Chris Elmore
MP for Bridgend · Labour · United Kingdom
“This Government fully recognise that China poses a series of threats to UK national security, from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and espionage targeting our domestic institutions to the transnational repression of Hongkongers.”
“Let me be clear: any attempt by a foreign state to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm individuals on UK soil will never be tolerated, but the hon. Lady knows as well as I do that there is a live investigation by the Metropolitan police. Members of this House should respect the fact that the Metropolitan police are investigating.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue, and I was pleased to confirm to the House back in May the £21 million fund over three years to advance LGBTQ rights internationally. This Government will always support the international rights of LGBT people for evermore.”
“My hon. Friend will know that we work across Government to tackle disinformation. Within my portfolio we have increased funding for the BBC World Service, which is the most trusted newscaster across the world. That is a way in which the Foreign Office tackles disinformation.”
“We continue to work internationally. My hon. Friend will know that I am also the Commonwealth Minister, and part of that work involves showing that some of the United Kingdom’s most important relationships are with those countries, whether across Africa or in the Caribbean.”
“To reassure the hon. Gentleman, he knows that I have a personal commitment to working with our freedom of religion or belief envoy, my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith). He never shies away from the particular point the hon. Gentleman is raising and nor will I as Minister. On the wider point that the hon.”
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“As I said earlier, I was in conversation with the Angolan Foreign Minister just yesterday, talking about evidence gathering in relation to the atrocities taking place in Sudan. This is an absolute focus of the Foreign Office and its Ministers, and Government Ministers more widely.”
“We work constantly on Sudan. Almost every official in the FCDO, regardless of department, has a Sudan focus on the instruction of the Foreign Secretary, who could not be more clear in how she leads this work, including with the Prime Minister, on protecting aid support in-country and providing more support across the wider region. I must repeat that we do reject the allegations that were made yesterday. Our actions on this speak very clearly: we have been at the forefront of trying to find a peaceful resolution for this conflict across the four years—across this Government and the previous Government—whether at a multilateral level or by engaging and working with partners, and we will continue to do so.”
“The right hon. Gentleman knows that the diplomatic engagement of the Foreign Office with all foreign partners goes on day in, day out and year in, year out. I do not agree with him that nothing happens; there are plenty of examples across the board in various conflicts taking place where British involvement makes a meaningful difference. He is an experienced former Cabinet member, so he will know, as I have said, that no Government will debate sanctions on the Floor of this House, and nor should they. We will continue to keep them under review and keep challenging and working with colleagues internationally to bring about a peaceful resolution.”
“My hon. Friend is right to raise that. It is why we are working internationally on evidence gathering. We must ensure that evidence is not suddenly vanished from the system. I hope that this conflict will end with some form of peaceful resolution. We are working with the coalition to ensure that there is a central system for gathering evidence so that prosecutions can take place through the courts. It is extremely important that the perpetrators are held to account. I thank him for highlighting this matter.”
“I do not accept that this Government have not provided support, and as the Minister with responsibility for human rights and the United Nations, I can assure the right hon. Gentleman and the House that we are at the forefront of those conversations. I will never accept that we do not hold up the rules of the international order.”
“I have a great amount of time for the right hon. Gentleman—we have known each other for a very long time—but I do not accept the suggestion that the Government do not respect international law or human rights conventions. British Governments have taken the long-standing position, over many decades, that it is for the courts to decide whether genocide has taken place. However, that does not mean that we do not act or intervene to undertake our international obligations, as we have always done. We do that in a meaningful way through funding, direct support and international humanitarian aid, and by ensuring that, as penholder in this particular case, we lead in the multilateral system.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are significant pressures on near neighbours, particularly Chad. We have offered funding over the past year to bring about more support for refugees travelling into Chad. We continue that dialogue; the Foreign Secretary has visited the region—as have many colleagues—fairly recently and seen at first hand the scale of migration. We keep support for other countries under regular review.”
“The hon. Member is right to raise that issue. We have an excellent envoy for freedom of religion or belief in my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), who leads a lot of this work. I will continue to challenge what is happening to Christians and people of other faith in Sudan and internationally. He is right to highlight that Christians are often targeted specifically because of their faith. That cannot be allowed to continue, and I assure the hon. Gentleman that we will continue to raise it.”
“My hon. Friend makes a point that I cannot disagree with. We work internationally every week and every day, I would argue, to lead on this front, both in terms of our humanitarian response and in relation to international law. We have led this work as penholder on the UN Security Council and will continue to challenge all partners in this space to hopefully bring about a peaceful resolution as well as prosecution through the international courts system to ensure that those who have committed those evil crimes will be brought to justice. We will keep doing that work internationally and multilaterally.”
“The right hon. Gentleman knows how much I care about this place and the Members who serve in it. I always listen to and take seriously what Members say, regardless of politics or party. The current Prime Minister has led from the front with the Foreign Secretary and the previous Foreign Secretary—the now Deputy Prime Minister—in making sure that Sudan stays on the international agenda. I assure the right hon. Gentleman that as the transition takes place to the new Prime Minister, I will make sure that the views of the House are fed in as part of foreign policy work and more broadly. As Ministers, we should listen to what all Members tell us and ensure that we update the House and are accountable to it—and I hope he knows that I am always happy to do that.”
“The subject does need more media coverage, and we will continue to keep highlighting it internationally, but it does need scrutiny and challenge. As the Minister with responsibility for media freedom, I am very keen for journalists to do more investigative work in relation to Sudan, and we will keep doing all we can to highlight the atrocities and the scale of devastation taking place of civilians in Sudan.”
“My hon. Friend is right to raise the matter of media scrutiny around this conflict. One of the challenges of this is being able to show that there are more conflicts in the world now than at any point since the second world war, which I find a very harrowing statistic. That is why in February at the UN Security Council the Foreign Secretary chaired a special session on Sudan. It is why she raises it in international speeches and with international partners at summits. It is why we keep Sudan on the agenda wherever the UK is leading. My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the challenge of media scrutiny. I am not sure how much coverage debates in Parliament on Sudan that take place on a Thursday morning will get in the national media.”
“I too have a great deal of respect for the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Foreign Affairs. We have not known each other very long, but I believe we have a good relationship. I do not accept that the UK has failed the people of Sudan. Successive Foreign Secretaries have led the charge internationally on the coalition to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. We continue to raise it at the highest levels and we continue to challenge. On the UAE, I can tell him that the Foreign Secretary spoke to the Foreign Minister. We continue to raise these points internationally, no matter what they may be. As I have said repeatedly, we do not debate sanctions on the Floor of the House—no responsible Government would do that—and we will keep to that.”
“This is why she has issued the statement, why she is challenging foreign Governments and why the UK is at the forefront of the development funding that has not been cut for the people of Sudan: to try to play our part in bringing about a peaceful resolution.”
“My hon. Friend is right to challenge me in this space. We are putting in additional funding to support El Obeid and to make sure that we have early intervention. We have also led the work internationally to call for no additional progress on any conflict in El Obeid. As for the crimes of sexual violence that are taking place and the use of sexual violence in conflict, we are leading part of the international work, including working with US colleagues, to create a system through which evidence can be gathered that can bring about prosecution. On the peace deal and bringing about a ceasefire, the Foreign Secretary is personally leading the charge. She does not shy away from any of those challenges and she continually puts pressure to bring about a peaceful resolution.”
“The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that point. We often use UN agencies internally in Sudan, because they are some of the most trusted support mechanisms for supporting peoples displaced inside Sudan. As I mentioned earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney (Nick Smith), on neighbouring countries where refugees are moving to—Chad is a particular point of movement for people—we are offering additional support. We keep the situation under constant review so we can support people who are refugees in-country and those who are moving outside Sudan. I assure the hon. Gentleman that we keep that under constant review to provide more support where we need to.”
“The point that my hon. Friend makes, as many Members have, about the international spotlight on Sudan is a correct one, and also applies to our domestic media. We have ringfenced funding for support for women and girls. We are offering more support and working with the international coalition to end violence against women and girls. I can assure him that one of the Foreign Secretary’s six priorities is around women and girls, and Sudan forms a crucial part of that.”
“The hon. Gentleman has championed the issues of the Sudanese people for a number of years, and I thank him for doing so; I have responded to debates in Westminster Hall in which he has raised, in particular, the persecution of Christians in Sudan. He is quite right to raise the wider point about the UN Security Council. Just this Tuesday, as I mentioned earlier, the Foreign Secretary spoke to the UN Secretary-General. As penholder, we have issued the clarifying statement with Norway, Germany and others, as I mentioned. He is right that we will continue to lead this work in the UN to bring about a peaceful resolution and do all we can to get crucial humanitarian aid to the people of Sudan.”
“As I said, the Foreign Secretary raised this issue with the UAE just this week as well as during her visit to Cairo at the end of last week. My hon. Friend makes a good point about illicit gold flows. We are a leader in tackling the gold flows problem, and have hosted a joint conference between the FCDO and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to launch a public-private partnership with industry to clamp down on illicit flows. We are very much trying to control the problem, and leading this work is extremely important.”
“The UK has allocated £26.9 million of UK aid funding to support the response to the current Ebola outbreak within the DRC. That funding will strengthen disease surveillance and rapid response, and improve infection prevention and control. We are also working with the World Health Organisation and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to help scale up the response and adapt existing programmes. This is a deeply concerning situation. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to work intensively alongside international partners to monitor developments and take the necessary action to protect both regional and global health security.”
“I am glad to say that the UK is not stepping back; our response to the outbreak confirms that. We currently sit on the board of the WHO, the Global Fund, Gavi and the Pandemic Fund. Our investment helps to maintain critical global health security infrastructure, as well as tackling other health security threats such as antimicrobial resistance. Our leadership is amplified by world-class research and development, and is a trailblazer in the life sciences sector.”
“As my hon. Friend said, our immediate priority is supporting the DRC and the Africa-led response to the Ebola outbreak. The UK and international support will also strengthen health systems so that countries can better respond to future outbreaks. That includes backing Government-owned surveillance systems through the World Bank and major global health organisations. It also means providing UK expertise through mechanisms such as the UK Health Security Agency’s UK public health rapid support team.”
“I can confirm that the UK is leading the global response on Ebola and was one of the first countries to respond with funding. I can also confirm that the Foreign Secretary is leading the charge on international funding to tackle the Ebola outbreak. The right hon. Gentleman is right to raise the concerns over international health security, and that is why the UK Government are continuing to lead from the front in tackling the Ebola outbreak.”
“The hon. Member is absolutely right to say that this should be an Africa-led response, and it is extremely important that we listen to what the African countries are telling us about how we respond to the Ebola outbreak. On investment in areas such as vaccinations, the Department of Health and the FCDO have invested £160 million in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to ensure that we are at the forefront of helping to develop vaccines. If the hon. Member would like to write to me further, he is very welcome to do so.”
“We call on the Taliban to respect the rights of women and girls, including the right to education, and condemn any ongoing restrictions. I will raise the hon. Member’s question with the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Falconer), who is travelling, and ensure that she gets a full written answer.”
“My hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of the G20 summit, not only this year but when the UK is hosting from January. I can confirm that tackling structural imbalances, future industries, open trade and reforming global economic systems to support developing countries will be our focus as we move into chairing the G20. He is right that this is a crucial moment for the United Kingdom. The FCDO will play an important part co-ordinating the work across Government, via the Cabinet Office.”
“We remain deeply concerned for the Cuban people, and will continue to support constructive engagement, monitor humanitarian needs, and work with international partners to encourage solutions that ease hardship and promote long-term stability.”
“We welcome confirmation from the Governments of both Cuba and the United States that talks are under way to permit an urgent improvement in the current circumstances, and we urge all parties to move swiftly to an agreement that can alleviate the suffering of the Cuban people. We also welcome and encourage confidence-building measures that can help to reach that goal, including the release of political prisoners and easing of restrictive measures. Our priority is the safety and welfare of British nationals in Cuba, alongside the resilience of the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands, our two overseas territories in the region.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his urgent question. The United Kingdom is concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Cuba, particularly shortages of food, fuel and essential medicines, which are having a real impact on ordinary citizens. The United States’ long-standing embargo continues to place significant constraints on Cuba’s economy and its access to international finance. The United Kingdom has consistently opposed the embargo, for instance at the United Nations, for nearly 30 years. At the same time, domestic economic challenges within Cuba also play a role, and sustainable improvement will require economic reform and greater resilience.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. As I said in my opening remarks, this is the 30th year in which the UK Government have objected to the embargo, and we will continue to do so. We work through the United Nations on humanitarian aid relief to ensure that direct support reaches the Cuban people.”
“My hon. Friend is right to raise the wider humanitarian concerns. I can reassure him that, through the World Food Programme and UNICEF, the UK Government continue to provide aid. We are a major contributor to the UN’s central emergency response fund, which ensures that the Cuban people are supported through disaster response efforts, as well as efforts in relation to the latest challenges.”
“More specifically, the Foreign Secretary, the Deputy Prime Minister and the former permanent under-secretary of state have had regular engagement with both Secretary Rubio and Deputy Secretary Landau to discuss the negotiations between the Cuban and US Administrations.”
“I thank the right hon. Lady for the constructive way in which she always engages in these conversations on the Floor of the House. I reassure her that I would echo, and expand on, her concerns about the Cuban Administration’s impact on human rights. To answer her question on engagement directly, I have met the Cuban ambassador since the beginning of this year, not only to discuss the challenges that the Cuban people are facing but to directly challenge the human rights conditions that they are facing. I can confirm that there is ongoing regular engagement between the British embassy in Washington and US State Department officials.”
“I know how much my hon. Friend cares about this issue, and I was pleased to meet her and other colleagues recently to discuss the challenges that the Cuban people are facing. On better bilateral relations, we are looking to extend our work on climate and wider environmental protections, and also on science and technology, so we are looking more towards our bilateral relationship. She is right to say that the political dialogue and co-operation agreement remains under review.”
“On engagement with the US Administration, as I set out in reply to the shadow Minister, the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), there has been a continuous dialogue since the beginning of the year with me, the ambassador or the Foreign Secretary, including between the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary Rubio as recently as April, so those conversations are ongoing. On aid, I can confirm that officials are working up options for how else the UK might support additional funding for the Cuban people, including through the United Nations.”
“On the diplomatic point, which was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon), I agree. We have had a bilateral relationship with the Cuban Government for more than 100 years, which means we have been able to have more of a frank dialogue. It is through dialogue in the multilateral and bilateral systems that we will bring more prosperity to the people of Cuba. On the human rights issue, as I have mentioned in response to a number of Members across the House, I agree. We continue to have a dialogue about the release of political prisoners. More broadly, decisions on the future of Cuba should be for the Cuban people.”
“We have an ongoing dialogue. I have met Canadian and Spanish counterparts in recent months, and Cuba has been discussed. As my hon. Friend will know, US decisions about what is happening in Cuba are for that Administration, but we continue to call for dialogue. As I mentioned in my opening statement, we welcome the fact that both the Cuban and US Governments have confirmed that those negotiations are ongoing. We continue to work in the multilateral space to bring about a resolution that works best for the Cuban people.”
“The hon. Member will know, as a former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, that we do not discuss sanctions on the Floor of the House, but I am more than happy to meet her to go through some of the wider challenges, particularly regarding the conditions in Venezuela and their impact on the wider region.”
“On the wider point about banking, as I have said to him, we are working with multilateral partners to see what additional support we can provide and where we can work in a joined-up way to bring about a better future for the Cuban people.”
“I agree with my right hon. Friend, and I hope he heard me say that decisions about the future of Cuba are for the Cuban people, not for any foreign country, including the United Kingdom. On additional assistance, as I have said in previous answers, conversations are ongoing about what more we can do in the multilateral system. I can confirm to the House that we are doing a piece of work on the particular challenge of fuel shortages, which several Members have mentioned. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is now providing a fuel management specialist to the World Food Programme, which is unblocking some of the wider fuel challenges, and that will be critical for the effective delivery of aid. We are trying to work through this in a very practical sense, as I am sure my right hon. Friend would agree.”
“On diplomatic efforts, I have said repeatedly—I am happy to reiterate it—that that work is ongoing. I have listed a number of meetings that have happened at the most senior level. In terms of the hon. Gentleman’s points on force, our dialogue is about peaceful resolutions through political dialogue, not through increasing any conditions. On the wider point around what is happening in Cuba, as I said in my opening response to the right hon. Member for Islington North, we have opposed the embargo for the past 30 years. I cannot predict the future, but that has been the position of Administrations from 1996 until today.”
“We continue to have the dialogue I have mentioned in previous answers, and we continue to be of the very strong view that diplomatic courses of action are the best way forward. We also continue to respect the UN charter and the wider multilateral system, including the international rule of law. We would expect, as a member of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, all countries to follow that position.”
“The right hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. Work goes on constantly to try to work through how there can be a move towards the decisions of Cuba being for the Cuban people. I would point out that our bilateral relationship has been in existence for more than 100 years. I say that not just for the sake of it; we have been able to have those frank and difficult conversations because we have kept the relationship open. We will continue to have those difficult conversations, whether with the ambassador or with Ministers in the Cuban system, because we want to do the very best we can for the Cuban people.”
“I do not know if my hon. Friend missed my previous answers, but we have very publicly spent the past 30 years voting against the very thing he is complaining about. We have not supported the embargo in the international space where these decisions are taken and that has been the position for successive Administrations.”
“The right hon. Gentleman is right to raise those issues. The work in this space continues. We work with the US Administration, as our closest ally, on defence and national security. We will continue to challenge in this space and work with Five Eyes and other security partners to ensure that that work does not move away from the fact that there are still those economic and wider social challenges for the Cuban people. National security remains an absolute priority for us, as it should for all Governments.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for the work he does as the chair of the APPG. I have been pleased to engage with him since he took on that role. Just to reassure him, as I did in our meeting, we are using the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the UN central emergency response fund to ensure that the funding is given to the correct agencies to support the Cuban people. That is the point: we are using agencies that are trusted in the region and then providing additional support through the WFP. We have fuel management specialists, so that aid can actually be delivered to the Cuban people. He is right to be deeply concerned, as we all should be, about the humanitarian conditions that the Cubans are living in. It is our job, as the UK Government, to find ways to ensure the aid goes directly in. That is what we are doing.”
“As I have said in previous answers, engagement remains at the highest levels, including at the British embassy in Washington with the US State Department, Secretary Rubio and deputy Secretary Landau, and between, again, Secretary Rubio and the Foreign Secretary, the former permanent under-secretary at the FCDO and the Deputy Prime Minister. That work goes on constantly in terms of engagement in relation to Cuba and many, many other issues relating to US-UK bilateral relationships.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for her question and offer my condolences to her young constituent. The British embassy in Mogadishu has raised e-visas with the Federal Government of Somalia. We will provide further updates to travel advice in due course, as necessary. We continue to raise these issues and call for peaceful talks to bring about a sustainable peace in Somalia.”
“I can offer my hon. Friend that reassurance, and I pay tribute to Rotarians who have worked for the eradication of polio over so many decades. We will continue to support global polio eradication directly until December 2026 and then support our polio eradication fund through £248 million of fully flexible core funding to the World Health Organisation between 2025 and 2028. We remain utterly committed to eradicating polio around the world.”
“We are, of course, against reparations, and when the right hon. Gentleman was a member of the Conservative party, I think he was against them, but who knows what he is for or against now? Goodness only knows. Let’s face it, Mr Speaker, he has just got his clip for social media, and this is all the response that he deserves.”