Speaker,

Firstly before I get into the substance of my statement I’d like to thank the Prime Minister for offering me the position of this great office. I know it's not usual for a First Minister to come back in this way but I believe in public service, the Prime Minister asked me to do this job and we have some daunting challenges as a country. I hope that 173 days as Scotland’s First Minister and years of service gives me the useful experience, contacts, relationships and knowledge that I can help the Prime Minister to continue to lead this country in a positive direction along with our partners in government. Although I have continued to serve my constituents both in the other place and more recently as a backbencher here, I look out and see both familiar and new faces that I can’t wait to engage with in the coming days and weeks. There should be no doubt that in such a chaotic geo-political environment my experience will add to the good the Foreign Office has already done in recent times such as paving the way for sanctions against apartheid supporting Israeli government ministers alongside terrorist supporting actors, and continuing to support Ukraine against brutal Russian aggression.

Speaker, This government takes great concern at the recent escalations from the Venezuelan government over claims to the Essequibo region of Guyana. On Sunday, Maduro’s government held a referendum claiming rights over Essequibo after it proposed a bill to make Essequibo a province of Venezuela. Essequibo makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 people. Two days prior to the referendum, the International Court of Justice, a key United Nations body tasked with resolving legal disputes between states, expressly directed the Venezuelan government to “refrain from taking any action which would modify that situation that currently prevails”, essentially barring the country from action following the referendum.

The UK government fully supports the ruling from the ICJ, and calls on Venezuela to cease further escalation of the dispute. Myself and my staff are closely monitoring the situation and fully support our Commonwealth friends in Guyana to reach a peaceful and diplomatic resolution. I urge Maduro and his government to de-escalate immediately. The world has seen how our allies stand united against rogue states trying to annex sovereign land with our steadfast commitment to the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Speaker, ultimately my role as Foreign Secretary is to champion the rules-based international order that has brought relative peace to nations post-war whilst respecting individual national sovereignty. Posturing to disrupt this order must be dealt with by swift condemnation and moves to continue dialogue over confrontation.

I call on Maduro to remove the increased presence of troops and heavy equipment near Guyana’s border. I will be arranging a call to President Ifraan Ali to offer the government’s support and discuss ways in which the UK Government can assist in reducing tensions, aiming for a swift diplomatic solution. I commend this statement to the House.

Debate on this statement will end on 18th December at 10pm GMT.