From 8 to 12 June 2015 BGIPU staff member Anja Richter participated in a seminar at the IPU headquarters in the House of Parliaments in Geneva, together with Secretaries and Clerks from other parliaments’ IPU Groups, to learn more about the functioning of the IPU and its procedures, and to exchange ideas and knowledge with counterparts.
Following his appointment as UK Minister of State for Health, the Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP, has stood down from the position of BGIPU Chair. At a State Opening reception on 27 May, the outgoing Chair expressed thanks for the support of diplomatic missions and UK representatives abroad, noted his gratitude to BGIPU members and recognised the work of the BGIPU Secretariat in supporting his role as Chair since he was elected in December 2013. The BGIPU Chair will be filled on an ad interim basis by Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger MP.
The BGIPU Secretariat had an information stand in the Portcullis House Atrium on 20 May to outlline its work in promoting the UK Parliament’s role in inter-parliamentary affairs, particularly through the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). This outreach activity provided an opportunity to promote the important role parliamentarians can play in international relations and the contribution made by IPU in promoting parliamentary perspectives on key global issues, including at major international meetings.
On 1 April 2015, the 12 Plus Geopolitical Group adopted a Declaration on Ukraine at the 132nd IPU Assembly in Hanoi Vietnam. The 12 Plus Group declared it was deeply concerned about the current situation in Ukraine and expressed its strong support to the Ukrainian people and Government. It said Russia’s support to illegal armed groups in eastern Ukraine, its financial, military and technical assistance to pro-Russian forces threaten Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, destabilize regional stability and security in Europe and undermine the world order based on respect for international law.
A small delegation from the BGIPU visited Kyiv for 3 days in mid-February to establish links with new members of the Ukrainian Parliament, to help establish a British Friendship Group and to discuss how our two Parliaments might work more closely together to strengthen Parliamentary democracy and the accountability of Government in Ukraine. Inevitably the visit and meetings were dominated by the more urgent issue of the war in Eastern Ukraine and the fragile ceasefire that had been agreed in Minsk.
This visit intended to strengthen women’s political participation at national level and engage current women MPs in Burma on political empowerment and gender-sensitive parliamentary practices through targeted workshops with UK counterparts. It was a standalone project, complementary to other parliamentary strengthening activities in the country, undertaken in partnership with the British Embassy in Rangoon.
In the 2014 calendar year, BGIPU hosted five inward delegations to the Palace of Westminster from the national Parliaments of Uruguay, Portugal, Sudan, Armenia, and Romania. We also coordinated eight outward delegation visits to Armenia, Poland, Georgia, Nepal, UAE, Norway, Guatemala and Honduras as well as capacity building visits to Haiti and Guinea-Bissau. BGIPU members also participated in IPU Assemblies and other inter-parliamentary fora to engage with counterparts from across the world on priority international issues.
The Annual General Meeting of the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, presided over by the Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Honorary President of the Group, was held on Wednesday 3 December 2014 where BGIPU members adopted the 2014 Annual Report, including hearing financial statements from the Treasurer, made amendments to BGIPU Rules and elected the Executive Committee for 2014/15.
BGIPU hosted a parliamentary delegation from Romania from 24-28 November 2014 led by Mr Dumitru Oprea, Chairman of the Democratic Liberal Party in the Senate. The key focus of the visit was on bilateral relations, EU cooperation and migration issues, providing valuable opportunities to explore the contribution being made by the Romanian community in the UK against the backdrop of the current UK debate regarding free movement provisions within the EU.
The election of a new IPU President will be one of the main highlights of a content-rich 131st Assembly in Geneva on 12-16 October. The new president will take over from Abdelwahad Radi, who ends his three-year mandate at the end of the event. Over 120 IPU Member parliaments involving more than 650 MPs have so far registered to attend the 131st Assembly. Among them, there are more than 75 Speakers and Deputy Speakers of Parliament, as well as a significant percentage of women and young MPs.
