Speeches by Cooper.

“I think it is a combination of the two. But I recognise the point that the Committee has made. We have set out a whole series of things and, as you will know, we pulled back from the free trade agreement. What we want in all of this is to be part of a positive process going forward. Now that we have the momentum of so …”

“The increase in settler violence that we have seen is extremely disturbing. It continues alongside the expansion in settlements, which we have strongly condemned. We have been working internationally, not just directly, to increase pressure on that. Just a couple of weeks ago, I put out a statement, jointly with the Fr…”

“I understand. At the point at which there are details to be published, there will of course be many opportunities to raise questions as well. Bear in mind that there is another crucial thing in this. A huge amount of work has been going on, involving the US and Ukraine, backed by European countries, on securing peace. …”

“You are right to raise this point. We know that the ceasefire is incredibly fragile. More significantly, hundreds of people have been killed or injured since the ceasefire came into force. Obviously, that raises issues about making sure that there is effective monitoring of the ceasefire process, and also that we have …”

“We are obviously a leading part of the coalition of the willing. That has involved discussion between the Defence Ministries and armed services across different nations that are all ready to be part of the coalition of the willing. The UK is clearly a central part of that. We have had discussions across other European …”

“Part of the reason why you are keen for more details is that those discussions are still under way, even as we speak. A very important set of peace process discussions are taking place at the moment. No one wants peace more than the Ukrainians, after everything they have endured over the last several years. But of cour…”

“Thank you very much for having me, Chair. It is a great pleasure to be here. As a former Committee Chair myself, I have huge respect for the work that Select Committees do. I always had a slight feeling that maybe it would be karma when I sat and answered questions from a Committee, but thank you very much. Our job, an…”

“It is exactly because of that transnational repression—threats to people resident on UK soil, including Hongkongers whom we have welcomed into our communities as a result of the repression they have faced—that we have strengthened the work of the counter-terrorism police and intelligence agencies on targeting state thr…”

“I can confirm that we will not relent in our calls for Jimmy Lai to be released; we will continue to do so with other countries across the world. We need to draw on the international support for Jimmy Lai to get an urgent humanitarian release for him. I also welcome the points the hon. Gentleman made about Bondi Beach …”

“The hon. Member will know that the Security Minister has updated the House several times on the FIRS process and our continuous work to keep countries under review in that respect. As for the security considerations raised as part of the planning process, I again assure him that not only the Home Office and the Foreign…”

“There is a deep, long-standing change that we have seen in the Chinese authorities’ approach over the last five years. Successive Governments have raised that with China, but we continue to do so because the national security law is deeply damaging, undermines the declaration and undermines the international rule of la…”

“I welcome my hon. Friend’s highlighting of the Hongkongers in his constituency and other local communities. He will know that over 200,000 Hongkongers have been welcomed to the UK through the BNO route. I will pass on the points he has raised to the Home Office, but the route has played an important part in Hongkongers…”

“We send our wholehearted support to Jimmy Lai’s family, who face the most difficult of circumstances, and to Jimmy Lai himself, who is a British citizen and has our strong support. We will continue to raise this issue in every forum that we can. The priority must be to draw on those humanitarian grounds, if nothing els…”

“The hon. Member is right to raise that issue. There is a real concern. I am sorry about the difficulties that I know she has had. She will know that they have been raised with the Chinese authorities. She is also right to raise the concerns of Hongkongers who live here but who still have family back home, and who, as a…”

“The hon. Member will be aware that there is an independent process around the planning system, and he will have seen the agreement that if the planning agreement were reached, then the Chinese diplomatic premises would shrink from the current eight as a result. It is important to recognise that that is an independent p…”

“I note the right hon. Member’s lack of support for the previous Government. That Government were led by his party and, in theory, he voted and campaigned for them over many years. Nevertheless, I can probably agree with him about his disagreements with the previous Government, who managed to say things but actually did…”

“I think many of the points the hon. Lady raises I have already addressed, but she raises an important further point about our economic security, for example in relation to critical minerals and energy infrastructure. I take those issues immensely seriously. There is more we need to do, working with the G7 countries and…”

“As the hon. Gentleman well knows, it is an independent planning process and it has long been so. This is not just about the UK’s direct engagement with China, but about our engagement through international forums. That is why I have raised Jimmy Lai’s case directly in the G7 and with other Foreign Ministers across the …”

“I note that the right hon. Member obviously shares the concerns about, and joins the calls for the release of, Jimmy Lai. On the wider issues, I have been very clear about the national security threats posed by China—for example, transnational oppression, support for Russia in the war on Ukraine and cyber-threats, on w…”

“My right hon. Friend is right to say that many other people are facing prosecution or have already been charged and been through a process under the national security law. We are very clear that the national security law should be repealed. It directly contradicts the declaration and the legal obligations on the Chines…”