Gaza: Ceasefire

Baroness Morris of Bolton Excerpts

Tuesday 18th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Morris of Bolton (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, we will hear from the noble Baroness, Lady Morris.

[Baroness Morris of Bolton (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. Given the horrifying events of the last 24 hours, there is an inescapable irony in uttering the words “durability” and “ceasefire in Gaza” in the same breath. The Minister talked about diplomatic efforts. What are the Government specifically doing to engage our allies across the Arab world, especially Saudi Arabia, in helping to bring this nightmare to an end?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

Let me reassure the noble Baroness that we are doing precisely that: we are working with all our allies. One thing is very clear: if anyone was listening to the “Today” programme this morning, they will certainly have heard former Israeli ambassadors express deep concern that these actions will impact on the possibility of relationships with Arab countries. We actually saw some positive signs of a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia; all of this risks that. We should focus much more on ensuring that unity of diplomatic effort to get the ceasefire back on course and have further, longer peace talks so that we can both defend Israel and protect Palestine.