Alistair Burt MP: A significant moment, as the UN passes a Resolution to deliver an Arms Trade Treaty

Alistair Burt is Member of Parliament for North East Bedfordshire and Minister for Counter Proliferation at the Foreign Office.

Within the last couple of hours, the UN has overwhelmingly adopted a Resolution bringing into effect an Arms Trade Treaty. It is a significant moment which deserves note.

Every minute of the day someone, somewhere – usually a civilian – is killed by some form of arms or munitions, the trade in which has been less regulated than that of bananas.

Since 2006, when the UK co-authored the first UN General Assembly resolution on the issue, we have been heavily engaged in trying to do something about it. It has not been easy. There are many varied interests, including those which are wholly legitimate. States have a need for self-defence, and to deter aggression. A defence industry is necessary for providing such nations with the means to protect themselves, but we also need to prevent the passage of arms to those who would use them for illicit purposes. Finding a way to pull together all these interests, and obtain something worthwhile at the end, has required the highest diplomatic skill – and our representatives have delivered.

Alistair Burt MP: The prospects for Syria in 2013

Alistair Burt is Member of Parliament for North East Bedfordshire and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Middle East, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

As Syria’s tragedy endures another new year, there will be renewed focus on what prospects there might be that by the end of 2013 there will have been some relief to the misery we see unfolding day after day.

It is taking time to be clear on all the strands emerging from the turbulence in the Arab world. One thing is already obvious – whatever similarities there might be in the causes of upheaval, each state is different, so consequences are different too. What began as a peaceful protest for reform in Syria, not regime change, was met with such violence from the Government of Bashar Assad that the protests steadily evolved into civil war. So far, so Libya. But crucial differences between the two meant there could be no comparisons in events or outcome.

Syria’s role in the Arab world was more pivotal than Libya’s. This initially held back a united Arab response. The UN was unable to take concerted action to condemn Syria’s growing unacceptable actions due to Russia’s worry that it had been outmanoeuvred over Libya by the West, and did not wish to lose its influence or ally in Syria. The complex nature of Syrian society, exploited by Assad father and son for decades, ensured that there would be those, from Christians to Allawites, who would see the regime as their only bulwark against sectarian conflagration and would therefore join the regime in resisting the change being demanded. Add to this mix the malign influence of Iran, in materially and diplomatically supporting Syria as part of its generations old conflict against Arab influence in the region, the Sunni/Shia divide, the fear of contagion to neighbouring states and you begin to see why resolving the situation in Syria has proved so intractable.

Alistair Burt MP: Christianity shouldn't be as party political as it has been in America

Alistair Burt, MP for North East Bedfordshire, Assistant Chief Whip and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, suggests that Conservatives and Christians in the UK should welcome a loosening of ties between American Evangelicals and the Republican Party.

"There is very good reason to believe that in the coming years, Americans' religious communities will no longer be seen as the natural allies of political conservatism." - E J Dionne, ‘Souled Out’ 2008 

American politics seems all about ‘Obamentum’, and Hillary’s comeback as the Democratic world rocks in a ferment of excitement about the Illinois’s Senator’s audacious bid to topple Hillary Clinton and be the voice of America’s tomorrow.

But on the other side of the divide, an equally interesting, if less dramatic change may be taking place. John McCain has won the Republican nomination, to the intense anger of some conservatives, who do not believe that he is ‘one of us’. Liberal attitudes, in US terms, to abortion, civil partnerships and illegal immigration, have not impressed those who booed him at the Conservative Political Action Conference a few weeks ago.