My Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson), has made the following written Ministerial statement:

I wish to inform the House that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, together with the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, are today publishing the 2017...

My Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson), has made the following written Ministerial statement:

I wish to inform the House that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, together with the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, are today publishing the 2017...

I wish to inform the House that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, together with the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, are today publishing the 2017 annual report on progress against the UK's third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

Published on 12 June 2014 (HC...

I wish to inform the House that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, together with the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, are today publishing the 2017 annual report on progress against the UK's third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

Published on 12 June 2014 (HC...

I beg to move,

That this House has considered e-petition 205476 relating to the enslavement of black Africans in Libya.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I would like to read the petition into the record. It reads:

“Put pressure on Libya to take action to stop enslavement...

I beg to move,

That this House has considered e-petition 205476 relating to the enslavement of black Africans in Libya.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I would like to read the petition into the record. It reads:

“Put pressure on Libya to take action to stop enslavement...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. He mentioned Nigeria; when I visited it as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy, I had a discussion about this problem. We all agreed that if we did not help to get sub-Saharan Africa right, the catastrophe waiting to happen in Europe would...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. He mentioned Nigeria; when I visited it as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy, I had a discussion about this problem. We all agreed that if we did not help to get sub-Saharan Africa right, the catastrophe waiting to happen in Europe would...

I understand my hon. Friend’s expertise and knowledge of the area and totally agree with him. There is a real risk. We can tackle the atrocities of the slave trade in Libya, and Libya’s power vacuum, but ultimately the biggest threat to that part of the world and many others...

I understand my hon. Friend’s expertise and knowledge of the area and totally agree with him. There is a real risk. We can tackle the atrocities of the slave trade in Libya, and Libya’s power vacuum, but ultimately the biggest threat to that part of the world and many others...

On the power vacuum in Libya, the UK Government continue to support the Government of national accord, yet we hear that these things are becoming very much worse. Would it not be right for the UK to consider whether the that Government of national accord are perhaps not the answer?

On the power vacuum in Libya, the UK Government continue to support the Government of national accord, yet we hear that these things are becoming very much worse. Would it not be right for the UK to consider whether the that Government of national accord are perhaps not the answer?

I am grateful for the intervention. I will be interested to hear from the Minister on we can do to work towards democratic elections, and to create a mainstream Government in Libya, which clearly has not had one for many years. It is only by having a mainstream, democratically elected...

I am grateful for the intervention. I will be interested to hear from the Minister on we can do to work towards democratic elections, and to create a mainstream Government in Libya, which clearly has not had one for many years. It is only by having a mainstream, democratically elected...

Slavery these days is completely different from the way people would have imagined it some years ago. Many of the people who are trafficked get themselves to the traffickers to get somewhere else. Should we be looking at the possibility of DFID or others educating people in their country, village...

Slavery these days is completely different from the way people would have imagined it some years ago. Many of the people who are trafficked get themselves to the traffickers to get somewhere else. Should we be looking at the possibility of DFID or others educating people in their country, village...

I absolutely agree, because it is a matter of pull factors, and stopping people having to make the choice to migrate over such a treacherous route. They have so far to go: there are human traffickers; people may just be ditched at the side of the road as I have...

I absolutely agree, because it is a matter of pull factors, and stopping people having to make the choice to migrate over such a treacherous route. They have so far to go: there are human traffickers; people may just be ditched at the side of the road as I have...

I want to pick up on the previous intervention. I think that there is a huge role for British companies in educating people in their country. I went to see Unilever in Nigeria; it has eradicated modern slavery from its whole supply chain, and that has had a big effect...

I want to pick up on the previous intervention. I think that there is a huge role for British companies in educating people in their country. I went to see Unilever in Nigeria; it has eradicated modern slavery from its whole supply chain, and that has had a big effect...

My hon. Friend makes a typically insightful point, and it is right to use some of our big companies working in the areas in question to provide education and secondary industries. As we move into looking at trade agreements with Africa but while we are also a member of the...

My hon. Friend makes a typically insightful point, and it is right to use some of our big companies working in the areas in question to provide education and secondary industries. As we move into looking at trade agreements with Africa but while we are also a member of the...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. As we heard in the extremely powerful opening remarks from the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), there is incontrovertible evidence that slavery—that brutal and dehumanising exploitation—is taking place in Libya today.

As we know, modern slavery is...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. As we heard in the extremely powerful opening remarks from the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), there is incontrovertible evidence that slavery—that brutal and dehumanising exploitation—is taking place in Libya today.

As we know, modern slavery is...

The hon. Lady rightly raises social media. However, does she agree that social media has also played a positive role in getting this petition out and this issue raised? The one caution I urge is that some of the photos doing the rounds to raise awareness of the slave trade...

The hon. Lady rightly raises social media. However, does she agree that social media has also played a positive role in getting this petition out and this issue raised? The one caution I urge is that some of the photos doing the rounds to raise awareness of the slave trade...

I am sure the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: social media can play a very useful role in our society. However, we need to understand that it can be used by completely unscrupulous people to lure others into slavery and ultimately, possibly, to their deaths. Social media companies have to...

I am sure the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: social media can play a very useful role in our society. However, we need to understand that it can be used by completely unscrupulous people to lure others into slavery and ultimately, possibly, to their deaths. Social media companies have to...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I want to thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) for introducing the debate and the 265,272 members of the public who signed the petition, who include 663 people from my constituency.

I was disturbed to see...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I want to thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) for introducing the debate and the 265,272 members of the public who signed the petition, who include 663 people from my constituency.

I was disturbed to see...

I have been listening to the debate, and I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) for introducing it. What we have seen is shocking and horrific. At the heart of it is what is happening in Libya. Where we are now is due to poor planning....

I have been listening to the debate, and I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) for introducing it. What we have seen is shocking and horrific. At the heart of it is what is happening in Libya. Where we are now is due to poor planning....

I totally agree. That was not in my speech, so I am glad he added it.

Although the Prime Minister has made tackling modern slavery a foreign policy priority, my question to the Government is: how will they actively tackle human trafficking and modern day slavery in Libya?

5.2 pm

I totally agree. That was not in my speech, so I am glad he added it.

Although the Prime Minister has made tackling modern slavery a foreign policy priority, my question to the Government is: how will they actively tackle human trafficking and modern day slavery in Libya?

5.2 pm

The number of refugees in the world is colossal; I think it is in the region of 60 million people. It is certainly more than the population

of Britain. We need to remember that when we discuss the refugee situation and how to stop making it worse in the future....

The number of refugees in the world is colossal; I think it is in the region of 60 million people. It is certainly more than the population

of Britain. We need to remember that when we discuss the refugee situation and how to stop making it worse in the future....

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I begin by thanking those who initiated the petition and have secured over a quarter of a million signatures—an incredible feat. It is vital that we bring this hugely important issue to the forefront in Parliament today, and from...

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I begin by thanking those who initiated the petition and have secured over a quarter of a million signatures—an incredible feat. It is vital that we bring this hugely important issue to the forefront in Parliament today, and from...