Found: Judith Cummins MP (Chair) Chris Elliott (Commons) Simon Burton Andy Helliwell (Lords) Lord Collins of Highbury

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to ratify the 2019 amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute on the use of starvation in non-international conflicts.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government's position on these issues was set out most recently by Lord Collins of Highbury in response to a House of Lords debate on the use of starvation as a weapon of war held on 16 October 2025. [https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-10-16/debates/7404DF67-1A74-4DCD-8421-84BB55189F25/StarvationAsAWeaponOfWar].

In his response, Lord Collins referred to the publication in May of the Government's legal handbook on conflict, hunger and international law, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/conflict-hunger-and-international-humanitarian-law-handbook-launch-lord-collins-speech.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of levels of prevalence of starvation being used as a tool of war in (a) international and (b) non-international conflicts.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government's position on these issues was set out most recently by Lord Collins of Highbury in response to a House of Lords debate on the use of starvation as a weapon of war held on 16 October 2025. [https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-10-16/debates/7404DF67-1A74-4DCD-8421-84BB55189F25/StarvationAsAWeaponOfWar].

In his response, Lord Collins referred to the publication in May of the Government's legal handbook on conflict, hunger and international law, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/conflict-hunger-and-international-humanitarian-law-handbook-launch-lord-collins-speech.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to promote sustainable (a) agricultural, (b) food processing and (c) food distribution systems internationally.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government's position on these issues was set out most recently by Lord Collins of Highbury in response to a House of Lords debate on the use of starvation as a weapon of war held on 16 October 2025. [https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-10-16/debates/7404DF67-1A74-4DCD-8421-84BB55189F25/StarvationAsAWeaponOfWar].

In his response, Lord Collins referred to the publication in May of the Government's legal handbook on conflict, hunger and international law, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/conflict-hunger-and-international-humanitarian-law-handbook-launch-lord-collins-speech.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 25 July (HL9515), what further assessment they have made of reported deaths of Palestinians trying to access distribution points for humanitarian aid.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

We were horrified by the repeated reports of civilians being killed or injured while seeking humanitarian aid near distribution points in Gaza, and we are consistently reminding our Israeli counterparts that international law requires the protection of healthcare workers, journalists and civilians. We continue to work with partners, including the UN, United States and Israel, to ensure that civilians across Gaza are protected and the safe delivery of humanitarian aid is facilitated, most recently in the Foreign Secretary's discussions at the UN General Assembly meetings in New York and in a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 3 October.