Will the Foreign Secretary reaffirm his Government’s commitment to upholding the Geneva convention and will he make progress in implementing the recommendations of the Russia report?

Will the Foreign Secretary commit to ensuring that funding for the BBC Russian service is protected in any upcoming spending review?

Has he had discussions with the Home Secretary about provisions for Belarusians seeking asylum in the UK and will he reiterate support for free and fair elections around the world?

Let me start by thanking the Foreign Secretary for this statement and for advance sight of it. It is rare, but it matters when we agree with one another in all parts of the House. It sends a message to the people of Belarus that this whole House stands with them on their right to choose their own destiny, and to resist interference in their elections and freedoms from anywhere, wherever it comes from. That is why we believe he is right to focus support on the people of Belarus and to focus on tackling the human rights abuses—the tear gas, detentions and beatings—we have seen in recent weeks. I know he will also be as concerned as I am about reports of torture, so perhaps he will take this opportunity to reaffirm his Government’s commitment to upholding the Geneva convention. I want to pay particular tribute to those brave women who have stood up in recent days to the armed, masked men and shown the face of courage to the world. When they defend democracy and stand up for freedom, they stand up for us all and they must have our support. We very much support the Foreign Secretary’s efforts to work with allies to impose Magnitsky sanctions on those involved. Has he had discussion with counterparts about including Lukashenko in these measures? Has he made any progress in ensuring that corruption is in the scope of the Magnitsky legislation that this House recently passed? I welcome the funding the Foreign Secretary has provided to human rights organisations, but will he tell the House what he is doing to protect academics? Is he exploring increasing the number of Chevening scholarships to Belarusians? Has he considered measures to support protesters who have lost their jobs or been blacklisted for the stance they have taken? He will know from his previous work that there is more than one way to harass, intimidate and silence people into compliance, and taking away livelihoods has always been one chief way in which dictatorships seek to silence people. I am particularly concerned about members of the arts and cultural community, more than 50 of whom have been detained, with a greater number having lost their livelihoods. What active steps is the British embassy taking to protect writers and other cultural figures, as well as others involved in the protests, from interference? The BBC Russian service is a key source of impartial information for the people of Belarus. I am very concerned about the potential for both funding cuts to the World Service and the targeting of its journalists. So will he commit to ensuring that Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funding for this service is protected in any upcoming spending review? What is his Department doing to support BBC journalists and protect them from attacks on them and their families? Has he had any discussions with the Home Secretary about provision for Belarusians seeking asylum in the UK? Will he take this opportunity to reiterate the UK’s support for free and fair elections around the world? I welcome his announcement about the OSCE today. Will he commit to ensure that we play our part in continuing to provide funding to uphold democracy abroad and security at home? As the Foreign Secretary moves forward with sanctions, this underlines the importance of the UK safeguarding against the UK and our overseas territories providing a safe haven for money obtained through corruption and human rights abuse—blood money, as he called it. So what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Russia report? The Government have been silent on that matter since it was published before the summer recess. Finally, one of the leading figures in the Belarusian opposition council said recently that more than the prospect of detention what he fears is the prospect that nothing will change. We send a message from all parts of this House today that we stand with him and with those who are defending freedom and democracy, in Belarus and around the world.

It is a great pleasure to hear the statement from my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, who has laid out an impressive, decent and strong series of proposals, and it is very pleasing to hear the Opposition agree as well. Building on the discussions that he has so clearly had with various of our allies, what conversations has he had with Germany? I raise Germany, in particular, because the Nord Stream 2 project that is currently going through is allowing the Russian Government to salami-slice our eastern neighbours and friends one by one, and what we are seeing in Belarus could easily happen in other countries. Although Belarus is the last country in the world still to have an active KGB, we hope that it will not become the first of many to have an active SVR base very soon.

I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of the statement, and I am pleased to commend him on the tone and content of it. It is important that we in this House are not ashamed to say that we stand united with the brave protesters in Belarus. Having said that, the statement includes a number of measures that I called for myself in the last FCDO questions, so it would be churlish not to support them now, and I am glad to see that progress. I make only a couple of concrete points in relation to the statement. At FCDO questions last week, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), undertook to meet the Belarusian diaspora here in London. I am conscious that meeting has not happened yet because of diary pressures, but could I urge that that meeting be expedited? There are a lot of good ideas there. I warmly support the triggering of the Moscow mechanism in the OSCE, but can the Foreign Secretary give us some indication of the timescale of that investigation, because there will be pressures for this to be a long-grass exercise, but I think this is rather more urgent and a quite straightforward investigation in practice. On the Magnitsky sanctions, I am very pleased to see the action in conjunction with the US and others, but does the Foreign Secretary share my disappointment at the lack of unanimity in the EU because of the Cypriot Government’s position, and will he express that disappointment and urge his counterparts in Cyprus to change their view? A concerted effort is needed to support the Belarusian activists. The statement contained a nuanced approach, and the Foreign Secretary can rest assured of my party’s support for this approach going forward.

I thank my right hon. Friend for today’s announcement, which will be of huge comfort to many people in Belarus. Putting Magnitsky sanctions in place against those who are propping up this illegitimate regime in Belarus also sends a strong signal about the view that we take of the horrific scale of abuses that people in Belarus are having to endure, including seven murders. Will my right hon. Friend meet me and some of those who have worked tirelessly over the last decade to keep alive the importance of free speech, democracy and human rights on the ground in Belarus, so that we can understand better how our country can play its role fully in supporting the people of Belarus to move forward peacefully to a true democracy in the future?

Dreadful though this situation is, many commentators have suggested that it should not be viewed as a classic east-west conflict, and that Lukashenko is no more a friend of Moscow than he is of his own people. Does the Foreign Secretary agree? Does he plan any further activity on the possibility of a mediated solution?

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. The Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which I chair, is currently producing two urgent reports: one on the political reform in Belarus, and one by our own Lord Blencathra on the urgent need for electoral reform in Belarus. The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has also called on Belarus to launch a “democratic, broad-based and inclusive” national political process as a first step towards a peaceful way out of the current crisis, and in particular to open the door for those reforms, starting with the constitution and the election process. I wonder what support and encouragement the Foreign Secretary can give to that process, alongside co-ordinating the USA-UK response and the OSCE response.

I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement. I am greatly encouraged, as this House should be, by the fact that we have a Foreign Secretary who leads from the front. Will he outline whether reports of women and children being beaten by police officers and having their passports removed have been verified by FCDO officials in Belarus? What steps can we take to stand alongside those who are having their most basic human rights disregarded in the horrific scenes we have watched on TV?

I thank the Foreign Secretary for making this statement. There is little doubt that the elections in Belarus were neither fair nor free, and the response of the authorities has been absolutely abhorrent, with threats of torture, rape and the presence of the military on the streets. Can he confirm that the UK does not, and will not, accept the result of this election, and that we will consider the most appropriate sanctions against Lukashenko and his regime?

I very much welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement. His commitment to human rights is nothing new. When we both came to the House, we sat on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and I remember him being a champion on these matters across the board. My right hon. Friend knows of my interest in religious freedom, on which I have worked with him. Freedom of religion or belief is a basic, fundamental right, and it is crucial for a peaceful, prosperous and virtuous society. It is also a national security imperative. One of my last actions as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion and belief was as a member of the International Religious Freedom Alliance, of which I was honoured to be vice-chair. In that last meeting, the case was raised of Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, who was not being allowed to enter Belarus, his own country. I ask the Foreign Secretary to do everything he can to ensure that individuals such as Archbishop Kondrusiewicz can enter their countries and practise their faith openly and freely. Finally, I personally thank the Foreign Secretary for the support that he gave me in my task when I was the Prime Minister’s special envoy.

Can I push the Secretary of State a little harder? He said he wants to get to the bottom of all this, but at the bottom of all this we surely know is Russia, which is becoming almost a rogue state around the world. Russia only listens when we are tough with it. Can we not have sanctions against Russia and, in this country, clear out the nest of vipers who have taken up residence—Putin supporters and yes men and yes women—here in London? For goodness’ sake, can we not take on Russia, show it we mean business and start perhaps with the owner of the Evening Standard?

I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement and the substance of it, and I add the voice of the Liberal Democrats to the solidarity shown across the House. It is so important that we stand together in our fight for democracy and against those who want to undermine human rights. I am glad also that the Foreign Secretary is now flexing his muscles when it comes to Magnitsky sanctions. It shows what can be done. Can I press him to continue to flex those muscles in other parts of the world so that global Britain is consistent in its approach? I press him in particular to act against those who commit human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement today. It sends a clear message about the values we have as a country and the way we will defend them abroad. It was particularly concerning to hear that UK embassy staff and other independent monitors were unable to go about their role. The worry is that the coronavirus pandemic gives autocratic leaders across the world an opportunity to shy away in a veil of public health protection, so will he reassure me and the House that everything is being done to make sure that our staff and other independent observers can go about their work unhindered, whatever the circumstances?

Since 2010, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has seen resources dedicated to human rights cut due to austerity. While welcoming today's announcement to restore some funding, does the Foreign Secretary agree that this approach has failed in light of events in Belarus?

Free speech and press are vital for democracy. The House shares concern over journalists targeted by the Belarusian regime. What steps will the Foreign Secretary take to support brave media outlets holding Lukashenko accountable?

Supporting condemnation of democracy and human rights abuse in Belarus, how can the Foreign Secretary be taken seriously condemning Belarus for breaking international law when his Government intend to break it in trade negotiations?

We must stand with international partners against thuggery and election rigging. Will sanctions be a crucial tool in holding Lukashenko accountable, will we remain involved even after the end of the transition period?

While supporting people in Belarus, what action are we taking through financial support with organisations like the International Labour Organisation to ensure workers not disadvantaged for standing up for basic freedoms?

What support will we give NATO allies like Lithuania, and do we recognise the leadership of Mrs Tikhanovskaya, who claimed to have won 60% to 70% of the vote in properly counted places?

Supporting civil society, what conversations has he had with European Trade Union Confederation to support the role of trade unions in Belarus?

Concerned about censorship in Belarus, given mobile internet services are deliberately disrupted and independent news websites blocked. Must there be free and unfettered access to information?

In light of the Belarusian election, will the Secretary of State assure that funding for international election monitoring is not being reduced, recognising its role in protecting UK national security?

Rightly condemning Belarusian authorities. What representations have the Government made to Russia about respecting Belarus's sovereignty?