Speeches by Smith.

“The hon. Lady raises a really important point. Practitioners of Falun Gong talk about arrests, incarceration and illegal organ harvesting from people who are still alive, and about the high levels of state-based attacks and murders. It is quite staggering that China exports more organs than any other country in the wor…”

“We will see if we can ascertain one in passing. I congratulate the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) on securing the debate. That is not easy, as he knows, and it is really good to see so many hon. Members in attendance. As you pointed out, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am one of nine political sanctionees,…”

“The Minister has mentioned the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire and his excellent opening speech. He posed a question that I hope she can answer at some point. Do His Majesty’s Government now believe that a blockade of Taiwan would be considered an act of war?”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate and for giving way. The comparison point is important. The figures he has given for what would happen should Taiwan be blockaded or even invaded are worth relating back to the Ukraine effect from when Russia invaded Ukraine. We had a hit of about $1 trillion …”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, I will see what I can do to speak on your behalf—even though you have no opinion on this matter.”

“I fully support the call for Mr el-Fattah’s release, but in the same area, Ryan Cornelius has spent 16 years illegally held by the United Arab Emirates, much of it in solitary confinement. The Secretary of State says that he will pursue these cases rigorously, but when he went to the UAE recently, he did not raise the …”

“I return the Prime Minister to his meeting with President Xi. He may recall that at the time, President Xi put four red lines, one of which was about democracy and human rights, which he said he would “allow no challenge”. I have been in contact with many Hong Kong refugees here, who fled Hong Kong, and they were worri…”

“I have known the right hon. Gentleman for a long time, and he will know that I have a high regard for him, so I simply offer him these words from my knowledge of all the battles one undertakes within government—always with the Treasury. Putting aside for one second any party difference on this, we all want a functional…”

“I have sat watching both Governments on this one, and I do not think that any Government have the right to accuse the party that was formerly in power and talk about what it got wrong, because that Government got it all wrong and this one are getting it all wrong as well. The key point is this. The Minister has referre…”

“I have many friends who served out there, and the after-effects of that disaster—death, burnt human beings—still bang on and resonate with them today. All they want is to know why they were there at the wrong time. Who gave the orders? The report is critical. It is not just a case of them being damaged or killed by ene…”

“Given that the Mauritian Government, with whom the Minister was dealing, have failed and are no longer in power, is this not a case of a deal with the wrong people at the wrong time for the wrong reasons, which has abandoned the Chagossians? The Chagossians made it very clear throughout—the fact cannot be misrepresente…”

“Yes, she is. Is she in the wrong column?”

“That was just a typo.”

“There is no target deadline publicly. It is just a reality that happens every day. We will take whatever you can give us really.”

“Yes, that is right.”

“Some of the names of the people who are held are in the Foreign Office, but we are going on reports that even the Foreign Office has accepted, which is that these people are detained. We know a number of them. Certainly, were the Committee to grant this debate, we would have every intention of contacting families and t…”

“Yes, that is what I am saying. That is what I want, to include a motion.”

“Not a general debate—it would be nice to table a motion. I would have to refine it slightly, but the motion would be along the lines that all Government Ministers, as a matter of Government policy, should raise all issues concerning British nationals who are detained abroad at risk of human rights abuses. I think that …”

“Our bid for a Backbench business debate is about foreign nationals or detained British nationals at risk of human rights violations abroad. We reckon there are now at least 100 UK nationals being tortured or ill-treated abroad each year. In 2023, the FCDO received 188 new allegations of torture and mistreatment from Br…”

“The right hon. Gentleman knows that I have the highest respect for him, even if we have occasionally clashed across the Floor. I ask him this simple question. In China today, one shipyard building naval vessels is out-building the whole of the United States’ naval capability—and it has many hundreds. Given that, and th…”