Kerry McCarthy
MP for Bristol East · Labour · United Kingdom
“We see that in four main ways: physical risks, including floods, wildfires, droughts and storms; transition risks as economies move away from high-carbon industries; nature-related risks affecting food production and natural resources; and systemic risks, where shocks spread rapidly across sectors and markets.”
“The glaciers of the third pole function as Asia’s water tower, feeding major river systems that support nearly 2 billion people. When rising temperatures accelerate glacial melt, the consequences extend far beyond the mountains.”
“Following the heatwaves and wildfires across Europe this summer and the destruction caused by the glacier collapse and catastrophic flooding in Nepal and Tibet, the message is becoming impossible to ignore: the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation are real, not some distant future threat.”
“Personally, I cannot see that Rosebank is compatible with meeting our climate objectives, but I recognise that the process should be followed. Green Alliance has reported that the gas being wasted in the North sea would be enough to heat 570,000 homes.”
“I too worked in the financial markets, although I think I have done a better job of hiding it in my 21 years in Parliament. I was more on the debt market side. In fact, I am so old that I was part of the salvage operation for Barings bank when it went under. That brings me to the right hon. Gentleman’s point about regulation.”
“My hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that I very much agree with the point that he just made. We have some excellent, innovative businesses in Bristol that came up through the Science Creates innovation hubs and attracted private capital.”
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“Once land is lost to development, it is extremely unlikely that it will ever be returned to agricultural use. In 2011, however, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reported a huge loss of BMV land to development over recent years, although we do not really know the extent, as such data are not collected systematically. Furthermore, there has been a weakening of the protection given to BMV land, most recently as a result of changes to the national planning policy framework in March 2012. Will the Minister discuss with her DEFRA colleagues the feasibility of monitoring the loss to development of our most productive soils—a process that is vital to understanding the scale of the problem?”
“Meanwhile, the council, in its eagerness to start felling trees, has applied to the High Court to clear the site of protesters, who have been camped for the past month on the land, high up in the treetops in tree houses. The protesters have a tremendous amount of support from local residents and from further afield. I do not know whether the Minister can do anything to help us in our fight to protect the site. I have written to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and met and written to Transport Minister Baroness Kramer. We have not yet given up hope. On the broader issues raised, national planning policy includes the aim to protect best and most versatile agricultural land in recognition of its role as a precious national asset, essential to our future food security.”
“The land under threat is part of what is known as the “blue finger”, which is highly fertile, food growing soil, predominantly grade 1—coded blue on maps, which is how the area gets its name—and some peripheral areas of grade 2 and 3, collectively known as “best and most versatile” land. Less than 3% of soil in the UK is grade 1, so the blue finger land is a valuable asset not only for Bristol, but for the whole UK. The land is also designated green belt and includes the Frome valley conservation area, as well as a wildlife corridor and woodland, but none of that has protected it from development. The transport scheme received planning consent back in August and is now with the Department for Transport for final funding approval.”
“Sadly, however, we are now engaged in a last-ditch attempt to alter a new MetroBus route that will involve the building of a bus-only junction on prime agricultural land, which includes the Feed Bristol site. Since the MetroBus scheme was first designed more than five years ago, the area planned for the junction has become a new hub of Bristol’s urban food growing movement. If the scheme goes ahead, which we fear it will, the junction will pass through not only the Avon Wildlife Trust’s award-winning community food growing project, Feed Bristol, which I have just mentioned, but the long-standing Stapleton allotments, the Sims Hill Shared Harvest organic community-supported agriculture market garden and the Edible Futures educational market-gardening co-operative.”
“The Matthew Tree Project’s FOODTURES initiative helps long-term unemployed people back into skilled work through training in horticulture, food processing and supply. It brings the best nutritious food to the poorest areas of the city. Last but not least, Feed Bristol is an exemplary study of the social, environmental and economic benefits of community food growing. Over the past three years, it has directly helped 36 people back into employment, and in acting as an incubator site for businesses related to food and to wildlife, six new businesses have been launched. Feed Bristol engages many thousands of disadvantaged people and school children in activities on the site, from helping to educate children in the value of food and where it comes from, to developing horticultural skills.”
“The Severn Project provides horticultural training to people recovering from drug and alcohol dependency. It is a successful social enterprise, acting as a hub for satellite growers and providing access to land, equipment, sales and distribution. It estimates that every kilogram of its produce is worth £15 to the local economy. Elm Tree farm is based on a 35-acre site in my constituency and offers vocational training to about 60 people who have autism or learning disabilities, illustrating the therapeutic value of food growing projects, as well as offering them a route into work. Incredible Edible Bristol advocates guerrilla gardening, taking over grass verges and other underused land to plant seeds and grow food.”
“We became one of the first cities in the UK to establish our own food policy council, which drives forward policies to increase the amount of land available for growing food and to safeguard the diversity of retailers. We launched the good food plan for Bristol, which has the ambition of ensuring that everyone has access to good, affordable, healthy food. The Bristol Food Network helps to connect up all those people and businesses with a shared vision of transforming Bristol into a truly sustainable food city. A study by the university of Gloucestershire-based countryside and community research institute found that for every £1 of investment in community food projects, there was a sevenfold social return on that investment to the community. There are far too many such projects in Bristol to name them all, but I want to mention a few.”
“Urban agriculture should be seen very much as part of a strategy to tackle food poverty and the public health challenges associated with poor diet. As recent reports by the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have highlighted, the issue is also one of food security, food sovereignty and the UK’s declining self-sufficiency in food. Achieving food security is about building environmental and economic resilience in the face of climate change, using resources more sustainably in the production and supply of food, reducing food waste, lowering high emissions from the food supply chain and promoting healthy and sustainable diets. I am pleased and proud that Bristol is in the vanguard of that movement. Back in 2009 Bristol council commissioned a report by Joy Carey, “Who feeds Bristol? Towards a resilient food plan”.”
“The creation of green corridors in urban areas helps to avoid habitat fragmentation, reduces the urban heat island effect, better harvests rainwater and improves air quality. As the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell) noted in the main Chamber a few weeks ago, “increasing the amount of ‘green infrastructure’ by 10% could entirely offset the impact of rising temperatures in such high-density urban centres.” —[ Official Report , 14 January 2015; Vol. 590, c. 981.] Urban food growing is very much part of that picture. People have become much more concerned about the provenance of their food. They are keen to see more sustainable food and farming practices and they want to protect urban biodiversity and wildlife.”
“As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alan. I secured this debate partly to highlight a constituency issue and to ask the Minister how the planning system can better protect food growing in urban areas. There are obviously many pressures on land in our towns and cities. We need employment space, public spaces, and, above all, we really need to start a systematic programme of house building again. But our green spaces are also important. The Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds found in their “Act for Nature” campaign that the most deprived communities are 10 times less likely to live in the greenest areas and that access to green space helps to reduce health inequalities.”
“I sense that the Minister is about to draw her remarks to a close, but she has not yet addressed the issue of soil quality and the protection of the best and most versatile land in the planning system, which is one of the key things that we have been pushing for.”
“I appreciate that the issue of farming, soil quality and so on falls primarily within DEFRA’s remit. However, I asked the Minister’s Department a year ago whether this could be a special category that is protected within the planning system, and the answer was that it could perhaps be dealt with in the local plans. However, as I have outlined, it is not on local authorities’ radars yet. Could the Minister undertake at least to talk to her officials about whether that is possible? [ Interruption. ] I think a note is winging its way towards her.”
“The Government’s own figures show that the average primary teacher is working 60 hours a week. Teachers in Bristol tell me that their work load is at an unsustainable level and that the accountability system in particular has reached absurd levels and demonstrates a profound lack of trust in teachers. Teachers are too often unsung heroes, under-appreciated and overworked. When is the Minister going to let them just get on and do their job?”
“Obviously London is an important creative hub in terms of its contribution to the UK economy, but other cities such as Bristol can make a real contribution too. What assessment has the Minister made of programmes like Plus Tate, in which the Tate is working with other galleries such as the Arnolfini in Bristol, that enable the London institutions to help places in other cities?”
“T2. The Music Venue Trust will launch its report on the challenges faced by small and medium venues at an event that I am hosting in Parliament on 9 March. What value does the Secretary of State place on the importance of the live music circuit to the UK’s world-dominating music industry? If he is not able to drop in on 9 March, may I send him a copy of the report, so that he can hear the concerns about the challenges facing venues?”
“The sheer scale of this—the number of assaults, and the range of victims and locations—is just horrific, as I am sure everyone will agree. As has been said, the report states that 60% to 90% of current assaults on children are probably going unreported. Does the Health Secretary not think that better—indeed, compulsory—sexual relationships education in schools would mean that children are more likely to come forward and, importantly, that once they have gone through that education at school their parents would be more likely to believe them?”
“On a related point, as the hon. Gentleman talks about farming interests, does he share my concern that Members in receipt of common agricultural payments do not have to declare that in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, even when they are Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministers receiving quite substantial amounts?”
“I am genuinely interested in the right hon. Gentleman’s speech, and I bow to his far superior knowledge of the subject. May I ask him about the head-only electrical stun? I have been told by animal welfare groups that, under UK law, sheep only have to have one artery, rather than both arteries, cut, which often means that, because the electrical stun only lasts between 20 and 40 seconds, there is a good chance that a sheep will recover consciousness before it bleeds to death. Will he enlighten me as to whether that is the case? I have been told that, even though they have been stunned, some 4 million sheep a year recover consciousness before their throats are cut.”
“I entirely agree with the hon. Lady that better inspection and enforcement of standards is the way forward. However, I understand that many slaughterhouses pay their staff according to the number of animals killed. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Meat Hygiene Service have said that it is not their business how slaughterhouses choose to pay their workers. Surely, however, if workers are being paid according to how many hundreds of animals they kill each day, they are less likely to pay attention to proper standards and doing things properly.”
“Bristol, as European green capital this year, is certainly very keen to push forward on community energy, but I am told that progress has stalled as a result of Treasury changes to tax incentives and Financial Conduct Authority changes to the rules for establishing energy co-ops. Community Energy England and Co-operatives UK say these changes threaten the very viability of the community co-operative model. What is the Minister doing to respond to these concerns?”
“The global calculator published by the Department last week found that reducing our meat consumption is essential if we are to reduce our contribution towards greenhouse gases. Everyone from the United Nations downwards has for many years been talking about the contribution of the livestock sector to global emissions. His Department has always ignored this issue, so I urge him now to take action and to tell us what he is doing to encourage people to reduce their consumption.”
“I note the Committee’s recommendation that there is a strong case for strengthening the law on FGM and the Government’s response that they are doing so. The introduction of FGM protection orders is an interesting recommendation, so perhaps we can raise that with the Justice Secretary when he answers questions in the House next Tuesday. Finally, I note the Committee’s finding that there is “too little provision of clinical and mental health support services for the many thousands of women and girls in the UK who have undergone FGM.” That is important, because FGM affects a woman throughout her whole life, physically and psychologically. Although we are focused on preventing FGM, we must not forget those whom it was not possible to protect and who still need our support.”
“The Government say in their response that such professionals are already required to inform police if there is any risk of abuse, but I would appreciate it if the Minister would elaborate on that. According to the Committee’s recommendation, the simple fact that a mother had undergone FGM would be enough to trigger a referral, but the Government do not seem to believe that that should be the case. The report also says that GPs should ask new women patients about FGM as a matter of routine and states: “We do not accept that patient confidentiality should prevent practitioners from making a referral where a child is at risk: as with any other form of child abuse, the law allows for disclosure where it is in the best interests of the child.” We should all be focused on the best interests of the child.”
“Muna Hassan from Integrate Bristol tells of the experience of her mother, who gave birth in Sweden. The midwife raised the issue of FGM as soon as Muna’s mother found out that she was pregnant, and it was followed up as Muna progressed through nursery and beyond. That is something that we can learn from. The report notes: “Healthcare professionals have a vital role in breaking the generational cycle of FGM.” The Committee recommends that “the FGM status of the mother and her intentions for the child…be made a compulsory question at the antenatal booking interview” and that, as a matter of policy, referrals should be made to children’s social care or the local multi-agency safeguarding hub if the mother has undergone FGM or there is perceived risk to the child.”
“The recommendation that Ofsted should explicitly examine a school’s approach to FGM and violence against women—that is what FGM is—is also worthy of further consideration by the Government. I would be interested to know whether Ofsted has responded and whether it believes that it could take that up. The Government say that Ofsted does not conduct inspections of specific subject areas such as PSHE, but it will take account in its overall assessment of how schools deal with issues such as violence against women. I believe that that should be nailed down, because we know how schools respond to the threat of Ofsted’s verdicts, and I hope that Ofsted will give greater priority to the issue. The section of the report on health care professionals is important.”
“I have watched a session at St Brendan’s sixth form college in Bristol in which young women from Integrate Bristol were explaining FGM to pupils from their age group, and hon. Members will, I hope, recall an episode of “Casualty” that featured an FGM storyline. I endorse the report’s recommendation on compulsory PSHE, as that subject has been raised with me repeatedly by professionals who work with young people on not only FGM, but issues such as teenage pregnancy, physical or emotional abuse, relationships and drugs. When I go to schools or talk to youth groups, young people always say that they think that PSHE should be made compulsory and extended to cover more areas. That is important, so I do not understand the Government’s reluctance to move on that. As I said, the Government’s response to that recommendation is disappointing.”
“Indeed, the report says that the record of referrals by health care practitioners and others is extremely poor. I note the Committee’s recommendation that there is no point simply publishing multi-agency practice guidelines online and that they should be put on a statutory footing. It also states that FGM should be included as “an essential part of all child protection training”, with which I agree. The report highlights misplaced concerns about cultural sensitivities, which is one reason why I believe that campaigning by young women from those communities that are most affected—young women who have undergone FGM, who have been at risk, or whose family members have undergone FGM—is so important.”
“I have spoken to the police about this many times and they always say that they would be happy to investigate if evidence was brought to their attention. As the DPP has said, however, “if you wait for the archetypal young girl to come through the door to tell you what has happened to her…that is not going to happen”. The police cannot rely on self-reporting from victims; they need referrals from other sources. I welcome the work that has been done in Bristol in recent years to improve FGM awareness among health professionals and those who work in the voluntary sector. As the report highlights, there is still a failure to perceive FGM as a safeguarding issue in the same way as other forms of child abuse, which is what it is and how it must be treated.”
“The report outlines why it has proved to be so difficult, even with that action plan, to secure a prosecution, and cites as the main reason the fact that “there have been very few investigations by the police.” I tabled parliamentary questions several years ago in an attempt to find out where the blockage was and whether the CPS was reluctant to take cases forward. I was told that there was no lack of will on the part of the CPS, but that very few cases were being brought to its attention. As the report says, about 20 cases had been brought to the attention of the CPS. The fact that some prosecutions are moving ahead is good news but, as we have heard, the numbers are nowhere near the scale that France has managed to achieve.”
“The Committee’s recommendation 19 states that the Government should “encourage the roll-out of best practice from groups such as Integrate Bristol.” It has been more than two years—I think it was in November 2012—since the former Director of Public Prosecutions came to Parliament to reveal to a group of MPs his action plan for FGM. At that time, we were impressed by the points that he laid out in the action plan, as well as by the fact that he was taking a personal interest in the issue and coming to speak to us himself.”
“The mutilation of many of those girls—girls to whom the state owes a duty of care—could have been prevented, and the fact that we did not manage to do so, and that we continue to fail to do so, is shameful. The community in Bristol that is most at risk is the Somali community. I was pleased to note from the report that according to the Tackling FGM initiative, support for the practice among settled members of the Somali community has waned in recent years. Very good work has been done in the community in Bristol. I have particularly highlighted the work of young women in Integrate Bristol, but whenever I meet Somali community groups, I find that men are also very committed to challenging FGM.”
“Bristol is not included in the report’s list of places that were found to have a prevalence rate of FGM of more than 2%, although it should be noted that the data used were from between 2001 to 2004, so they are now rather out of date. There have been considerable demographic changes in Bristol, so those data may not reflect the true picture for 2015. Much of the evidence on FGM is, as the report notes, anecdotal, but whatever the true rates are, any instance of FGM being carried out is obviously completely unacceptable and something that we must continue to work to challenge. The Select Committee describes the failure of the state—be it the Government, the police, or health, education or social services—over recent years to protect girls from FGM as a “a national scandal”.”
“That petition alone did a huge amount to raise awareness of FGM. When I first became aware of it and started talking about it, after I became an MP in 2005, awareness was very limited, but FGM is now very much on the radar. People understand what the issue is, even if they do not know all the details. I pay tribute to the work of young women in helping to raise awareness. Fahma also successfully persuaded the previous Secretary of State for Education to write to every school to highlight his Department’s safeguarding guidance. It is very disappointing that, as the report says, many schools—70%, I think—did not appear even to have looked at that, certainly within the first month of its being sent. I will come back to talk about the work that is done in schools.”
“It is, as ever, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Weir I welcomed very much the Home Affairs Committee’s decision to hold an inquiry on FGM and the publication of this report. I will reserve my comments on the Government’s response until I can, I hope, intervene on the Minister, although I did think that there were some areas in which that could have been stronger and more enthusiastic about the Committee’s recommendations, especially with regard to personal, social, health and economic education. As hon. Members know, the witnesses to the inquiry included Integrate Bristol, and much of the leadership on this issue has come from young women in Bristol, including Fahma Mohammed, who was chosen to spearhead the campaign by The Guardian against FGM, as well as the e-petition, which gained more than 234,000 signatures.”
“According to the Soil Association, which is based in Bristol, in the past four years Dutch farmers have reduced antibiotic use by 58%, which means that British pig farmers now use more than three times more antibiotics than their Dutch counterparts. Would it not make our exports more attractive to overseas markets if we were to follow the Dutch example and set a similar 50% target for reducing UK farm antibiotic use?”
“I certainly hope to avoid the right hon. Gentleman’s big gun when he answers my question. I know that he referred to selective quoting, but the archbishops said in the book that Britain had been “dominated” by “rampant consumerism and individualism” since the Thatcher era, and described our economy as “a tale of two cities”. The latter comment is certainly true of Bristol, where we still see huge economic divides. What work is the Church of England doing with politicians to try to rectify that?”
“The Government consultation on the draft guidance to be issued under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, known as the Prevent duty, closes tomorrow. Last week I met representatives of the Muslim community in Bristol, who are very worried about certain aspects of that consultation. In the light of the responses received, may we have a debate, which we were not able to have during the debate on the Bill, so that we can discuss some of those concerns?”
“The matters raised by the Education Secretary today, particularly the work she mentioned about her Department’s counter-extremism group, overlap considerably with the issues covered in the Home Office consultation on the Prevent duty, which closes tomorrow. I know that some groups in my constituency are keen to have some input. How can they have input into the work of the counter-extremism group in the right hon. Lady’s Department as well as influence the Prevent duty?”
“I understand that the Deputy Prime Minister is in Bristol West this morning to announce the new money that Bristol will be getting. I am sure the visit has nothing to do with the fact that the election prospects of the local Liberal Democrat MP are looking rather precarious. I welcome the new money for Bristol, but urge the Minister to consider one proposal that has not yet received funding, which is a centre of excellence for the food and drinks industry. It is an exciting proposal and Bristol would be the perfect city to host it.”
“I hope that the Minister will be able to update us on the steps that the Foreign Office took to protect those Sri Lankans and monitor their ongoing safety.”
“Needless to say, it will be crucial that the Sri Lankan Government accept the final report and work with the UN on its recommendations. We are all aware of the reports of intimidation and reprisals suffered by human rights defenders and others in Sri Lanka. What is being done to try to secure the safety of Sri Lankans who give evidence to the UN investigation or any domestic inquiry? The report by the high commissioner in September noted several concerns about Sri Lanka’s Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Bill, which was submitted to its Parliament last August. Worryingly, the Foreign Affairs Committee has noted that the Foreign Office was not able to clarify whether the human rights defenders, journalists and others who met the Prime Minister in November 2013 had been targeted.”
“Indeed, we hope that he recognises that a successful, meaningful domestic mechanism would demonstrate his departure from his predecessor’s approach. I reiterate that no domestic approach can halt the UN investigation, which must fulfil the mandate set out in last year’s resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. Regrettably, the Rajapaksa Government denied the UN investigators visas to visit Sri Lanka. In the final few weeks of the investigation, President Sirisena has the opportunity to demonstrate to the international community that he will lead a very different Government. I trust that the UK is doing everything possible to encourage his co-operation with the UN.”
“Those are positive signals, but there are mixed messages about whether the Sri Lankan Government will accept the conclusions of the UN investigation, whether they will work with international judicial mechanisms and whether members of the previous Government or the military will face justice in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister has said of the allegations: “Whether those are war crimes or whether such crimes amount to genocide or not will have to be decided by a domestic inquiry.” The new Government in Sri Lanka are reportedly in the process of establishing a domestic mechanism. At such an early stage in his presidency, we cannot dismiss the possibility that President Sirisena is genuinely committed to delivering accountability.”
“Since then, the BBC has said: “The new president…disowned Mr Rajapaksa but vowed not to allow him to be hauled before an international war crimes court.” The Tamil Guardian stated this week: “The new government, around President Maithripala Sirisena, has expressed its firm commitment to protect any Sri Lankan citizen who fought against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from facing international justice.” The President’s senior adviser is meeting the United Nations high commissioner for human rights this week and the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister was reported as saying that the Government would take action against perpetrators if there was evidence of war crimes.”
“We know that Rajapaksa set up a three-man inquiry, but I do not think that that will lead to particularly positive outcomes. Indeed, the new President may disband that inquiry. There have been positive indications that President Sirisena will lead a Government who are very different from that of his predecessor, but there is ambiguity over the UN investigation and efforts to secure accountability and justice for everyone in Sri Lanka. As has been said, the new President was a member of the Rajapaksa Government and served as Defence Minister during the final stages of the civil war, and my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) expressed doubts about his commitment to action and with regard to his complicity in past acts. Reports during the election campaign indicated that he, too, rejected the UN investigation.”
“Labour called for an international inquiry in 2011, so we welcomed last year’s decision of the Human Rights Council to launch an investigation. President Rajapaksa repeatedly failed to comply with successive Human Rights Council resolutions. He also failed to deliver the necessary independent investigation, and he even failed to implement the recommendations of his own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, weak though that was. That was why we were so concerned by the coalition’s delay in supporting UN action and the refusal to use the Prime Minister’s attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting as leverage. We felt that the movement towards a proper, comprehensive UN inquiry were unnecessarily delayed by the Prime Minister accepting Rajapaksa’s assurances that he would investigate.”
“At this time of great uncertainty, caution has rightly been expressed about what the result of the presidential elections will mean for Sri Lanka, so it would be useful to hear the Minister’s first-hand take on what he has seen there. It is to be hoped that the presidential election marks the beginning of a new era for Sri Lanka, but we should not accept the argument that it is time to draw a line under Sri Lanka’s past and move on, as some people have suggested. There has been too much injustice, especially towards the Tamil people, for that to be appropriate. It is imperative that the UN investigation continues and reports to the UN Human Rights Council in March, and the election of a new President should not be used as a reason to delay that.”
“I understand that the joint chair of the all-party group on Sri Lanka, my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Mr Love), was also due to go out on 27 January, although I do not know whether that is a coincidence. I hope that the Minister for Europe, when he responds to the debate, will be able to tell us a little bit more about his fellow Minister’s visit and with whom he will be meeting. I echo the comments of those who have said that it would be helpful if the Minister of State made a statement on his return from Sri Lanka, or wrote to those hon. Members who attended this debate, to tell us what has been achieved.”
“I congratulate the hon. Member for Ilford North (Mr Scott) on securing the debate. It is not the first time that we have debated this matter, although it is notable that there is more consensus in the room than there has been on previous occasions. We have heard from hon. Members about various minority groups in Sri Lanka, and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) talked about the persecution of Christians. There is also an issue with the Muslim minority community in Sri Lanka and, indeed, people from the majority community suffer such things as repression and false arrest. However, as today’s debate is about the Tamil people and the impending report, I will confine my comments to that. As we have heard, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the right hon. Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), is in Sri Lanka.”
“He will have the full support of the international community if he chooses to do so, but he must also demonstrate a willingness to engage with international partners. We all await the UN report in March and hope that it proves instructive in finally delivering accountability and justice for everyone in Sri Lanka. I hope that the Minister is able to update us on the Government’s preparations for the 28th session of the Human Rights Council and on their plans to monitor compliance and carry the report forward. Fundamentally, the aim for this year cannot simply be the publication of the UN report. The aim must be justice, accountability and meaningful progress for not just the Tamil community, but all Sri Lankan people.”