Jim Shannon

As always, it is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. Thank you for what you do as Chair. I commend the hon. Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for bringing this issue forward. He set the scene incredibly well, with calmness, assuredness and knowledge; I thank him for that, and I look forward to the other contributions. This debate matters not narrowly in a diplomatic sense but in a deeply human and moral sense, so I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute. In September, Nepal experienced catastrophic flooding that swept through the Kathmandu valley and surrounding regions. If we close our eyes for a second, we can almost imagine that torrent of water and the debris that came with it, which swept everything ahead of it. That reminds us of the fickleness of man and how dangerous nature can be when things go wrong. Towns were submerged, homes were destroyed and lives were lost in devastating numbers. One image that sticks in my mind is the border post: people were walking across or crossing in buses and cars, when the flood suddenly came and everything disappeared. That is how quickly things happened. Hundreds of people perished, thousands more were displaced and entire communities were left without shelter, clean water or hope. I say those things not as statistics, but as someone who has an interest in Nepal—of course, every one of us is here because we have an interest in Nepal. I chair the APPG for international freedom of religion or belief, which visited Nepal. The last delegation was led by Fiona Bruce, the former Member for Congleton, and the APPG produced a report afterwards to reflect some of our concerns. I should have said earlier that it is always a pleasure to see the Minister in his place. He has a quiet and sure way with him and reassures us about things that concern us. I have three requests for him, which I gave to civil servants beforehand.