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Zimbabwe
8. Mr. Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con): How many British passport holders in Zimbabwe renewed their passports at the British High Commission in Harare in 2003. [157418]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Chris Mullin): The high commission in Harare issued 2,143 passports in 2003, approximately 90 per cent. of which were renewals.
Mr. Chope : I am grateful to the Minister for that answer. Will he salute the courage of British passport holders in Zimbabwe? Will he note that most of them think that the Government are being utterly feeble in standing up to Africa's Hitler? Will he accept that one way in which he could practically help these passport holders would be to change the consular fees order to allow passport renewal fees to be paid in sterling rather than in the local currency? As the hon. Gentleman will know, the local currency is subject to 600 per cent. inflation and can be obtained only on the black market. Many British passport holders in Zimbabwe are suffering badly economically, and to allow passport renewal fees to be paid in sterling would be one small way to alleviate the burden.
Mr. Mullin: I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman has chosen to lower the tone of what I thought was a reasonable question. I took the trouble to speak to our consul in Harare this morning. He says that he is not aware of any serious difficulty in British citizens paying for their passports under the existing arrangements. He says that there have on a couple of occasions been problems when people in this country have tried to pay for passports on behalf of relatives who live in Zimbabwe, but that it has always been possible to sort those problems out. It is not necessary for people to wheel great barrow-loads of currency into the high commission. The high commission can accept bankers' drafts, and it does. Our consul was unaware of any serious difficulty.
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab): On the question of passports, the Minister will doubtless have seen the appalling film on "Panorama" on Sunday night about what Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe, infiltrating and intimidating groups of young people, who will be used to ensure that there are no free elections next year. Does he share my concern that many Zimbabweans leave Zimbabwe without papers, cross the border into South Africa, then eventually find their way by some means or other to this country, perhaps using a passport that is not theirs? Will he have a quiet word with the Home Secretary to ensure that Foreign Office and Home Office policies on Zimbabwe are married together so that genuine asylum seekers from Zimbabwe are not sent back to South Africa, where they suffer abuse as a result of secret intelligence from Zimbabwe?
Mr. Mullin: I am happy to talk to my colleague in the Home Office about this issue, as I have done in the past.
Mr. Richard Spring (West Suffolk) (Con): Do the Government have special contingency plans for British passport holders in the event of escalating further violence in Zimbabwe? What frank and open discussions, if any, has he had with the South African Government about the impact on British citizens and other foreigners whose personal situation is deteriorating because of the lack of firm and resolute
action against the Mugabe regime? Does he agree that the so-called quiet diplomacy sponsored by President Mbeki has now collapsed, as we repeatedly forecast, accompanied by violent attacks on opponents, including British passport holders, and on the press and judiciary on top of the economic chaos. Will the Government urgently provide time for the first time on the Floor of the House for a debate on the subject?
Mr. Speaker: Order. I must tell the Front Bench that this has become quite a habit. The original question was about passports, so hon. Members' questions must relate to that matter and not go wide of it.
Anti-Semitism
9. Linda Perham (Ilford, North) (Lab): What efforts are being made by his Department and other EU Governments to combat the rise in anti-Semitism. [157419]
The Minister for Europe (Mr. Denis MacShane): The rise of anti-Semitism in Europe along with other forms of intolerance, notably Islamophobia and attacks on Roma, is a frightening political phenomenon, which the Government and other EU partners are determined to combat. Ministers will attend the conference organised by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe on anti-Semitism next month in Berlin, the convening of which we have actively supported.
Linda Perham : I am pleased to hear about that conference. As my hon. Friend knows, I represent a London borough with a large Jewish community of 15,000 people. I frequently receive representations from people who have fears about the rise of anti-Semitism. What further action can the UK Government take to address my constituents' concerns and continue the fight against anti-Semitism and racism?
Mr. MacShane: This is a deeply worrying problem, not just in this country but elsewhere in Europe. People of the Jewish faith are frightened to wear kippas and are worried about attacks on their synagogues. Proper and due criticism may be made of the action of any Government—I am thinking of the Israeli Government—of which we disapprove, but sometimes that glides off into anti-Israeli and, frankly, in some sectors, anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish remarks. The European Union as a whole is much seized of this, and it was recently discussed by the Israeli President and President Chirac, who is concerned about it. I was recently in Vienna where, thanks to the initiative of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, we are bestowing an honorary knighthood on Simon Wiesenthal. I assure my hon. Friend that all members of the Government and, I believe, all hon. Members, are worried about this, and it is something that everyone in Europe should take very seriously indeed.
Alistair Burt (North-East Bedfordshire) (Con): Romano Prodi meant well when he said in February:
- "Let us . . . keep things in perspective. Today's Europe is not the Europe of the 1930s and 1940s."
Mr. MacShane: I completely and utterly agree with the hon. Gentleman, but I would add that the same analysis might be made of some of the attacks that we read about, particularly in connection with the Muslim faith—Islamophobia—and on Romas. We should not forget that after the Jews, Romas were the largest group of people put to death in the death camps. All of us, including, perhaps, some gentlemen in the Gallery, should reflect that the kind of language we have seen in recent months about European citizens who are Romas has not been worthy of British tolerance and decency.
Mrs. Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op): When my hon. Friend or his colleagues next meet the Muslim Council of Britain, will he urge it to take more seriously than it has until now the recent report from the Community Security Trust, which shows the rise in attacks on Jewish people and the link between that and events in the middle east? Will he also urge the Muslim Council of Britain to take a stand against the Islamic extremists who allow their hatred of the existence of Israel to slide into blatant anti-Semitism and foment hatred of Jews in this country?
Mr. MacShane: I have taken that stand. I have taken it, I hope, all my life. I will continue to take it, and I believe that every decent Member of the House would take exactly that position.
Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park) (LD): May I endorse much of what has been said already on this question? But does the Minister agree that criticising the Government of Ariel Sharon is not being anti-Semitic, any more than criticising George Bush is anti-American or criticising our own Prime Minister is anti-British? Does he also agree that Mr. Sharon uses accusations of anti-Semitism to silence his critics? Would not one way forward be to put pressure on Israel to change its policies towards the Palestinians by suspending the European Union-Israel trade agreement?
Mr. MacShane: The question is about anti-Semitism, and I tried to indicate earlier that I believe that whatever legitimate criticisms one might have about a Government should not slide into some of the remarks that I read in various parts of various engaged political communities which I consider to be anti-Semitic. I might say to the hon. Lady that I find that any language that validates or justifies scrambling the brains of young boys and girls to go and blow up innocent women and children in buses is also unacceptable. This is an area in which we all have to mind our tongue, especially this Minister.
Iraq
10. Hugh Bayley (City of York) (Lab): If he will make a statement on the prospects for holding elections in Iraq. [157421]
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw): May I begin my expressing, on behalf of the whole House, our shock and outrage at the latest terrorist attacks in Iraq—in Baghdad and Karbala—which led to the killing of at least 100 people and many, many more injuries. I should like to send our condolences to the relatives and friends of those involved and great sympathy to those injured. Those attacked today in Karbala and Baghdad were exercising their religious freedom—a freedom won only following the departure of Saddam Hussein. This freedom is now enshrined in the transitional administrative law, on which an historic agreement was reached just two days ago, on Sunday. The transitional administrative law is, in effect, a provisional constitution for a free Iraq. It follows the visit to Iraq of the special envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Lakhdar Brahimi. In his report, Mr. Brahimi made it clear that preparations for direct elections would take eight months after agreement on an electoral law and the establishment of an elections commission. That would point to elections sometime in the first half of next year.
Hugh Bayley : Elections could not possibly have taken place under the previous regime—that is clear. Does my right hon. Friend recognise the need to continue to involve the United Nations in the preparations for elections? Can he tell the House what our Government are doing to ensure that Iraqi women will be able to participate fully and freely in the elections when they take place?
Mr. Straw: We greatly encouraged the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, to appoint a special representative to assist in the process. We were delighted when he decided to appoint one of the world's most experienced international diplomats, Lakhdar Brahimi, who had done such a good job in Afghanistan, and he will continue to get our full support.
On the issue of women in Iraq, the transitional administrative law that was agreed on Sunday sets as a target that the political institutions of Iraq should aim for 25 per cent. representation of women. I may say that that is a higher proportion than we have been able to achieve in this country or than has been achieved in almost any other European country.
Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell) (Con): Is the Foreign Secretary confident that none of the groups involved in the political process in the run-up to elections in Iraq has any linkages to the violence that is taking place in the country at present?
Mr. Straw: One cannot be completely confident about that. However, what has been shown in the 10½ months since the fall of Saddam is a real burgeoning desire by the overwhelming majority of Iraqis and their representatives to build a new and free Iraq. The agreement that was reached on Sunday by representatives of the Kurds, the Sunni Arabs and the Shi'ites opens with words, unanimously agreed by them all, condemning the oppression and terror that was perpetrated by Saddam—which oppression and terror would have continued had that man not been removed.
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