House of Commons - Foreign Affairs

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs First Report

2 Continuing scrutiny of foreign policy

7. The Committee has maintained its in-depth scrutiny of foreign policy aspects of the 'war against terrorism'. However, in its most recent Report under this title, it concluded that the phrase 'war against terrorism' was inappropriate. Work on the continuing threats to global security, on the United Kingdom's foreign policy response to those threats, and on the United Kingdom's strategic international priorities, as set out in the FCO's Active Diplomacy White Paper of March 2006, has been transferred to a new inquiry, 'Global Security.' This inquiry will be pursued through a series of focused exercises, starting in March 2007 with evidence on the Middle East.

8. In addition to this continuing work on global terror, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, we have sought to ensure that other consistently important areas of policy receive adequate scrutiny. We have therefore continued to hear evidence on developments in the European Union, producing a Report in Spring 2006; and we have participated fully, as in previous years, in the work of the Quadripartite Committee on Strategic Arms Export Controls. We deal in more detail with each of these aspects of our work in the following paragraphs.

Fourth Report of Session 2005-06, Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism (HC 573)

9. In our final Report to bear the title Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism, we followed up a number of specific areas of policy covered in one or more of our previous Reports in this series, such as the political and security situations in Iraq and Afghanistan; the Middle East peace process; and counter-proliferation measures. We also took an in-depth look at the roles of Saudi Arabia and of the United Arab Emirates in countering terrorism (as the Report notes, 15 of the 19 terrorists directly involved in the events of 11 September 2001 were Saudi citizens and two were UAE nationals). The breadth of coverage represented by the series of seven Reports, which we are continuing in 2007 under the 'Global Security' heading, has we believe made an important contribution to Parliament's understanding of the complex matrix of issues which continue to dominate the United Kingdom's foreign policy agenda.

10. In January 2006, six members of the Committee visited Baghdad and Basrah. In the capital, they held meetings with Iraqi political leaders as well as with the British and American ambassadors, and visited the Iraqi Army's military academy at al-Rustamiyah. In Basrah, the group held talks with political and religious leaders, as well as meeting the local police chief and being briefed by British personnel. The visit was of great value in giving us first-hand information on political and other developments in Iraq. It was also an opportunity to witness the dedication and hard work of FCO, military and other personnel in what remains one of the most dangerous postings of all.

11. We have also met visiting members of the Iraqi administration when they have been passing through London, including President Talabani, Prime Minister Maliki and Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih. Among our other visitors have been members of our counterpart committee from the Iranian majlis and senior Israeli, Syrian and Afghan figures.[5] We also hosted an address to Members of both Houses by His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan in November 2006. Such informal meetings allowed us to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern with a frankness that would not be appropriate or even possible in a public forum. The exchanges provide important background material, which we use to inform our analysis of the evidence we receive on the record.

12. The Committee's visits to the Middle East and to the Arabian peninsular in November 2005 provided us with important opportunities to ask questions of political leaders and others who are closest to developments in the region, and to see how changes on the ground affect both the Middle East peace process and the 'war on terror'. For example, three of us were able to visit Gaza. After waiting for three hours to cross into Gaza, the group met local politicians, toured the Palestinian side of the freight crossing at Karni, and visited the EU-supervised crossing point with Egypt at Rafah. The group as a whole travelled to the West Bank, meeting Palestinian leaders and visiting an Israeli settlement at Shiloh, where we were able to gain the settlers' perspective on the peace process. Some of us also met Palestinian farmers whose livelihoods had been disrupted by the erection of the separation barrier. This type of direct experience is a vital supplement to our evidence hearings in Westminster.

13. The Report was debated in Westminster Hall on 8 December 2005.[6] We also pursued numerous points in correspondence with the FCO at ministerial and official level, as part of our structured programme of following up the Government's responses to our conclusions and recommendations. We regard it as important that the Government's response to our Reports should not be the final word on an issue, especially in cases where that response may be in some respect inadequate.

Sixth Report of Session 2005-06, Developments in the European Union (HC 768)

14. It has long been our practice to hear evidence from the Foreign Secretary prior to the biannual meetings of the full European Council. We always place that evidence on the record, regarding it as a highly useful exercise in accountability in itself, but from time to time we also issue a Report.

15. Our decision to prepare a Report on developments in the EU in 2006 rested on a number of factors. These included the opportunity to conduct a retrospective study of the United Kingdom's presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2005; the 'own resources' settlement agreed at the end of that presidency; and the rejection by the electorates of France and the Netherlands of the Treaty Establishing a European Constitution. Our Report dealt with all these issues and with others, such as enlargement. We pursued our conclusions and the Government's response to them when the Foreign Secretary gave oral evidence in December.

16. We have also continued our practice of visiting the country which holds the presidency of the EU. In 2006, we therefore visited both Vienna and Helsinki. During the United Kingdom's presidency in 2005, we were pleased to co-host with the House of Lords European Union Committee a meeting of the chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of all the EU member and applicant states. The meeting, held on the parliamentary estate, was an excellent opportunity to exchange views with our counterparts and we are grateful to the then Minister for Europe, Douglas Alexander MP, and to External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, for addressing the gathering.

17. As mentioned earlier in this Report, one consequence of the increase in membership of the Committee from 11 to 14 has been the ability to cover more ground in our overseas visits, by splitting into two or more groups. Thus, while some of us visited the presidency capitals, others were able to visit states which have recently acceded (such as the Czech Republic and Poland) or will shortly accede (Bulgaria and Romania). These visits have given us a valuable, broad perspective on EU affairs. We are continuing this work in January 2007, when one group will visit Brussels and Berlin, while another travels to Turkey and then to Cyprus, to discuss progress towards Turkish accession to the EU.

Fifth Report of Session 2005-06, Strategic Export Controls (HC 873)

18. The Committee has continued to play a full part, together with colleagues from the Defence, International Development and Trade and Industry Committees, in the work of the 'Quadripartite' Committee on strategic arms export controls. Just before the last election, the Committee published a report on the Government's Strategic Export Controls Annual Report for 2003 and in August 2006 it reported on the Government's Strategic Export Controls Annual Report for 2004 and Quarterly Reports for 2005. In 2006 the Committee took evidence for the first time from HM Revenue and Customs and Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office on the enforcement of exports controls.

19. In their latest Report, the four Committees considered a range of issues, including the future of the arms embargo on China, the stalled revisions to the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports and the need to tightening controls on those trafficking and brokering arms. The Committee concluded that the UK Government's Presidencies of the EU and the G8 had produced solid progress on strategic export controls and supported the Government's drive for an international Arms Trade Treaty.

5 For the full list, see Annex 3 Back

6 HC Deb, 20 May 2004, cols 311-354WH Back