Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues
Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Lord Austin of Dudley(2 weeks ago)
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Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)
My Lords, while we are on the subject of antisemitism, is the Minister aware that Parliament has been discussing Israel more than any other issue—not just international issues such as Yemen or Sudan, but even domestic issues such as the cost of living, the NHS and immigration? Does she share my concern that this obsessive focus on the world’s only Jewish state is bound to drive hostility towards people who are identified with it, which is the vast majority of Jewish people in the UK? I think Parliament and the media are playing a large part in the explosion of antisemitism that we are seeing here in Britain.
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Lab)
The noble Lord makes an important point about the role of the media and Parliament in discussing these issues. However, I feel that, as a Parliament, we have to back the work of the special envoys, for example, so that we are supporting that work and endorsing the actions that are taken.
Foreign Affairs Committee
Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Lord Austin of Dudley
Ian Austin
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for the shadow Deputy Leader of the House, the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Alex Norris), to sit there muttering away, shaking his head every time a contribution is made yet not say a word from the Dispatch Box about why the Opposition have imposed a three-line Whip on their MPs to vote in a particular way in this debate? Stand at the Dispatch Box and explain yourself.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
I think we should lower the temperature here a bit—that is not a matter for the Chair. What I would say is that this is about the replacements on the Select Committees and there is quite a lot of muttering going on, and it would be much more polite if we could listen to what the right hon. Member for Enfield North (Joan Ryan) is saying. But I remind this House that this debate is focused on the issue of the Select Committees.