Speeches by Alexander.

“When you describe exceptions and when you sought to draw a distinction between moral and legal responsibilities, the basis, as I sought to evidence earlier, on which the Foreign Secretary is advised and then seeks to reach his judgment is set down very clearly in terms of criterion 2c, which states that, “The Governmen…”

“There is an assessment that informs the Foreign Secretary’s opinion. The Foreign Secretary then writes to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, who then makes a judgment and determination in relation to licences.”

“This is the point I was trying to make earlier. As soon as the Foreign Secretary reached a determination that there was that risk in terms of a breach of international humanitarian law, the effect in terms of the judgment that was then made by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade was identical to if there had …”

“You are certainly correct in your broad assumption that first, there is no direct military aid provided by the UK Government in a manner that will be familiar to you from the United States. Often when these issues are discussed in the public prints, the perception is left that somehow the UK Government are directly tra…”

“I do not have that figure in front of me, and I certainly would not want to mislead you or the Committee.”

“Forgive me for interrupting my colleague, but just I wanted to clarify something at the earliest opportunity: the figure of £18 million that you mentioned is actually £18.2 million and that is actually military goods exported. That does not reflect general trade.”

“Perhaps I can offer some assistance. On the criteria, and the basis on which it was used in the written ministerial statement that introduced the criteria in 2021—about which the Committee has already spoken—it was set out explicitly by the then Secretary of State that “Application of the criteria would be without prej…”

“I am simply reflecting what has been the stated position, both of the previous Government and indeed of this Government, which is that the framework is set out, but there is a without prejudice clause that was identified by Minister Trevelyan, and that has been exercised on two occasions: first, in relation to the inva…”

“I pay tribute to the right hon. Lady for the work that she has done—and to others for their work—both during and after the passage of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Government recognise that the landscape has changed since the Act was introduced, and we are committed to tackling modern slavery through a holistic Gove…”

“Let me pay tribute to the right hon. Gentleman for his sustained effort on, and interest in, these issues. It has come at some personal cost; he has received criticism from foreign Governments. He is an example to us all in this Chamber in his willingness to speak up for human rights without fear or favour. On his poin…”

“Notwithstanding the concerns that have been expressed in the Chamber about the existing statutory framework, we need to send a clear and unequivocal signal that no company in the United Kingdom that operates under the existing statutory framework should have any forced labour whatsoever in its supply chain. There are a…”

“It is important to draw a distinction between the legislative approach taken by some jurisdictions, which have named countries and provinces where there is abuse of human rights, and the statutory foundation for the way that British business is expected to conduct itself, not least in relation to modern slavery and thr…”

“The UK addresses forced labour in global supply chains under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which requires commercial businesses that operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36 million or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. …”

“Let me first pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) for the consistency and focus that she has brought to this issue. It is not a new worry for her. I assure her that I shared that concern yesterday morning when I heard the reports and the allegations that were levelled in relation to t…”

“I thank the Opposition spokesperson for her characteristically kind and generous words in welcoming me back to Parliament and, indeed, the Dispatch Box. There is a tension between the first two questions we have heard, with my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham observing that there is a need for radical transformatio…”

“I am in full agreement with my hon. Friend. For businesses to be able to invest and thrive, they need confidence in their supply chains, which is why the Government are establishing a new supply chains taskforce. The taskforce will work to assess where supply chains that are critical to the UK’s economic security and r…”

“I am not sure that I am in agreement, notwithstanding the high degree of consensus in the House, with the hon. Lady’s opposition to solar farms. We believe that the essential transition to a net zero economy requires not only onshore wind but, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business and Trade has ma…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her observation, and for the characteristically calm wisdom with which she spoke about issues on which I think there is a high degree of consensus across the House. Given that we have been in government for five months, it is appropriate that we review the effectiveness of the Modern Slavery A…”

“The right hon. Gentleman brings many years of experience to the bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and China, and he will find no disagreement on this side of the House when he calls out the disastrous foreign policy mistakes of the former Member for Witney. We seem to have ended up with the worst of bot…”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Since 2022, the US has been operating an import ban targeting goods from Xinjiang under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The Act sets out a rebuttable presumption that goods made in Xinjiang or produced by certain listed entities use forced labour. It is right to recognise…”