Israel and Gaza

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I thank my hon. Friend and all the Select Committee members for their work, their visits and the powerful arguments they have added to those of the Government.

In response to my hon. Friend’s direct question, I met the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent in Egypt. We are in very close contact to make sure that British aid and British support enhance the excellent efforts that the Red Crescent is doing everything it possibly can to prosecute.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

It is clear that Prime Minister Netanyahu has not taken the slightest notice of anything the British Government or even the Americans have been saying. Mrs Thatcher suspended arms sales to Israel in 1982, and Tony Blair did the same in 2002. What on earth would it take for this Government to follow their example?

[Mr Mitchell]

The right hon. Gentleman refers to the views of Prime Minister Netanyahu, and he will know that both our Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have engaged directly with Prime Minister Netanyahu to ensure that he is fully aware of what Britian thinks.

The right hon. Gentleman will also be aware that Israel is a pluralist democracy—the only one in the region. He will be aware that Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, whom the Foreign Secretary recently met in London, has different views from Prime Minister Netanyahu. There are many different views, and Britain strongly supports the views that I have set out to the House today.

It is not for Ministers to make policy on arms sales and the arms regime from the Dispatch Box. It is for the proper due processes—as laid down and approved by Parliament, and as laid down in law—and that is what we follow.

Ukraine

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Wednesday 28th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

My right hon. Friend makes a very good point. He is right to flag up the deep concern that exists about that issue. It is not for me to answer his specific point about the steps the Government are taking to protect us from that, but certainly there are other Ministers more directly associated with it who will be able to give him a full update.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Notwithstanding the Minister’s upbeat tone, in his response to the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Alicia Kearns), he acknowledged that vital American support is still being held up in Congress because of Trump-supporting Republicans. Does he agree that self-preening British politicians who fawn at Trump do nothing but give succour to Putin and his murderous regime?

[Mr Mitchell]

We are doing everything we can to ensure that we play our part in persuading our many friends in Congress to support this measure. The right hon. Gentleman will have seen what the Foreign Secretary did when he was there, and he may well have seen the powerful article that was widely available in the United States. I hope he will conclude from that that we are doing everything we can to pursue the result that he and I both want.

Israel-Hamas War: Diplomacy

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

Yes, I share that concern very much, as do the Government.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

On illegal settlements, does not the experience of the past two decades show that words have absolutely no impact on Prime Minister Netanyahu? I welcome the Minister’s announcement today that the Government are examining sanctioning the violent illegal settlers, following in America’s footsteps, but why can we not have a ban on all trade between the United Kingdom and the illegal settlements?

[Mr Mitchell]

The Government have always made it absolutely clear that the settlements are illegal under international law, and we will continue to make that case as forcefully as we think appropriate.

Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 4th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Leo Docherty]

I do not know if my hon. Friend heard my previous answer, in which I said that a principal blockage to a two-state solution were Hamas themselves. They are a terrorist group who have committed the most heinous terrorist acts. We therefore continue to be supportive of Israel’s defending its people and its security.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Palestinians have lost all hope of a two-state solution thanks to the policies of the Netanyahu Government in recent years. Would it not give them some hope if we followed other countries’ lead and honoured the vote taken in this House nine years ago to recognise Palestinian statehood?

Israel and Hamas: Humanitarian Pause

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 27th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I can tell my hon. Friend that the British Government are doing everything they can to address the issues behind what he says. I have no doubt, having been at that terrible location so recently, that that is something he will never forget.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

What is the Minister’s understanding and assessment of the Netanyahu Government’s medium and long-term strategy for the Gaza strip?

[Mr Mitchell]

The right hon. Gentleman, who is extremely experienced in these matters, will draw his conclusions from what the Israeli Government are saying, just as the British Government do.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I hear what he says about the IRGC, and I know that he has already been in contact with the Foreign Secretary on exactly that point. I hope he will accept that we do not carry on a running commentary on issues such as proscription, but the House and the Foreign Secretary have heard what he said.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

I am still not clear whether the right hon. Gentleman agrees with Labour that the ICC has jurisdiction over the conduct of all parties in Gaza. If he does, then that is a very welcome change from the position of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Will he clarify that?

[Mr Mitchell]

I repeat what I said last week. It is not for Ministers to seek to state where the ICC has jurisdiction; that is for the chief prosecutor. The chief prosecutor has not been silent on this matter, and I am sure he will continue to express his views.

Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Wednesday 8th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend is entirely right to refer to the UK’s role at the United Nations. We take those responsibilities extremely seriously and our brilliant team who work at the UN are doing everything to justify the fact that we hold that particular pen, among any others. My hon. Friend will have heard what the Prime Minister said about the treatment of hospitals, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect them.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

May I welcome the balance and tone of the Minister’s statement? When the Government make representations to the Israeli Government about the increase in settler violence in the west bank, what do the Israeli Government say in return?

[Mr Mitchell]

These are ongoing discussions and they are made at many levels. The Prime Minister has spoken repeatedly to Prime Minister Netanyahu, and my colleague Lord Ahmad has been consistently in the region, as has the Foreign Secretary, so we are having those discussions at every level. The right hon. Gentleman may rest assured that what the Prime Minister has said, and what I have said from the Dispatch Box, is the thrust of those discussions, and we are doing everything we possibly can to drive forward what both he and I believe is the right answer to this.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. The issue with the protocol is that although we entered into it in good faith, it has not operated as we foresaw, and it is causing the real problems that we see in Northern Ireland today. That is why our No. 1 priority is to seek a negotiated solution with the EU, but in the absence of that option, it is important that we act now to restore the primacy of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, so that we can restore the balance in Northern Ireland and ensure that all communities there are treated with esteem.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Why should the hard-pressed public of the United Kingdom, facing an unprecedented cost of living crisis, pay even higher prices as a result of a trade war with our main trading partners because the Foreign Secretary and the DUP want to tear up the agreement that the Prime Minister negotiated and the Foreign Secretary voted for?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I am clear that our priority is to seek a negotiated solution with the EU, and none of the proposals that I have put forward makes the EU any worse off. We want a solution that works for the EU single market and for the UK single market. The reality is that the people of Northern Ireland are paying higher prices as a result of the operation of the protocol—for example, the Road Haulage Association says that it has caused a 34% increase in the cost of moving goods to Northern Ireland—so we are facing a real cost of living impact in Northern Ireland. We want to fix the protocol to the benefit of both the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Sanctions

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 28th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

My right hon. Friend has made a very good point. We are looking at what we can do to target the families of oligarchs, the people who work for them, the people who support them and the people who enable them, because ultimately all these people are supporting the Putin regime, and we ultimately need to stop the financing of that regime.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Will the Foreign Secretary name those London law firms that are sending her threatening letters to try to dissuade her from sanctioning Putin’s cronies, who are also their clients?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that it does not dissuade me when people send me letters; it encourages me when people send me letters, and they are on our list.

Russia: Sanctions

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have said, the legislation we are bringing forward is very wide-ranging and targets a number of sectors and interests in relation to the Kremlin, and I assure my right hon. Friend that nothing is off the table.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Our American allies have just issued an unprecedented rebuke to the British Government, saying that any new sanctions would be worthless as long as London remains the main international laundromat for dirty Russian money. I remember that this Prime Minister tried to stop the publication of the Russia report and removed the Whip from the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis), who now chairs the Intelligence and Security Committee, when his own patsy candidate failed to get the job. I am still not clear, however, whether the Foreign Secretary is reinstating the economic crime Bill, because that has not been said on the record from the Dispatch Box before. If she is, can the admirable Lord Agnew have his job back, please?

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have said already this afternoon, we remain committed to bringing in the economic crime Bill, and the Prime Minister committed that that would be done this year.