Point of Order: Israeli-Palestine peace situation - Jan 16
Tuesday, 17 January 2017 08:09
Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) (SNP) On a point of order, Mr
Speaker. Last Tuesday at Foreign and Commonwealth Office questions,
the Foreign Secretary was asked whether the UK would be
participating in yesterday’s summit in Paris on the
Israeli-Palestine peace situation. He told us that we would be
participating and would “reinforce our message”, yet we read in
press reports today that, alone among the western nations,
the...Request free trial
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(Edinburgh East)
(SNP)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last Tuesday at Foreign and
Commonwealth Office questions, the Foreign Secretary was
asked whether the UK would be participating in yesterday’s
summit in Paris on the Israeli-Palestine peace situation. He
told us that we would be participating and would “reinforce
our message”, yet we read in press reports today that, alone
among the western nations, the UK had no Minister present,
and only a civil servant was sent to observe without the
authority to sign the final communiqué. Have you been given
notice that the Foreign Secretary intends to make a statement
on the summit, and if not, what can Members do to compel the
Foreign Secretary to divulge the full intentions of his
Department when answering questions?
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Mr Speaker
In the short time—approximately 20 months, I think—for which
I have known the hon. Gentleman, I have come to realise what
a persistent fellow he is. In response to the last part of
his observations—about what can be done, and what facilities
or recourses are open to him—let me say that the hon.
Gentleman is familiar with the concept of the written
question and, I think, with the location of the Table Office,
in which he can submit such questions. Knowing the hon.
Gentleman, I rather suspect that he will keep raising the
matter.
I am, of course, grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me
notice of his intention to raise this matter. He has
registered it with force, and what he has said will have been
heard on the Treasury Bench. If the Foreign Secretary feels
that inadvertently the House has been misled—it is not
immediately clear to me that the words were inaccurate; it
may be that there has been a change of mind, which is not
without precedent in our proceedings—no doubt he will take
steps to correct the record. Meanwhile, the hon. Gentleman
can go about his business with an additional glint in his eye
and spring in his step in the knowledge that he has put his
point forcefully on the record.
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