Tuesday Volume 497 20 October 2009 No. 127 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Tuesday 20 October 2009 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2009 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Parliamentary Click-Use Licence, available online through the Office of Public Sector Information website at www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/ Enquiries to the Office of Public Sector Information, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU; e-mail: [email protected] 755 20 OCTOBER 2009 756 with the E3 plus 3 was a start to the essential process of House of Commons engagement; there now needs to be intensive and serious follow-up. Tuesday 20 October 2009 Jane Kennedy: Does my right hon. Friend share the frustration of many ordinary people in Iran—they have The House met at half-past Two o’clock shared this with me by e-mail—with the regime’s complete refusal to engage with the international community on this issue? The regime is led by someone who not only PRAYERS denies the holocaust, but denies his own people a democratic outcome. Will my right hon. Friend consider what [MR.SPEAKER in the Chair] unilateral steps the United Kingdom could take to increase the pressure on Iran to engage more positively? BUSINESS BEFORE QUESTIONS David Miliband: My right hon. Friend makes an important point about the Iranian people, some 50 or LEEDS CITY COUNCIL BILL 60 per cent. of whom are under the age of 30. They Motion made, That the Bill be now considered. represent a country of great civilisation and education, and they have internet access, to pick up on her point. Hon. Members: Object. The requirements on the regime can best be understood Bill to be considered on Tuesday 27 October. by realising that there will never be a better time for Iran to engage with the international community in the search for what Iran proclaims to be its only aim: READING BOROUGH COUNCIL BILL civilian nuclear power. Motion made, That the Bill be now considered. The United Kingdom is proud to be at the heart of Hon. Members: Object. the international drive to establish normal relations between Iran and the international community over the Bill to be considered on Tuesday 27 October. nuclear file. However, I am sure my right hon. Friend will have seen the important announcement by the CITY OF WESTMINSTER BILL [LORDS] Treasury in respect of a financial sanction for one of Motion made, the banks that has been closely involved in proliferation- That so much of the Lords Message [12 October] as relates to related activities. That represents the sort of step that the City of Westminster Bill [Lords] be now considered. she is suggesting. That this House concurs with the Lords in their Resolution. —(The Chairman of Ways and Means.) Mr. David Amess (Southend, West) (Con): With Austria’s leading energy company investing heavily in Iranian Hon. Members: Object. offshore and onshore oil, and with Germany being a big exporter to Iran, will the Secretary of State tell the To be considered on Thursday 22 October. House what pressure he is applying to our European partners to comply with sanctions in order to try to change the regime peacefully? Oral Answers to Questions David Miliband: I do not have to tell the hon. Gentleman just about the pressure on other European countries; I can point him to the fact that the European Union—all FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 27 countries of it—has tougher sanctions than are required by the United Nations, which indicates how seriously Europe takes the issue. The Secretary of State was asked— Iran’s Nuclear Programme Meg Munn (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab/Co-op): May I welcome the leading role that Britain is taking in Europe 1. Jane Kennedy (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab): What on this issue? What discussions has the Foreign Secretary his latest assessment is of developments in Iran’s had with other partners in Europe about their taking nuclear programme; and if he will make a statement. further steps and bringing further economic sanctions [293902] to bear? The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth David Miliband: At this moment, we are engaged in a Affairs (David Miliband): Iran’s nuclear programme is critical phase of engagement with Iran. The President the leading threat to the non-proliferation regime. The of the United States has said that he wants to reassess latest International Atomic Energy Agency report says the situation at the end of the year, and he will do so that Iran has still not suspended its enrichment or with the international community. My hon. Friend is heavy-water-related activities and has failed to engage right to say that the dual track must be a dual track, in with the IAEA on the possible military dimensions. The that engagement takes place, but increased pressure can revelations about a secret site near Qom show Iran’s be brought to bear, as appropriate. At the E3 plus 3 disregard for its obligations to the IAEA and the United meeting that I chaired in New York in September, there Nations Security Council, and increase our concerns was agreement that we must pursue the dual track with about its intentions. The Geneva meeting on 1 October equal emphasis on both elements. 757 Oral Answers20 OCTOBER 2009 Oral Answers 758 Sir Malcolm Rifkind (Kensington and Chelsea) (Con): David Miliband: There is quite a lot of detail in this. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the missing link The Tehran research reactor proposal is an important in international efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution proposal, which would involve the export for development has, unfortunately, been the continuing reluctance of of the low-enriched uranium that Iran has established. Arab states to be prepared to put public pressure on It is a very important proposal. The best thing for me to Iran, despite their oft-repeated—in private—serious say is that it is good that Iran has said that in principle it reservations about Iran’s nuclear ambitions? Does he is interested in that proposal, but it needs to turn that agree that if the Arab states were to put public pressure in-principle interest into an agreement that gets that on Iran, that would make it much more likely that low-enriched uranium out of the country to be properly Russia and China would co-operate in the Security fabricated and developed. If that happens, we can be Council, and much less likely that the United States or absolutely clear—as Iran will be showing us not just by Israel would be tempted towards military intervention? word but by deed—that it is interested only in peaceful civilian purposes for its nuclear programme. This is an David Miliband: The right hon. and learned Gentleman important issue and I look forward to continuing to makes an important point. It is fair to say that that the discuss it with the House. thinking that he outlines explains the emphasis that we have put on the relationship between the E3 plus 3 and Tibet the Gulf Co-operation Council and other Arab states. A very important meeting took place in New York 2. Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con): What the between the E3 plus 3 and the Arab states, led by the Government’s policy is on the status of Tibet; and if he GCC. The sort of international unanimity that he refers will make a statement. [293903] to is very important. People often talk, rightly, about the fears in Israel of the Iranian nuclear programme, The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth but he will know, as will the whole House, that those Office (Mr. Ivan Lewis): We regard Tibet as part of fears are matched throughout the Arab world, which China, albeit as an autonomous region. Our interest is recognises the dangers of a nuclear arms race in the in long-term stability, which can be achieved through middle east of all places. respect for human rights and greater autonomy for Tibetans. We believe that substantive dialogue between Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North) (Lab): Will the the Chinese authorities and representatives of the Dalai Foreign Secretary acknowledge that Iran is still a signatory Lama is the best way to achieve this. to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and that that should be welcomed as a sign of at least an ability to Mr. Gray: May I first call the House’s attention to my negotiate? Will he also recognise that now is the time to entry in the Register of Members’ Interests, where I push for a nuclear-free middle east, which will of course record a recent visit to Tibet? During that visit I became require the disarmament of all nuclear states in the increasingly convinced that the Government’s change in region, including Israel, as a way of bringing about stance on the status of Tibet was quite correct. Tibet long-term peace and security? needs to be an integral part of the greater People’s Republic of China, albeit an entirely autonomous region. David Miliband: My hon. Friend will know that we Does not the Minister agree with me about two things? have voted consistently for the aspiration of a nuclear-free First, that the change of stance should have been announced middle east as part of a drive for nuclear disarmament to the House in an oral statement rather than sneaked around the world. However, I think that it is important out in a written statement, which meant that no one to bear in mind that although it is right to acknowledge could ask any questions about it.