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Foreign Language Services

14. Sir Jim Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the BBC World Service about reductions in foreign language services in the next financial year. [9246]

Mr. Hanley: No proposal for language service closures has been submitted or is under discussion with this Department.

Sir Jim Spicer: I thank my right hon. Friend for the increased grant to the World Service of the BBC this year and, incidentally, I thank him and my other right hon. Friends in the Foreign Office for the increased grant to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. Does he understand that the BBC World Service holds a unique position and that we all take pride in its work? Will he give an undertaking that, in the years ahead when we still constitute the Government, we will increase that grant, year on year?

Mr. Hanley: My hon. Friend is right--the BBC World Service is an important national asset and the Government have a strong record of support for the service. Real-terms funding has grown by 53 per cent. since 1978-79. In foreign language services, 43 languages excluding English are currently being used, compared with 39 language services in 1979 and 37 in 1989. Therefore, the 3.1 per cent. increase in cash terms over 1995-96 was a vote of confidence in the World Service. We also increased the money from the know-how fund and paid extra money towards the three relay stations. I believe that the World Service is now well suited for its needs and should be able to carry out its expansion within current financial plans.

Mr. Eastham: Is the Minister fully satisfied with some of the services in the far east? There has certainly been some curtailment in regions such as China--regions that we would greatly like to influence and with which we will have to trade in future. Should not there be an expansion in such areas so as to increase United Kingdom influence?

Mr. Hanley: As I have said on several occasions, we have expanded the service--indeed, the new transmission arrangements in Thailand will help to spread the service still further. I believe that the service is still growing. Obviously, it must look at each service according to the demand for that service and, therefore, we cannot guarantee that there will always be the same number of languages, but the recent pattern has been one of expansion. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the service is well received in the far east and I was pleased recently to announce an extra service so that people in northern China could hear the service even better.

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Ministerial Meetings

16. Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to meet his counterparts from the United States of America and former dominions to discuss greater integration within the framework of the World Trade Organisation. [9248]

Mr. Rifkind: I am planning to meet my American and Australian counterparts soon to discuss a variety of issues.

Mr. Fabricant: Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the United States and the former dominions--Australia, Canada and New Zealand--not only share a common language and a common legal system, which makes business so much easier between them, but are going through a period of growth, in contrast with continental Europe, which is experiencing decline? Does he agree that the last thing that companies in my constituency, such as Fairmile Fencing, which exports to the United States of America, and people at work in my constituency want is, first, a trade war between the European Union and the United States and, secondly, a Labour Government who would surrender the four areas of veto that we currently have and create in the United Kingdom the levels of unemployment that are currently being suffered in Europe?

Mr. Rifkind: I am certainly clear in my mind that companies throughout the United Kingdom, including the one to which my hon. Friend referred, welcome the breakdown of economic trade barriers between north America and western Europe and are conscious of the fact that the United Kingdom leads Europe in reducing unemployment and providing job opportunities for its people.

Mr. MacShane: Is it not a fact that, at the world trade conference, Great Britain and the United States found themselves on opposite sides of an important fence? The United States wanted the World Trade Organisation to set up a working party on child labour and the British Government sided with authoritarian countries that said that child labour should not be discussed. May I invite the Foreign Secretary, in his last few weeks of office, to consider donning the mantle of William Wilberforce? As Wilberforce led a great campaign to outlaw slave labour in the last century, let Britain take a lead in campaigning against and outlawing child labour in the next century.

Mr. Rifkind: The British Government have a position that has been agreed with all our European partners; the United Kingdom does not stand alone on this issue. We deplore, as much as the hon. Gentleman does, the use of child labour. It has been pointed out that these are issues for which the International Labour Organisation exists, and should be raised with it. It is not sensible, in our judgment, or in the judgment of most other countries, to be tempted into dealing with these matters via the World Trade Organisation. That organisation has important responsibilities, as has the ILO. Those respective responsibilities should be recognised.

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Middle East Peace Process

18. Sir Robert Hicks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what initiatives the United Kingdom Government propose to take to promote the middle east peace process; and if he will make a statement. [9250]

Mr. Rifkind: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave earlier.

Sir Robert Hicks: Although I welcome the Hebron agreement, does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that it would still be sensible to defer ratification of the Euro-Mediterranean association agreement between the European Union and Israel until all the objectives of the Oslo accords timetable have been met?

Mr. Rifkind: No, I do not agree. I believe that the Hebron agreement that has been reached shows the support of Israelis and Palestinians for taking forward the peace process. I can therefore see no justification for seeking to delay ratification of the EU-Israel agreement; I believe it should be implemented as soon as possible.

Mr. Faulds: Is not the lesson of the recent agreement between President Arafat and Mr. Netanyahu that even the most reactionary and racist forces in Israel are open, and do respond, to international pressures? Should not we in that case use those more frequently?

Mr. Rifkind: The hon. Gentleman should take into account the fact that Israel is a healthy, vibrant democracy. If the elections in Israel resulted in a Government who have proved more difficult with regard to the negotiations, that is a challenge for the middle east and the international community. But we should never disregard the fact that Israel's are an elected Government.

Mr. John Marshall: Will my right hon. and learned Friend put pressure on the Government of Syria to show some interest in peace in the middle east, and on the captors of Ron Arad to release him after eight years of captivity?

Mr. Rifkind: We have the greatest sympathy with my hon. Friend's points about Mr. Arad. I have raised that question on a number of visits and in our contacts with political leaders in the middle east. It is still not certain whether he is alive, but we shall continue to devote our efforts to assisting those who are trying to establish his fate; and, if he is still alive, to having him speedily released and returned to his family.

Former Yugoslavia

19. Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning the demonstrations for democracy in Belgrade; and if he will make a statement. [9251]

Sir Nicholas Bonsor: We welcome the decisions yesterday by the electoral commissions in Belgrade and Nis to restore the opposition victories in the recent local elections, but we continue to urge President Milosevic to

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implement fully and without delay the recommendations of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe report on those elections.

Mr. Barnes: Is the Minister aware of the tradition of democratic and humanitarian opposition in Belgrade? The conflict that took place before the break-up of Yugoslavia was essentially a conflict in Belgrade in which Serb fought Serb, including the forces of Milosevic. What role is played in Serbia by people such as John Kennedy, prospective parliamentary candidate for Halesowen and Stourbridge, who, when I was in Belgrade in 1992, was as much disliked by the independent television service as was Milosevic himself?

Sir Nicholas Bonsor: With regard to the serious part of that question, I am indeed aware of the long history of democratic opposition in former Yugoslavia, particularly in Serbia. I trust that such democracy will shortly be restored and that proper democratic election results will be honoured. There are optimistic signs of that, but we must remain extremely alert to any backsliding.

As for Mr. Kennedy, I suggest that the hon. Gentleman ask him.

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