Speeches by Smith.

““on discriminatory grounds, owing to his status as a human rights defender and based on his political activism, religious faith and opinions”.”

“I want to touch on Jagtar Singh Johal, who is detained in India. He is a British Sikh activist who has been held without trial in India for eight years. The United Nations says he is being held”

“Mr Cornelius’s trial proceedings were marked by violations of his right to a fair trial. He was not provided with an interpreter and could not understand the proceedings, while the appointed lawyer did not speak English, rendering effective communication impossible. In 2011, Mr Cornelius was convicted and sentenced to …”

“The hon. Lady was very prescient then, and it has got worse since. There was lots of talk under the previous Administration about Downing Street cars being searched for IOTs. We know about the huge imports from bad actors, such as China and other countries—that is really what we should be worried about. Many of them co…”

“It is always a great honour to follow the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), who talks common sense most of the time she gets up, which may be one of the reasons why she is still on the Back Benches. If we listened more to those who know something about things, rather than talking …”

“The point being made through those specific cases is made for a wider set of cases through amendment 3. I wish the Government would accept the amendment rather than our having to put it to a vote, but I think it is necessary for us to do so in order to make this point. Too often we co-operate, rather lazily at times, w…”

“I am not quite certain that I understand the Minister’s reasons for why he cannot accept my amendment, tweak it or work with it in the other place. The reality is that with this Bill, we are opening the door in a way that we would not have otherwise done to the use of information that may predicate a failure for some B…”

“I bow before the ex-head of the Crown Prosecution Service in the United Kingdom.”

““gravely mistreated, with no legal basis”.”

“I want to praise one particular character—one person who I think should at least suggest that the Government vote for the amendment. While still Leader of the Opposition, the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) wrote both to Boris Johnson and to my right hon. Friend the Member for Ri…”

“I want to make a small point following the strong and powerful point made by the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) about the gang-related stuff. The petition that the public signed does not selectively go for gangs only. It refers to all offenders, including gangs. Surely the key is to get the knowledge. That …”

“It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi). He will recall that I voted for him to hold his position, and I will come for payback later on. It is also very good to see my area neighbour, the right hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting), in the Chamber. I will listen with great interes…”

“This business with what is going on over Northern Ireland is not alone, because it builds on a perception and on the gratuitous pursuit of soldiers involved in Afghanistan and Iraq—partly by the Prime Minister in a previous life, but certainly by lawyers knowing full well that what they were pursuing were in fact compl…”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Having served in Northern Ireland, I have spoken to many veterans I was there with and others who were there before, and there is a scintilla of a real question mark about how they will be treated. The vexatious nature of these complaints will, of course, eventually drag th…”

“I will, but briefly, because I do not get any extra time.”

“We will not altogether agree about this issue. We can debate what actually happened, but we will never know, because the Government refused to pursue this matter through the courts. South Africa was a good example of how it could be done. I went out to advise in South Africa at the time, and I genuinely believe that th…”

“In the limited time I have, I say to the Secretary of State that this Bill was bad, and it is now a mess. He comes in front of the House to ask for a carry-over when he knows that carry-over motions are only ever to be used for Bills that are pretty well set, but have run out of time to progress. Such motions are not f…”

“It is astonishing. My right hon. Friend is exactly right. I served early on in Northern Ireland, and I lost a very good friend—I apologise for repeating his name—in Robert Nairac. We have never got to the bottom of what happened to him. I thought that the speech from the hon. Member for Foyle (Colum Eastwood) was incre…”

“Lindsay and Craig Foreman are incarcerated in Iran in brutal circumstances, and are being tortured in many ways. They are not my constituents, but their family approached me. May I be clear to the Government, and have them be clear to us in their response? Are the Government saying publicly that they are not spies, but…”

“Everybody has said pretty much everything, but I am going to say some of it again, as is my wont in this Chamber. First, I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, who laid out a powerful case against the Government, particularly against the Prime Minister and his excuses in all this. I think tha…”