Speeches by Whittingdale.

“While wishing the Minister, and indeed all hon. Members and staff, a very happy Christmas, may I tell her that many of my farming constituents will not be celebrating as they gather with their families, because their hopes of passing on their farms to their children, just as their parents and grandparents did before th…”

“T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.”

“Jimmy Lai is 78 and is a British citizen. He has already been in prison in Hong Kong for five years, simply for being a journalist. If he receives a further sentence on 12 January, he is likely to die in prison. Will the Prime Minister make it clear that his visit to Beijing can go ahead only if Jimmy Lai is released?”

“We would appreciate further detail. The USAID was of huge importance in terms of supporting media in several countries. That is being withdrawn. If there are ways in which the Foreign Office can increase its support to take the place of USAID, that would be hugely beneficial.”

“I will leave you with the thought, which I think a number of us have expressed, that the increase in defence spending, which is very welcome, should incorporate recognition of the importance of soft power as well as hard power. I will move to one final area of soft power. The UK has been very strong on media freedom—in…”

“Another aspect of soft power is the BBC World Service. Again, they are countering disinformation—I think you may find that highlighted in a report that the Committee is producing—up against RT, Sputnik, the Chinese and any number of hostile forces who are investing far more into broadcasting than the BBC and the Govern…”

“Can you let the Committee know as soon as you are in a position to?”

“I wanted to raise the case of Jimmy Lai. You made a very strong statement in the Chamber yesterday, and you told us that you had called in the Chinese ambassador. Previous releases of individuals held have been obtained through applying some hard pressure and holding out the prospect of better relations if the release …”

“The British Council has indicated to us that 40 offices are under threat, including those in places like the Baltic states, which are of huge importance in terms of facing Russian disinformation and Russian influence. Are you willing to see closures of British Council offices of that scale?”

“Foreign Secretary, may I ask you about three aspects of the UK’s soft power? That is something we have traditionally been very strong at. The first one, which we explored with the permanent secretary last week, is the position of the British Council. The British Council views the existence of the loan that was given to…”

“But surely the strongest pressure we could put on would be to make clear that a visit by the UK Prime Minister cannot go ahead while a UK citizen is incarcerated in a Hong Kong jail.”

“I welcome the Minister’s answer, but is she aware that in the space of one week the Solicitors Regulation Authority has lost two tribunal cases relating to SLAPPs? Do the Government consider the SRA fit for purpose in this area? Is further legislation not needed to prevent lawyers from pursuing abusive cases?”

“9. What steps his Department is taking to tackle the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation.”

“Can I ask when? Your predecessor said “working at pace”, so when we can expect it?”

“I wish to move on to another issue. You might be aware that the Committee has pressed strongly for the appointment of an envoy for arbitrary detention. We also requested that the Foreign Office set out rough criteria of what would qualify. Your predecessor was reluctant to give the criteria, but did say that the Foreig…”

“Jimmy Lai’s so-called crime was simply being a journalist expressing his views. As the Foreign Secretary has said, he is 78, and we heard this afternoon from Sebastien and his legal team that his health is deteriorating rapidly and he is likely to die in prison unless he is released soon. Will the Foreign Secretary mee…”

“But you have two organisations that are staring at some very unpleasant choices, and the longer this drags on, the worse it is. First, the British Council, which is perhaps the most serious, is talking about having to go into insolvency unless it can be given confidence that its funding will be sufficient to meet its c…”

“At the end of the day, they are funding decisions that need to be made. We are being told by the British Council that potentially 40 offices will close across the world. We are also being told by the BBC World Service that unless they get an uplift, which they are still in discussion with you about, they will be unable…”

“Surely, the case for maintaining offices is not whether or not they are commercially sustainable; it is about ensuring that there is British influence and presence in some of the most challenging places in the world.”

“We were led to believe that you would be able to come and tell us the details at this session. The British Council is perhaps the most urgent, in that the potential failure to resolve this could lead to the most drastic outcome. Can you give us some indication of when you will come back to the Committee, perhaps with t…”