Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP): On Russia, and
indeed to go back to what the Foreign Secretary said on the US, the
United States has been vocal in its opposition to Nord Stream 2
correctly in my view, and the United Kingdom Government have taken
the view that it has little to nothing to do with the United
Kingdom. Can he assure me that that will be looked at properly in
the integrated review he mentions, because it very much is in our
interests that Nord Stream 2 does not go ahead?
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and
First Secretary of State (): I take the point the hon.
Gentleman made, and he made it eloquently. We will consider all
those issues as part of the review, and it is important that we
get the right balance; that is the most I will say for the
moment...
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP):...We have, of
course, an unpredictable man in the White House—more
unpredictable than anyone who has gone before. We have a gangster
in the Kremlin who has redrawn the borders of a sovereign
European nation by force—the first time that has happened since
the second world war. Let us be honest: the world has largely
allowed that to happen, and what has gone on in Ukraine has gone
unnoticed. In fact, what is happening—this is why I pressed the
Secretary of State on it earlier—is that the Kremlin is being
rewarded for its actions in Ukraine by dint of the fact that Nord
Stream 2 will go ahead. The hon. Member for Rutland and Melton
mentioned hybrid warfare. What do we think Nord Stream 2 is if
not an instrument of Putin’s hybrid warfare? We shall reap what
we sow. When her predecessor used to stand at the Dispatch Box or
respond on behalf of the Government in Westminster Hall, he would
tell me and tell the right hon. Member for Maldon (Mr
Whittingdale), the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on
Ukraine, that Nord Stream 2 was largely nothing to do with the
United Kingdom’s interests. I am quite confident that the hon.
Member for Rutland and Melton will take a different view, and I
wish her luck in advancing it if she does.
As was mentioned in an intervention on the hon. Member for
Hornsey and Wood Green (), a new kind of political
gangsterism is rearing its head— yes, on the continent of Europe,
but in other parts of the world as well. I would be interested to
see in the integrated review how the Government plan to get the
balance right. Of course we would expect Britain to advance its
interests and seek to get good things where they are good, but
how do they balance that with having the tough conversations that
need to be had? I have to be honest: the score sheet does not
look too good from where I am standing. We now have a situation
where the Government are becoming more and more relaxed on, for
example, Huawei. Why on earth would we go ahead and invite this
virus into the security apparatus here in the United Kingdom? The
United States Government—I cannot believe I am saying this—are
right on Nord Stream 2 and right on Huawei, and the UK Government
are getting it all wrong...
(Isle of Wight) (Con):...My hon.
Friend the Member for Romford () said that we should
deepen our ties with Canada, New Zealand and Australia in the new
CANZUK alliance covering trade, defence, academia and research.
That is part of, but not instead of, a renewed commitment to
multilateralism. An important part of our overseas strategy is
the ability to see issues holistically, whether that is Nord
Stream 2—a new pipeline in the Baltic that is one of Russia’s key
strategic aims in Europe—or, in our own country, the issue of the
Chinese tech giant Huawei and its potential involvement in our 5G
network. This is an extraordinarily important issue—one of the
major issues of the 21st century—but sadly there has been little
debate about or parliamentary scrutiny of the matter in this
country...
...It is important that complex and holistic issues like Huawei
and Nord
Stream 2 become absolutely part of our foreign policy
review. Whoever becomes Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee,
whether it is me, my excellent hon. Friend the Member for Reigate
() or my equally excellent hon.
Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling ()—both superb previous
Chairmen; I hope I persuade folks in this House to focus on the
word “previous”—they should be pledging to open an immediate
investigation into the suitability of Huawei and Chinese high
tech in our systems to see if there is any way that they can be
claimed or argued to be trusted vendors...
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