Middle East and North Africa

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

It is precisely the concerns that my hon. Friend outlines that led to the Foreign Secretary commissioning the permanent under-secretary to conduct the swift review that I described in my statement. We will update the House when that has concluded.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

It is quite difficult to know what to focus on in this wide-ranging statement—the rights of women and girls in Iran or the awful situation in Yemen—but I would like to focus on Israel banning 37 international aid organisations, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam, from Gaza. The Minister used passive language in his statement. He said:

“Too much aid is still stuck at Gaza’s borders”.

This might be the ex-Reuters editor in me, but I think that is wrong. The aid is not “stuck” at Gaza’s border; it is being deliberately held there in an act of cruelty by the Israeli Government, who do not want the aid to help the people of Gaza. Will the Minister tell the House exactly what the UK Government are doing to restore access? What leverage are they using to force the Israeli Government to reverse this cruel decision, and when will they work with EU allies to bring in much wider sanctions? Perhaps it is time for trade, sport and cultural sanctions against Israel so that it will really listen, rather than just a passive statement that is clearly making no impact on the Israeli Government’s actions.

[Mr Falconer]

I hesitate to argue with an editor, but I think the British Government’s view on the restrictions on aid imposed by the Israeli Government has been absolutely clear in my statement today, and indeed in all my statements from the moment I went myself to the warehouses in Al Arish, where aid was being blocked from crossing the border by the Israeli Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra]

I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend. The UK will continue to centre women and girls in everything that we do internationally, from our diplomacy to our development work. We will mainstream gender across the Department’s work to ensure that we deliver maximum impact. We are retaining our ODA target for gender equality, and we will share an update on further measures to strengthen our approach to mainstreaming in due course.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

Prior to last week’s talks with leaders of the British overseas territories, concerning reports suggested that the Government were planning to cave in to pressure from the British Virgin Islands, the epicentre of billions of pounds of tax evasion, and allow it to restrict public access to a register of company share ownership. Will the Secretary of State inform the House of the outcome of last week’s talks and reassure the British public that the Government will force British overseas territories to comply with the law and make these registers publicly available?

[Stephen Doughty]

The hon. Member can find the communiqué online. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and I met the leaders from the overseas territories last week at a successful Joint Ministerial Council, and I again set out clearly our expectations on registers of beneficial ownership. I would point out that all OTs with financial centres have committed to upholding international tax standards, including those on tax transparency and exchange of information, as well as base erosion and profit sharing.

Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Helen Hayes]

I agree with my hon. Friend that we need unfettered access to aid in Gaza. I turn my attention now to the current humanitarian crisis. The ceasefire has restored the distribution of aid to the UN, which is best placed to undertake that complex task and should never have been forced to stop operating in that role. The situation remains desperate and there is still not unimpeded access. For example, there is a significant problem with getting tents for basic shelter into Gaza because of Israeli Government restrictions. Winter is fast approaching and there has been flooding in parts of Gaza. Tents are urgently needed for basic shelter. There is also an urgent need to restore the healthcare system to provide services to a population whose health is fragile in so many ways, and there is a particular need for healthcare services for women, because approximately 130 babies are born every day in Gaza in conditions of acute risk.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

We all agree on the need to get aid urgently into Gaza now. Research from famine in world war two shows the lasting impact of famine, even on unborn foetuses; it cannot later be erased or reversed. Famine can also lead to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Does the hon. Member agree that Israel must allow the unrestricted passage of aid not just to mitigate the devastation that we see now, but to prevent the severe consequences that will stretch long into the future?

[Helen Hayes]

I agree with everything that the hon. Member said. It is vital that such badly needed aid is allowed to enter Gaza unrestricted, and that we recognise that that process will need to continue for the foreseeable future because the situation is so desperate and the recovery will be long. But the recovery cannot begin without that unfettered access. There are only 15 health facilities in Gaza able to provide maternity and obstetric care. Mothers are giving birth without anaesthesia or essential drugs.

Alongside the healthcare system in Gaza, the education system has also been largely destroyed. Children in Gaza have been traumatised by the conflict. Their psychosocial recovery is a really important part of achieving long-term peace and stability. They also have a right to education. Children in Gaza are desperate to return to school and the UN is working hard to restore education services, but the current ceasefire agreement and 20-point plan are silent on the subject of education, allowing it to be deprioritised. The Israeli Government’s co-ordinator of government activities in the territories states that all school supplies are currently banned from entry to Gaza. UNRWA submitted self-learning materials to COGAT for approval in July 2024. It acknowledges that the question of textbooks and content is controversial, but those supplies have not been approved and all basic materials, including basic stationery supplies, are currently being denied.

Conflict in Sudan

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

We have looked closely at the reports in The Guardian and the associated documentary evidence that it has provided. I have tried to set out our assessment of those reports. We are still looking in particular at this question of the engine and the licensing arrangements by which it may have made its way to Sudan. However, unlike some of the reports that I have seen online and elsewhere, this is not large-scale British arms; this is three specific components, and the dossier of documents included a range of other countries. That is why I have focused my remarks more broadly. I can also reassure my hon. Friend that the UK and the UAE continue to discuss these issues, including discussions on Friday between the Foreign Secretary and her counterpart.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

Given the horrendous, apocalyptic scenes we are seeing in Sudan, and the fact that 25 million people are now estimated to be in acute hunger, does the Minister still think it was right for the Government to cut our overseas development aid budget? Can he commit to the House that the Government will increase it back to 0.5% of national income and use that funding to fund the UK’s response in Sudan, which is so desperately needed?

[Mr Falconer]

I am happy to enter into the wider debate about aid funding, whether in relation to Sudan, Afghanistan or Gaza, but I must also tell the House what I see on a day-to-day basis: in Sudan, just as in those other countries, restricted access is the single most significant cause of harm, and that is a result of the actions of the participants in the conflict. There is a debate to be had about the overall aid budget, but at moments such as this, when areas that require aid are being cruelly deprived of it, we need to focus on where responsibility lies, and that is with the parties to the conflict.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

11. What steps her Department is taking to help improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

16. What diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure that humanitarian aid can reach people in Gaza.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)]

Alongside our international partners, the UK is working to get aid into Gaza on the scale needed to ease the desperate humanitarian crisis that is taking place. In recent days, the Foreign Secretary has spoken with Tom Fletcher of the United Nations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty and Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar about the importance of opening more crossings and removing all restrictions on aid. We are ready to play our full part in providing that aid. We have announced £74 million of humanitarian funding already this year, including the £20 million announced at the peace summit in Egypt.

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Following the US-led ceasefire agreement and the UN’s work, more trucks are starting to cross the border, but that needs to be scaled up much more rapidly, and we need the Rafah crossing fully opened, alongside other aid routes. We need international non-governmental organisations in, and able to operate in Gaza unimpeded. Civilians in Gaza cannot wait.

[Caroline Voaden]

The Norwegian Refugee Council says that, between 10 and 21 October, 99 requests by international NGOs to deliver aid to Gaza were rejected by Israel on the grounds that the organisations were “not authorised” to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, yet these trusted agencies have operated there for decades. Can the Minister tell the people of Gaza who are living in makeshift shelters, and who are hungry and thirsty, what the UK Government are actually doing to compel the Israeli authorities to immediately allow aid deliveries into Gaza?

[Mr Falconer]

We need to see the agreement implemented in full. The Foreign Secretary has raised this particular case with the Foreign Minister of Israel. We will continue to press for the full flow of aid that needs to go in. The hon. Member rightly asked me what I say to the people of Gaza. I say that we understand the urgency, and that the aid needs to be in there now. We will continue to press those points on the phone, and when we both go to the region this weekend.

Ambassador to the United States

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Tuesday 16th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ed Davey]

The hon. Gentleman makes a strong point. The previous ambassador to the United States was held in high regard, and many people think she should be appointed to the vacancy.

I want to mention what was said by the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi). Yes, we have all these questions to be answered, and there are disclosures to be made, but we must remember the victims in all this. I want to focus on the victims, because they deserve answers.

When we read those sickening messages, we think of Epstein’s victims and their families—girls as young as 14 groomed by Epstein, sexually abused by him, trafficked by him and sexually abused by other powerful men. I have been thinking about the trauma not only that they went through then, but have been through since, as they saw the man responsible for such horrific crimes escape justice for so long. They saw him convicted in 2008, but spend just 13 months in jail thanks to his powerful connections.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

We know that the trauma of sexual violence and sexual abuse can last a lifetime and, for many people, it can be too much to bear, as we have seen with Virginia Giuffre. Victims of sexual violence are often silenced, often ignored and always let down by a system that sometimes—often—sees powerful men protecting each other to diminish the crimes. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Prime Minister should never have appointed somebody who had known links with a convicted paedophile?

[Ed Davey]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I pay tribute to her for the work she has done to protect vulnerable women during her career. We salute her for that work.

As we remember the victims, how must it have felt for them to see Donald Trump, one of Epstein’s closest friends and a man found liable for sexual abuse himself, become President of the United States? How must it have felt for the victims to see another of Epstein’s closest friends made British ambassador to the United States? How must it have felt for the victims to hear the Prime Minister defend Lord Mandelson last week, even after he had seen those appalling messages? How must it have felt for them to hear Ministers say, even after Mandelson was sacked, that his appointment was a risk worth taking? I think that is quite shocking.

Middle East

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I do think we need further dialogue on the issue of Palestinian attendance at that meeting. I recognise that these decisions were made previously and held in Geneva, but I hope that we can have some reconsideration and that we can afford the delegation the same privileges that they have had for many years.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

We have a UN-declared man-made famine, children and babies being starved to death, and journalists murdered. Now the world’s leading genocide scholars state that Israel’s actions meet the legal definition of genocide. It is clear that painstaking, careful international diplomacy is not working fast enough, and the Gazans are running out of time. Is it not time for us to lead our allies in actions that Israel might take notice of: sweeping trade sanctions, sanctions on Netanyahu and his entire Cabinet, and a commitment that we will recognise Gaza at the UN with no conditions?

[Mr Lammy]

The whole House will have heard what the hon. Member said, and she will have heard what I have said on a previous situation. I would ask her to look closely at what this Government have been doing—our leadership globally relative to other near partners. I think the decision we made a few weeks ago, and the provisions we set for how we would recognise and the judgments we will make as we head to UNGA, are particularly important.

Middle East

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I say politely to my hon. Friend that when last year some countries took a step to recognition, it did not change things on the ground. She asks with passion, what is going on? My focus is what is going on and trying to alleviate the suffering. While I recognise the debate on recognition, and we must move to recognition at the appropriate point, I say to her politely that, in terms of this conflict, I do not believe in all honesty that recognition would change the situation on the ground.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

Every day we see more and more reports of children being killed in cold blood while they queue for food. The horror cannot get any worse. Prime Minister Netanyahu has already rejected the statement signed by 31 countries—it did not take him long—and it is clear that he is not interested in stopping this horrific offensive. The time for words is over. The House wants to see action, with widespread sanctions, an end to all arms sales and recognition of Palestine as a state. Netanyahu deserves nothing less, and he might actually take notice if we take action. Will the Foreign Secretary consider taking more action to bring this horrific offensive to an end?

[Mr Lammy]

Yes to that last bit. I want to see a ceasefire in the coming days, but of course we continue to consider what further steps we can take with allies to bring the war to an end, as the hon. Member would expect.

Middle East

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

My hon. Friend’s articulacy is spot on. I can give him that undertaking, between myself and the Minister for the Middle East.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

We talk weekly in this place about Russia’s illegal bombing of Ukraine. Russia may not be a close ally like the US, but presumably if international law applies to that, the US bombing of Iran would likewise be illegal under international law. If not, can the Foreign Secretary explain why international law would apply differently to the US? Where does that leave us if this conflict escalates in the region?

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Caroline Voaden Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

Hundreds of my constituents have written to me expressing their desperation and horror at the hellish scenes coming out of Gaza, so I speak here on their behalf. It is clear that the Israeli Government aspire to wipe Palestine off the map, as they expand their settlement ambitions with impunity. They do not care that Ministers in Whitehall are watching their statements. Until Palestine is recognised as a state, the dispossession of land and homes by Israel will continue. Why will the Government not stand up now and, alongside our allies Spain, Norway and Ireland, recognise Palestine as a state?

[Mr Falconer]

I recognise the concern of many constituents across the country, including in the hon. Lady’s constituency. We are obviously in close touch with our counterparts. I was talking to my Spanish counterpart on Sunday, and at the Madrid conference I was with my Irish counterparts, and those from the other nations the hon. Lady mentions—and from a whole set of states—that have recognised a Palestinian state. I recognise the desire right across this House, I think, for further steps in that area. Whatever we do, I am sure that this House will press me on the continued horrors in Gaza. In everything we do, we are focused on trying to make an impact on the scenes that our constituents are seeing. We are considering these matters, but we are focused on trying to reduce the suffering in Gaza today.