09:30 Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)

There are of course huge commercial opportunities. Between 700,000 and 1 million British tourists visit Morocco every year. We also have a company, Xlinks—its chief executive officer is Sir Dave Lewis—that seeks to export green energy by funnelling solar and wind power from Morocco through an undersea cable to Britain. That aspiration could ultimately lead to 8% of British energy requirements being provided by Morocco through green energy.

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10:25 Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)

One of the effects of the lack of autonomous self-governance in Western Sahara is that, despite being one of the most climate-stressed places in the world, it cannot access international climate finance. Some 200,000 Sahrawis have been driven into the interior of the desert, which is basically unliveable, and even more are in Algeria, in refugee camps that are constantly flooded and in completely unliveable conditions, such as in tents in the summer. Should not the Western Saharan—Sahrawi—Government be able to access that international climate finance and become part of the international community, as they have a climate-adaptation plan?

The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point, and climate change is causing displacement around the world. Indeed, if the UK Government do not want people to make their way here by irregular means, then it is in their interests to help people who are displaced and oppressed to tackle the climate crisis and be able to live fulfilling lives in their countries of origin—and to ensure that that happens through peaceful, democratically legitimate ways.

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10:35 Ms Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)

While the state of limbo continues, people living in Western Sahara are denied opportunities to develop their skills and economic resources that could turn poverty into prosperity, drawing on the region’s vast resources from minerals and fish to renewable energy. As the Minister knows, the potential legality of trade and investment by UK companies raises many questions that cut across the disputed territory. I hope the Minister will be able to set out what work is being done to address such ambiguities.

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