith Vaz | 607 c28 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome this deployment. As the Secretary of State knows, 1 million migrants entered the EU las...; Michael Fallon | 607 c28 (Link to this contribution)
I agree with almost all that. It is important that the European Union follows through on its comm...; Christopher Chope | 607 c28 (Link to this contribution)
Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that Turkey is doing enough at the moment to help? Tens of thou...; Michael Fallon | 607 c28 (Link to this contribution)
Of course the Turkish Government can do more, but so can other Governments, such as the Greek Gov...; Lord Beamish | 607 c29 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome this deployment and wish RFA Mounts Bay and her crew all the best. What is the legal st...; Michael Fallon | 607 c29 (Link to this contribution)
The legal position is that people cannot claim asylum on board Mounts Bay if it is not in UK terr...; Anne Main | 607 c29 (Link to this contribution)
Given that this is an extremely lucrative trade for people smugglers and that, as the Minister sa...; Michael Fallon | 607 c29 (Link to this contribution)
The best assurance that I can give my hon. Friend is that we are determined to try to help Turkey...; Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 607 c29 (Link to this contribution)
From Mare Nostrum in 2014, which we failed to finance properly, to the Frontex operations, there ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c29 (Link to this contribution)
The deployment of Mounts Bay was announced late last night following the agreement reached betwee...; Robert Jenrick | 607 c30 (Link to this contribution)
When I visited the points of embarkation and arrival, I spoke to migrants and refugees. I found t...; Michael Fallon | 607 c30 (Link to this contribution)
I agree with my hon. Friend. Signals are picked up very quickly and very clearly by large numbers...; Stephen Doughty | 607 c30 (Link to this contribution)
On Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting members of the Oasis Cardiff centre in my constituency a...; Michael Fallon | 607 c30 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman is right. When I visited HMS Bulwark last summer just a few weeks after she ha...; Antoinette Sandbach | 607 c30 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome this deployment. Does capability exist on the Royal Navy ship to gather evidence—in par...; Michael Fallon | 607 c30 (Link to this contribution)
Yes, Mounts Bay and our other units deployed there are well able to gather the information to whi...; Madeleine Moon | 607 c31 (Link to this contribution)
I appreciate that Mounts Bay will be on an observation and deterrence mission, but the chances ar...; Michael Fallon | 607 c31 (Link to this contribution)
Those deployed on the Border Force cutters have that kind of training, but Mounts Bay is a much l...; Steve Baker | 607 c31 (Link to this contribution)
EU Navfor concentrates on Somalian piracy but claims in its mandate to provide support to other E...; Michael Fallon | 607 c31 (Link to this contribution)
Maritime standing group 2 operates in the eastern Mediterranean, and so is the logical group to d...; Andrew Gwynne | 607 c31 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome the Defence Secretary’s announcement. Does he foresee the need for an additional deploy...; Michael Fallon | 607 c31 (Link to this contribution)
We will certainly keep our deployment under review. As I said, we have Mounts Bay now and the thr...; Andrew Bridgen | 607 c32 (Link to this contribution)
Chancellor Merkel’s unilateral and ill-advised announcement that Germany’s borders were open and ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c32 (Link to this contribution)
The German Chancellor is in Brussels today, engaging with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister...; Tom Brake | 607 c32 (Link to this contribution)
With more refugees being sent back to Turkey, I must ask the Secretary of State again the questio...; Michael Fallon | 607 c32 (Link to this contribution)
We certainly abide by our international obligations under the refugee convention, which means tha...; Robin Walker | 607 c32 (Link to this contribution)
In associating myself with the tributes paid to the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines and Border Forc...; Michael Fallon | 607 c32 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right to draw the House’s attention to the hidden heroes—the families who stand...; Christopher Pincher | 607 c33 (Link to this contribution)
My right hon. Friend has fielded many questions on the terrible situation off the coast of Turkey...; Michael Fallon | 607 c33 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right to draw our attention to the other route, which opened up significantly l...; Jason McCartney | 607 c33 (Link to this contribution)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that this Royal Navy deployment shows the importance of the Type ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c33 (Link to this contribution)
I recall my visit to David Brown and seeing the gearing systems already being designed and produc...; Wendy Morton | 607 c33 (Link to this contribution)
I recently spent a day at sea with HMS Portland as part of the armed forces parliamentary scheme ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c33 (Link to this contribution)
The Royal Navy has been engaged in the Libyan route. Last summer, HMS Bulwark was first on the sc...; Alex Chalk | 607 c34 (Link to this contribution)
The Royal Navy deployment that was announced today will turn up the heat on the traffickers and h...; Michael Fallon | 607 c34 (Link to this contribution)
Yes, it does. The Royal Navy itself is the biggest beneficiary of the increase in defence spendin...; Margaret Ferrier | 607 c34 (Link to this contribution)
Thousands of stranded refugees are currently in Idomeni, a small village on the Greek border with...; Michael Fallon | 607 c34 (Link to this contribution)
Lives have been lost already. Thousands drowned in the Mediterranean last year, and several hundr...; John Bercow | 607 c34 (Link to this contribution)
Let us hear from a cerebral inquisitor. Yes—Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg.; Jacob Rees-Mogg | 607 c34 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his characteristic courtesy in coming to the House in person to ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c34 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend’s views on this matter are fairly well known, and I have to tell him that, sadly, ...; David Nuttall | 607 c35 (Link to this contribution)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the fact that NATO has had to be called upon to protect the ...; Michael Fallon | 607 c35 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend and I might not agree on everything that people should have to bear in mind when i...; Kevin Foster | 607 c35 (Link to this contribution)
Over the past few months, I have met marines and servicemen and women on the ships that have been...; Michael Fallon | 607 c35 (Link to this contribution)
I absolutely agree with that. There are clearly people smugglers in Turkey who are making huge am...
Subjects: Deployment Human trafficking Greece Navy Refugees NATO Turkey EU immigration Aegean Sea
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk

Royal Naval Deployment: Mediterranean

Secondary information

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