Middle East

Debate between Lord Mohammed of Tinsley and Lord Collins of Highbury

Thursday 19th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for his comments and agree completely with him. When the Foreign Secretary presented her Statement in the other place, I think she said that we must redouble our efforts in focusing on and supporting a two-state solution. I acknowledge the work that my noble friend undertakes to support the Palestinian Authority. We made that support clear, which is why we took the decision to recognise Palestine, because we need to ensure that that is the focus.

The Foreign Secretary responded to a number of things. When I last visited the West Bank, I saw the groups of thugs—I do not call them settlers—who sit on top of the hills above Palestinian villages. They do not just harass people: the most horrendous case that we saw this week was a family returning from the shops, and young children being shot. We have made representations and are asking for clear investigations into this. The rule of law applies to Palestinian people too. They deserve the opportunity to be able to live and work in peace.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, I echo the words of the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, particularly around how conflicts abroad should not result in hate on our streets. I fully back his call for a cross-party meeting of senior Members of your Lordships’ House to look at how we can work together to ensure that antisemitism and Islamophobia are not allowed to spread, given what is happening in the Middle East.

I also wholeheartedly back the Minister’s comments about what is happening in the West Bank. Those incidents, such as individuals being attacked, are heartbreaking. Often it is not just the young but the elderly who are brutalised and beaten up for no reason other than the fact that they live there. Your Lordships’ House should be very clear that the Government of the United Kingdom will take strong action against anyone who is involved in that, including sanctioning further individuals.

One point that has not been mentioned so far is the Houthis in Yemen. At the moment they have stayed out of this conflict, but what assessment have His Majesty’s Government made about the impact, particularly on trade, if the Houthis were to enter this conflict? There is huge attention on fuel at the moment, and the fact that energy prices are both affecting us domestically and, as I mentioned in the earlier debate, affecting energy-intensive industries such as steel, in places such as south Wales, south Yorkshire and Scunthorpe.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

On the comments about the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia, we all have a duty, across political parties, to ensure that we focus on greater community cohesion. That is fundamental, because there is no doubt that there has been an increase in both Islamophobia and antisemitism, and we need to address that. My noble friends across Whitehall have been working on how we can work across government to deal with that issue. The idea of discussions is something that the usual channels could look at; it is certainly worthy of consideration.

The noble Lord discussed Yemen. We have seen a huge humanitarian crisis there as a consequence of the actions of the parties, particularly the Houthis. We constantly review the situation and work with our allies: we have had discussions with Saudi Arabia in particular, but our focus at the moment is on the whole region. This conflict is destabilising the whole region; we need to ensure that we give support to our allies so that they can defend their position.

Middle East

Debate between Lord Mohammed of Tinsley and Lord Collins of Highbury

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The right reverend Prelate makes an important point: that our actions should not be only in international diplomacy but should look at our communities at home and how we bring them together. It is also important that we ensure that all our communities are safe, and that is why we are taking every possible action, particularly against malign states who intend to intervene. He is right that we should focus on community building and ensuring that the terrible conditions do not provoke people into taking the kind of horrendous actions we have seen in the past.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome the Statement from the Minister and urge the Government not to follow the drumbeat of escalation and to learn the lessons of Iraq in 2003. On the understandably delayed UN conference initiated by the French and the Saudis, and now that we have this window of opportunity with the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, what actions are the Government taking to bring forward as soon as possible the date for that meeting? It is urgently needed; we cannot take our eye off what is happening in Palestine, particularly in Gaza.

Israel and Iran

Debate between Lord Mohammed of Tinsley and Lord Collins of Highbury

Thursday 19th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I think the Government fully understand that, which is why the Prime Minister has ensured that we are moving towards protecting those assets. The noble Baroness is absolutely right. Before the noble Lord, Lord Hannay—who is not in his place—asks me a question, of course we are urging all parties to comply with international humanitarian law. That is quite clear, too.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, what is the Government’s thinking on the day after? We have observed this question a lot of times in the last 18 months in terms of the conflict in Gaza. Has any thought been given to the lessons learned, particularly from Iraq, about the day after? If the regime falls, what are the Government’s thoughts and plans for bringing stability to that region, given that the oil that travels through the Strait of Hormuz will have a huge impact not just in that region but all across the world, and particularly for ourselves here in the United Kingdom?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

As I said in my answer to the question from the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, I will not speculate on the consequences of, or reasons for, these. Our objective is to stop Iran having a nuclear capability. We are absolutely working with all our allies to achieve that. The means to do that, as President Trump has made clear, is through a deal. There cannot be a long-term military answer to that question.

To come back to the point made earlier, we should not take our eyes off the situation in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. It is very sad that the consequences of these actions resulted in the postponement of the two-state solution conference, which was going to bring Saudi Arabia and others together to look at the situation of the day after: “What next?” We need to ensure that the international community is absolutely focused on that, and we will be supporting and putting all efforts into a reconvened conference to ensure that that is the focus for the next steps.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Debate between Lord Mohammed of Tinsley and Lord Collins of Highbury

Thursday 22nd May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

We have covered the urgent humanitarian situation, but as the noble Baroness and the House know, this Government—and the previous Government—are committed to a two-state solution, and support for that is unwavering. We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state at a time that has most impact in achieving this reality and is most conducive to long-term prospects for peace. We are clear that this does not need to be at the end of the process. We are in constant dialogue with all partners on how we can best use the international conference for the implementation of the two-state solution in June to advance Palestinian statehood. There are key points on which we can move this agenda, and, with the French and Saudi leadership, we are committed to the two-state solution conference in New York. It comes at a crucial time to ensure that a Palestine state remains viable.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, I am not going to get into the issue of the numbers, but the fact is that it is 10 weeks since aid was allowed into Gaza. We cannot but be moved, not only this House but this nation, by the pictures of young children, some of whom were born after 7 October. Given the dire situation, particularly with baby food, will the Minister consider emergency air drops of baby products within the next 72 hours?

I raise also the issue of access to sanitary products for women and girls. From reports I have seen, there is a dire shortage, and women and girls are often going without them, so will the Minister also consider emergency air drops of sanitary products?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I appreciate the noble Lord’s concern; I think everyone in this House is concerned about how we can get aid in. I recall the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, reminding me, when I made such calls, that it is not simply a matter of sending a plane over a piece of land and dropping material. The most important area we have discussed is how we distribute the aid. How do we get that aid specifically to the people who most need it? UNRWA and the road routes are so important because they can deliver the amount of aid that is needed in a short period. However, I am not ruling out anything we could do to alleviate this situation. But we must be clear that blocking aid into Gaza has been the responsibility of the Government of Israel, and that should be where our focus is.

India-Pakistan: Escalation

Debate between Lord Mohammed of Tinsley and Lord Collins of Highbury

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Lord and I have discussed these issues many times. His Government and this Government are at one on de-escalation and stable relationships being the priority. From those stable relationships come the opportunity to address a longer-term solution. As he rightly says, it is a solution that India and Pakistan must address themselves while taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s Statement and agree that it has been heartbreaking to see the loss of Kashmiri lives on both sides of the line of control. I declare an interest as I am from Kashmir and my brother-in- law is in Chakswari, a town which is just down the valley from one of the towns that was hit, Kotli, so it is personal for me. We as a family are praying for his safe return to the United Kingdom with his son.

I want to press the Minister on how we de-escalate. The Indus Waters Treaty, negotiated with the World Bank in the 1960s, gave Pakistan access to the water from the three northern rivers and India from the three southern rivers. Can the Government ask New Delhi to return to it? It is really important; water is essential for human life. I also want the Government to call on Pakistan to open up Pakistani airspace for Indian airlines. Those two actions jointly will help to calm the situation. We cannot have tension in the streets. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, about community tensions. We cannot see what we saw in Leicester, where groups of young men from both communities were at each other’s throats. Any attack on any high commission in London should be condemned. I hope that the Minister can answer the questions about the Indus Water Treaty and the airspace for Indian airlines.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for those questions. He is right. Last week, in addressing an Urgent Question, we covered the water treaty and appealed for it not to be disrupted. As he says, access to water is fundamental to human life. I understand his point about airspace. Any action by both Governments that can de-escalate and create that opportunity for a return to stable relationships is important.

All our diplomatic efforts are to ensure that de-escalation, which I know my honourable friend Minister Falconer stressed earlier today, and we are working through all possible channels to deliver that message. The noble Lord is also right to focus on community cohesion, and we will focus on that, too. It is not just the Government’s voice; we need to ensure that all community leaders and faith leaders can embrace that call. I welcome his comments very much.