Brian Leishman

The UK government considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law and is clear that goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from tariff and trade preferences under the UK’s current trade agreements with the Palestinian Authority and Israel. This will not change with an updated UK-Israel FTA. We advise British businesses to bear in mind the UK Government's view on the illegality of settlements under international law when considering their investments and activities in the region. Our commitment to a two-state solution is unwavering, as is our commitment to international law. We respect the independence of the International Court of Justice, and we are carefully considering the Court’s advisory opinion.

The Government does not comment on future sanctions measures, as to do so would reduce their impact.

The UK government considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law and goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from tariff and trade preferences under the UK’s current trade agreements with the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

We support accurate labelling of settlement goods, so as not to mislead the consumer. We routinely update our guidance to British businesses on the Overseas Business Risk website and advise British businesses to bear in mind the UK Government's view on the illegality of settlements under international law when considering their investments and activities in the region.

The Government is committed to the protection of workers’ rights and is delivering an ambitious set of reforms to ensure workplace rights are fit for a modern economy, empower working people, and contribute to economic growth. Whether workers are covered by UK employment law is dependent upon the worker establishing a sufficient connection to Great Britain. The Government will give further consideration to the issue raised in due course.

UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) support for the INEOS Project One plant secures new export opportunities for the UK by enabling an overseas buyer to finance the purchase of goods, services and/or intangibles from UK suppliers.

As the UK’s export credit agency, UKEF’s mission is to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer.

We intend to manage the North Sea in a way that ensures a fair, orderly and prosperous transition, with no community left behind. We have already launched Great British Energy, begun the biggest ever investment in offshore wind, and are moving ahead with new North Sea industries like carbon capture and storage and hydrogen. The UK has a highly skilled oil and gas workforce, with high transferability of skills to these new roles. We have also created the Office for Clean Energy Jobs to ensure that clean energy jobs are abundant, high-quality, fairly paid, and have good working conditions.

Petroineos is a private company – a joint venture between PetroChina and INEOS. We have worked closely with the company and with the Scottish Government to understand the financial challenges facing the Grangemouth refinery. Petroineos’ shareholders have invested more than $1.2bn since 2011 to maintain the refinery’s safe operation, recording losses in excess of $775m during the same period. The Government pushed the company to continue refining for as long as possible however the company made clear that there was no viable commercial future for the refinery operation, which it will now convert to an import terminal.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

The import, acquisition, supply and delivery of Russian oil and oil products into the UK has been banned since 5 December 2022, with the last cargo of primary oils arriving from Russia in October 2022 and finished products in November 2022. (Energy Trends Table 3.14). All importers of oil and oil products into the UK must provide proof of origin to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin to enforcement authorities.

The Government is committed to ensuring that third countries are not used by Russia to evade sanctions and will continue to keep sanctions under review.

Yes, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does provide subsidies and other financial assistance to types of energy production in the UK.

Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has the responsibility of issuing approvals for the carriage of munitions of war in civil aircraft. The CAA has not received any applications for exemption to allow civilian cargo aircraft that are destined for Israel and transporting munitions of war to overfly UK sovereign airspace.

Government officials from any country can apply for and be granted special mission certificates as part of official visits to the UK. As set out in a Written Ministerial Statement by the former Foreign Secretary dated 4 March 2013, a special mission is a temporary mission, representing a State, which is sent by one State to another with the consent of the latter, in order to carry out official engagements on behalf of the sending State. The FCDO gave consent for special mission status for the visit to the UK on 21-22 January of Major General Oded Bassiuk, Head of the Operations Directorate J3 of the Israel Defense Forces, and delegation, to attend meetings with the Ministry of Defence as part of the concerted UK effort to reduce the risk of escalation in the Middle East and to achieve a peaceful resolution in Gaza and Lebanon.

The killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British nationals, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on 1 April was appalling. We continue to press the Government of Israel to improve the safety environment for aid workers in Gaza, which is the deadliest in the world. Over 320 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began on October 7. I most recently raised this with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharron Haskel on Friday 29 November. We continue to keep Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Gaza under review through regular assessments.

Government officials from any country can apply for and be granted special mission certificates as part of official visits to the UK. As set out in a Written Ministerial Statement by the former Foreign Secretary dated 4 March 2013, a special mission is a temporary mission, representing a State, which is sent by one State to another with the consent of the latter, in order to carry out official engagements on behalf of the sending State. The FCDO gave consent for special mission status for the visit to the UK on 24-25 November of Lieutenant General Herzl Halevi, Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, and delegation.

HMRC do not provide detailed costs related to policy changes. The costs given represent a high level cost estimate for the changes required to HMRC IT systems to deliver this policy change which follow a recognised standard methodology.

As part of the concerted UK effort to reduce the risk of escalation in the Middle East and to achieve a peaceful resolution in Gaza and Lebanon, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) hosted counterparts from Israel on 22 January, led by Major General Basyuk. UK attendees included officials from the MOD, FCDO and Cabinet Office, and discussions included UK calls to implement all phases of the Gaza ceasefire deal in full and establish a pathway to lasting peace and security for the region.

None. UK suppliers have not manufactured nor exported components that are exclusively used on the Israeli variant of the F-35 aircraft.

F-35 components produced in the UK are crucial to the production and support of the global F-35 fleet and are present on all three variants of F-35 aircraft. Israel uses the F-35 A variant.

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, part of the US Department of Defense, manages the F-35 programme for all F-35 Partner Nations through its global industry supply chain.

The UK did not take part in, or provide support to, Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Friday 10 January 2025.

No.