Last week, I travelled to Strasbourg, France as
part of a delegation of British parliamentarians to attend a session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). I was first appointed
to the PACE by the Prime Minister last year, as the first ever Cornish MP member
of the Assembly. The Council of Europe is an international organisation
bringing together European leaders and politicians to work together to uphold
human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Not to be confused with the
European Council, the Council of Europe is not part of the European Union, and
unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make or impose binding laws on
member states.
The idea of creating an international body to
rebuild and maintain peace was first set out by the late and great Sir Winston
Churchill in 1943, when Britain and most of the continent were still engulfed
in a war the scale of which the world has never seen. Over the past seven
decades, the Council of Europe has played a vital role in promoting and
protecting basic human rights and the rule of law – From abolishing the death
penalty across Europe to establishing the European Convention and Court of
Human Rights. Following years of campaigning from Cornwall, in 2014 the Council
of Europe granted official national minority status to the Cornish people under
the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which
continues to be the main vehicle through which we push for genuinely equal
recognition with other minorities in the UK. After Brexit we will continue to
work with our European neighbours as part of this important organisation.
As the Council celebrated its 70th
anniversary this week, the PACE had the opportunity to debate and vote on a
resolution to restore the voting rights of the Russian delegation, a matter
which has received much international attention lately. As a result of Russia’s
illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, their delegation were stripped of their
voting rights in the PACE. In retaliation, the Russian delegation has not
participated in PACE sessions since 2016, and since 2017 has stopped paying its
obligatory annual contribution to the Council.
During an 8 hour debate on this subject on Monday
evening, I argued that if we were to roll out the red carpet for the Russians,
we would be meeting their demands for an unconditional return to the Council of
Europe, when it is Russia who should be meeting the demands of the Council for
their actions in Ukraine and more recently on British soil, changing their
aggressive behaviour internationally and domestically. It was argued by some in
the Council that allowing the Russian delegation to return to the Assembly
would give us a chance to engage with, perhaps even criticise them directly.
But Russia has shown no indication that it is willing to change its ways, to be
a responsible member state and pay their outstanding dues to the Council.
Despite opposition from the British, the Ukrainians and several Baltic countries, the resolution was passed 118-62. I returned to the UK on Wednesday evening with a sense of disappointment, knowing that the latest capitulation to Russian pressure sends the wrong message to the rest of the world about the credibility of the Council of Europe and sets a dangerous precedent for engaging with states with little regard to peace, the rule of law and democracy. However, there are many other avenues through which the UK will continue to apply pressure on Russia, such our diplomatic, financial and trade sanctions regime which will continue to be in force after we leave the European Union. In Parliament, I will continue to speak up against Russian aggression and work to ensure that Russia is playing by the rule book of the international community.
On
a personal note, it was also a very special day for our family on Saturday as
our youngest son Jacob got married to Danielle Bazeley, at Lusty Glaze beach in
Newquay. Anne and I want to say a big thank you to all our family and friends,
as well as the staff at Lusty Glaze, who helped us make it such a great day.
