International Criminal Court: US Sanctions

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right. The ICC is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern. We urge all countries to support it and we urge them to sign the Rome treaty. We know that the US, whether it has a Democrat or Republican President, has refused to do so, but that does not stop us focusing on how we deal with these crimes and how we can build alliances to ensure that they do not happen again. The noble Lord is absolutely right about the rabbi. We do need international law, we need international law to be upheld and we urge all countries to do so.

[Baroness Northover (LD)]

My Lords, on the question my noble friend asked just now, can the Minister clarify that he would agree, as his Ministerial colleagues have agreed, that the forcible transfer of the population of Gaza would be a crime against humanity and against international law? I know that he distanced himself from some other elements of what my noble friend said, but, on that, can he clarify the Government’s position?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

As the noble Baroness will recall, I absolutely made clear the position of the Government in relation to forcible removal of Gazan citizens, or Palestinians, from Gaza. I made that very clear in the recent repeat of the Urgent Question and I reassure her that our position has not changed.