In Foreign and Commonweath Questions this week, Dr Caroline Johnson MP asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab what discussions he is having with counterparts in Israel and other nations in order to speed up the development of a vaccine.
Dr Johnson asked: “What discussions is my Right Hon Friend having with his counterparts in countries such as the United States, Australia and Israel, which are working actively on a vaccine for COVID-19, so that we can share information from our research and develop a vaccine more quickly together?”
Foreign Secretary Raab said in his response: “We are, of course, emphasising the importance of vaccine research and encouraging the scientific community to co-ordinate. In particular, we want to prioritise collaboration on vaccine research, including with financing and co-ordination through the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations fund”.
In a separate question, Sheryll Murray MP raised concerns about Iran’s regional aggression, pointing out that “the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed this month that Iran has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November, in flagrant violation of the 2015 nuclear deal”.
She added: “That puts it well within reach of the amount needed to produce a nuclear weapon”, and asked: “Does the Minister share my concern that further steps must be taken as a matter of urgency to stop Iran’s aggression, including the re-imposition of major sanctions?”
The Foreign Secretary underlined in his response: “We will hold Iran to account and above all make sure that they can never acquire a nuclear weapon”.
Watch videos from the session on CFI’s Twitter page.
