Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-15-Speech-3-186"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-09-15"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Situation in East Timor (continued)2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19990915.11.3-186"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-09-15-Speech-3-1872
lpv:speaker	lp:Struan Stevenson2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, like other speakers in this debate I wish to draw the attention of this House to the appalling double standards and hypocrisy displayed throughout the tragic crisis now unfolding in East Timor by the British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook. When Mr Cook was appointed Foreign Secretary he launched an ethical foreign policy containing amongst other things a commitment to a stringent code of conduct on arms export controls. Nevertheless he has allowed Hawk ground attack aircraft to be exported to the Indonesian military in breach of his own ethical foreign policy and arms export guidelines. Because the contract had been signed by the previous Conservative Government, Mr Cook claimed it could not be broken. He even gave repeated assurances that contractual clauses ensured that jets would not be used for aggressive purposes against the people of East Timor. Now, in the face of spiralling atrocities in that country and hard evidence that the aircraft in question have been used in attacks on the East Timorese, Mr Cook has performed an amazing U-turn: last Saturday he finally cancelled the contract and introduced a temporary arms ban. We will never know how many East Timorese died as a result of his refusal to cancel this contract at an earlier stage. This House has a right to an explanation from Mr Cook of how something which the UK Government insisted could not happen suddenly became possible. We should also ask Mr Cook why British taxpayers’ money was used to fund this scandalous episode and indeed, why the UK Ministry of Defence specifically intervened to ensure an invitation was extended to the Indonesian military to attend a major arms fair in Britain next week. Again, only after international pressure has Mr Cook been forced to withdraw this invitation. We should insist that Mr Cook is brought before this House to provide us with an explanation on his extraordinary collaboration with the oppressive Indonesian regime. ( )"@en1
lpv:spokenAs	member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2002-03-07)3 member; AGRI (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; PECH (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Committee on Development and Cooperation (1999-07-21--1999-09-29)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Applause"1 "Stevenson (PPE )."1

Named graphs describing this resource:

The resource appears as object in 2 triples

Context graph