Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Martin Rhodes]

I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of UNRWA in ensuring the co-ordination and delivery of humanitarian aid. Its access must be unfettered; it must be allowed in and allowed to do the work that needs to be done on the ground.

Last week, the UN reported that more than 13,000 households across Gaza were affected by heavy rain and severe flooding, with sanitation systems having collapsed as a result of intense bombardment and siege. Rainwater no longer drains properly and—now mixed with sewage—has flooded people’s tents. Save the Children staff report seeing children sleeping on the bare ground, with no shelter, in clothes sodden with sewage water. The already high risk of preventable disease is growing and health workers on the ground see sustained rates of malnutrition, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Such conditions and ailments are entirely avoidable in the modern world. Responsibility for those awful conditions lies with the restrictions and delays imposed by the Israeli authorities. Therefore, the UK must prioritise humanitarian access in all our diplomatic engagement on the future of Gaza.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

We know, and we have heard this afternoon and evening, that Palestinian children have paid the heaviest price in this devastating conflict. Many children in Gaza City and the surrounding areas are severely malnourished. Does my hon. Friend agree that Israel and the international community must do whatever they can to ensure that aid is allowed, without obstruction, to those areas where it is most vitally needed for the children affected?

[Martin Rhodes]

I agree—there is a huge priority in getting humanitarian aid in, and it is absolutely upon the international community, including ourselves, to do all that we can to ensure that flow of aid.

To ensure that children and families have sustained access to aid and the services needed to recover and rebuild their lives, Gaza’s healthcare system must be restored. For that to happen, there must be a removal of all remaining restrictions and bureaucratic impediments to the entry of aid, especially food, water, fuel, medical supplies and other critical humanitarian items. I therefore hope the Minister will confirm that, as part of the UK’s involvement in the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre tasked with co-ordinating humanitarian aid and recovery in Gaza, he has set the critical and achievable objective of ensuring that British aid charities such as Medical Aid for Palestinians and Oxfam can operate freely and without restriction in Gaza, including with unhindered entry for staff, medical teams and vital humanitarian supplies.

Many questions remain regarding the scale of continued suffering in Gaza. Why did UNICEF have at least 938,000 bottles of infant formula released only recently, when they were stuck at the border since August? How can a lifesaving vaccination campaign by UNICEF succeed when 1.6 million syringes and other vital supplies have been kept outside Gaza for months, blocked from entering despite the urgent necessity? Why, according to UNICEF, have at least 58 children been killed in conflict-related incidents since 11 October?

The UK must redouble efforts to pressure Israeli authorities to maintain the ceasefire and allow UN-backed professional humanitarian agencies to reach people in need at scale with meaningful assistance. Only then will Gaza be able to rebuild its homes, health and future. A viable Palestinian state is required if we are to see a two-state solution. I look forward to the Minister’s response to this debate.

Parkinson’s Disease

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered e-petition 713714 relating to funding and care for people with Parkinson’s.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. The petition calls on the Government to increase funding for people with Parkinson’s and to implement the five steps of the Parky charter. With more than 113,000 signatures, the petition is not just a call for change; it is the collective voice of a community that has waited too long for meaningful action.

Parkinson’s is one of the fastest growing neurological conditions in the world. It affects more than 116,000 people in the UK, and that number is expected to rise to 173,000 by 2030. These are not just statistics; they are our neighbours, friends and family members. Behind each number is a story of resilience, daily struggle and hope.

The Parky charter is a powerful five-point plan created by the “Movers and Shakers” podcast group. It is backed by Parkinson’s UK, and aims to improve the lives of those living with Parkinson’s. It calls for faster access to specialists; clear and immediate information; a Parkinson’s passport to ensure joined-up support; comprehensive support across health and social services; and renewed investment in research for a cure.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Paul Davies]

There is a competition. I will give way first to my hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) and then to my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore).

[Baggy Shanker]

Initiatives such as Derby County Community Trust’s Parkinson’s walking football programme are doing fantastic work to boost physical health and build a community for people with Parkinson’s. Does my hon. Friend agree that, by coupling investment in the Parkinson’s support workforce with such community initiatives, we can help every person with Parkinson’s to live with the dignity and support they deserve?

[Paul Davies]

I absolutely agree. The strength of the community around investment and specialist support is of key importance.

Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Access

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer.

It was deemed irrefutable by the UN-backed agencies that this is a man-made famine. That man-made famine becomes a genocide if it can be proven that it was used as a tool to destroy a specific group of people—and I believe that there is only one group of people there. Journalists and international monitors, who we rely on for all our information—for reality on the ground—have been banned from entering Gaza, leaving brave Palestinians to tell us their story.

Even though there is a growing consensus among genocide scholars that Israel’s actions in Gaza do meet the legal definition of a genocide, without access to information on what is happening, and until mainstream journalists are allowed in, we are left in the dark over the true extent of the horrors on the ground. How will we gather the evidence needed to assess that Israel is committing genocide? How much more slaughter will the Palestinians have to suffer in the meantime?

On all fronts, entry into the occupied Palestinian territories for journalists, monitors and aid workers has been shut. Food and essentials for Palestinians have been banned, blocked, barricaded and destroyed.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

As a parent, I cannot imagine the agony of seeing your children starve and not being able to do anything about it, but that is the daily experience of families in Palestine. Does my hon. Friend agree that Israel’s man-made catastrophe must be put to an end and that aid must be allowed into Gaza immediately?

[Jas Athwal]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that this has to come to an end straight away. While I welcome the Government’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine and to condemn the Israeli Government’s dehumanisation of Palestinians, we must face up to the unfortunate truth that this is simply not enough, as it has not stopped the violence. Instead, every day the reports grow bleaker, the suffering is deeper and the need for intervention grows more urgent.