Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill [Lords]

I hope that we will get through this evening’s proceedings and the Committee stage with great spe...

I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend. Six years has been a long wait, but it has been well ...

I again pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s work in campaigning on this issue. He rightly identifies ...

On cultural property, I know that the Bill does not cover this issue, but does my right hon. Frie...

My hon. Friend makes an important point, but he will accept that it is beyond the convention and,...

Clause 17 states:

“It is an offence for a person to deal in unlawfully exported cultural pr...

That concern has been raised with me outside this place by a number of right hon. and hon. Member...

Does the Secretary of State accept, though, that, regardless of whether an item is legal or not, ...

I do not think that that will happen, and it is certainly not the Bill’s intention, but I am happ...

My right hon. Friend knows that I greatly support this Bill. She is talking about enforcement and...

My hon. Friend helps to make the point about the deterrent effect of the legislation. It is deter...

I welcome the Bill’s Second Reading, and I thank the Secretary of State for her introduction. As ...

I want to put on the record my thanks to the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman). I f...

I thank the Secretary of State for doing so. It is characteristically generous of her, and I am s...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that although Daesh brutality is obvious in places such as Palmyra,...

I strongly agree with the hon. Gentleman on that point. Palmyra was visited each year prior to 20...

I am genuinely impressed by the hon. Gentleman’s knowledge of Mesopotamian and other archaeology....

I am sure that the whole House would welcome any measures that were negotiated internationally to...

We have focused on trying to stop further outrages. Does my hon. Friend agree that the British Mu...

It would my pleasure to do so, and it is always nice, as well, to hear my hon. Friend being nice ...

The hon. Gentleman is revisiting an old canard. Will he not just acknowledge that, for example, t...

I will not get into a lengthy debate about the wheres and the what happens.

You started it.

I have spent my whole life starting fights and then running away from them. That is what happens ...

We’ve already got it.

I think the hon. Gentleman is going to mention that in his speech.

In that light, the parti...

The hon. Gentleman is making a very fine speech, but had he spent any time in an officers’ mess, ...

I have spent a lot less time in officers’ messes than the hon. Gentleman, but I have spent a lot ...

I am delighted to welcome the Bill’s Second Reading. As has been pointed out, this is a Bill we h...

I have a specific question on cluster munitions. The right hon. Gentleman just used the words “no...

I sympathise with the hon. Gentleman’s point. All signatories to the convention should certainly ...

My right hon. Friend makes a good point. Although I appreciate his point that the Bill is unlikel...

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. Most of the attention has been on wilful destructio...

The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Is he aware how many people have been convicte...

That point was made by my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) ea...

Nor should we go around lowering the threshold in order to scoop up innocent people.

My right hon. and learned Friend makes a perfectly valid point and I agree with him. The art mark...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I have finished my speech.

7.5 pm

The Scottish National party and the Scottish Government very much welcome the Bill and the purpos...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak briefly in the debate. As I have mentioned, I may not ...

It is a great pleasure to follow the former Minister. I am sure he recalls the many occasions I a...

Speaking as co-chair of the all-party group for the protection of cultural heritage, it is a plea...

As such a lowly Member, I was not expecting to be called at this point, so thank you for doing so...

It is a pleasure to talk on this subject, and on this Bill which, as have heard, has been a long ...

I am delighted to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Somerton and Frome (David Warburton) but, ...

East Jerusalem.

East Jerusalem—they were designated as occupied territories. However, the world has moved on and,...

Can my right hon. and learned Friend think of any other examples of mens rea of this type that ar...

One often sees the type currently drafted into clause 17 when a defendant has to rebut a presumpt...

Order. I do apologise to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, but when he leant down like that, ...

Ungallant.

Ms Bell, I think, has spoken on my behalf. I was just advising you, Mr Speaker, about section 1 o...

Indeed.

At least I am right about that. [Laughter.] It states:

“A person is guilty of an offence if...

I am delighted to follow my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Harborough (Sir Edward G...

rose—

I am delighted to be put right by my right hon. and learned Friend, although we would never know ...

Many antiquities can be purchased on the black market. Does the hon. Gentleman think that Governm...

It is an interesting prospect, but I would much rather track down and prosecute the people who be...

rose—

May I continue a little, because I know that the Minister will want to respond on this?

The...

May I take the hon. Gentleman’s mind back to when he mentioned Mosul? When we visited Iraq, and I...

Those people should absolutely be held accountable and brought to justice. I am sure that when it...

It is a pleasure to rise to support the Bill. As my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Kevi...

It is with great pleasure and pride that I close the Second Reading debate on the Bill. This piec...