Commons Chamber

Tuesday 3rd February 2026

(began 1 hour, 52 minutes ago)

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None Portrait Q3. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his proposed changes to jury trials on the criminal justice system. (907626)
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Sir. >> Justice Secretary. >> Well, with permission, Mr. Speaker, I'll answer questions three, 13 and 19 together. Our focus, as I've said, is on victims being left to wait three, four,
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Hamish Falconer Portrait Mr Hamish Falconer MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Lincoln, Labour)
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become clearer. Reports suggest many thousands of people across Iran have been killed and many more Iran have been killed and many more arrested in what has been a brutal and bloody repression against those and bloody repression against those exercising their right to public protest. There have been a range of estimates for casualties and estimates for casualties and detentions. However, the internet blackout imposed by the authorities, which we've also condemned and which we've also condemned and which has only recently started to relax, makes it impossible at the moment to reach a reliable figure.

As one young Iranian woman chillingly told the BBC we all know someone who has been killed. What is clear from the reports is the scale of the killing, the brutality of the crackdown and the bravery of the protesters. As the foreign Secretary said, the Iranian people have shown extreme courage in the face of brutality and repression. We condemn these horrific attacks on those exercising the right to peaceful protests in the strongest possible terms. The government committed to this House that we would hold the Iranian authorities accountable, and that is exactly what we are doing.

Yesterday, we announced a sweeping package of sanctions against the Iranian authorities for a number of serious human rights violations. This included designations of the Minister of the interior, police chiefs, and prolific IRGC members for their role in recent brutality against protesters. We continue to work with our international partners to tackle the threat posed by Iran and to hold the Iranian regime to account via a range of means. Most recently, we led the call for a special session of the Human Rights Council on the 23rd of January.

We are pleased that the Council has voted to extend the independent fact finding mission to collect the evidence of the authorities human rights violations, and we will continue to support those efforts. We continue to monitor developments closely and will not cease in our demands to Iran to protect fundamental fundamental freedoms, including access to information and communications. We are also continuing to take robust action to protect UK interests from Iranian state threats. Those threats are unacceptable. They must and will be defended against at every turn.

We will continue to work with our allies and partners to improve regional stability and prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Mr. speaker, the UK will continue to challenge the actions of the Iranian regime and we stand proudly on the side of freedom and human rights.
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Priti Patel Portrait Rt Hon Priti Patel MP (Witham, Conservative)
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Then Priti Patel. >> The brutal. >> Crackdown on brave Iranians fighting for their basic rights and fighting for their basic rights and freedom continues. The reports are shocking. Mr. speaker, we have now seen that tens of thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands have been injured. Some are even saying 30,000 people have died. These are war like casualty rates. Yet the condemnation and response is weak. And I ask the Minister, what is the British government doing with our allies to neutralise the regime's tools of repression? The government has announced new sanctions.

The Minister has spoken about that. But what is being done to crack down on sanctions evasion, which is fuelling the Iranian regime's repression, including oil sales and cryptocurrency usage. What steps are being taken to weaken the regime's terrorist proxies? Is the government tracking the regime's illegal funding sources to ensure that UK financial systems and institutions are not facilitating or hosting funds used to target Iranian citizens in Britain with hostile attacks on the IRGC? The EU has chosen to prescribe them.

What is the government's response? We know that the Jonathan Hall review concluded nearly nine months ago. So when will emergency and essential measures to take action against the IRGC come to parliament? We cannot wait. And this side of the House will support emergency legislation. Mr. speaker, the US build up of naval and Air Force assets in the Middle East is well documented and reported, and has prompted some reported contacts between the US and Iran. So will the Minister say what discussions have been held with the US government about their intentions? And is the UK involved in any contacts between the US and Iran? What plans the Minister making for British assets and the protection of personnel and British nationals in the region should the US decide to strike? Is there a scenario in which the UK might be involved in potential action? How will Ministers ensure that they are at the table, and what planning and cooperation is underway to assess any commercial disruption within the region should action materialise? This is not the time to be silent and Britain must stand up for the Iranian people and confront this vile, despotic regime with strength and resolve.
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Hamish Falconer Portrait Mr Hamish Falconer MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Lincoln, Labour)
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Yeah, Minister. >> Mr. speaker, I'm grateful to the right hon. Lady for the questions going through them in turn. We have taken a series of steps in order to taken a series of steps in order to ensure that anyone wishing to support the Iranian government in this country must meet a much higher threshold to do so. We have done that through introducing 550 sanctions. Some of those introduced by the last government, some of which we have built on. And I'll come to the sanctions that we announced yesterday in due course in relation to the Firs scheme, where we have now put Iran at the very top of the measures.

That implies additional reporting requirements on those who would seek to act here. That provides new options to our services and our police force. Should those seeking to act for Iran attempt to do so in the UK? This House has heard from me, and I know she knows from her time as Home Secretary about the extent of threat Iran poses to the UK. I want to reassure the House that we continue to treat that with the utmost seriousness that it requires, and we believe that the legislative steps that we have taken already in relation to fors, we we believe the increase in sanctions, and we believe implementing the Hall review will all further increase our defences against such action.

She asks about discussions. In recent days we have been in regular discussions with all of our regional partners. She will be aware, I'm sure, of commentary over the last few days about further conversations between the Iranians and the United States. I don't wish to get ahead of the direct participants from the Dispatch Box, but as you would expect, we are in regular discussions with all those with an interest we want to see. As I said in my response to her, we want to see Iran having no prospect of achieving a nuclear weapon.

A diplomatic process to that effect is necessary, and we support all efforts by both the United States and our other partners to seek to ensure that she asks for plans on assets and what scenarios may entail. She'll appreciate why I won't be drawn into speculation in any great detail, but these are clearly very, very delicate moments for Iran. There has been, as she rightly says, very widespread loss of life on the streets of Iran. I will take this opportunity also to say, Mr.

Speaker, I know that for many British Iranians, there is great anguish about the lack of contact they have been able to have with their families in Iran. I feel that most acutely for British people still detained by the Iranian regime, but it is obviously a experience felt quite widely across the country. The British Iranian community make an important contribution to this country and understand the anguish they feel over these recent days.
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