Sudan

Debate between Catherine West and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West]

My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner on behalf of her constituents in Westminster and the City. I encourage her and her staff to use the MP hotline, because that is the best way of getting through in order to get consular advice and to reassure our communities in the diaspora of Sudan.

[Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) for securing this urgent question on the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. I welcome the leadership steps that the UK Government are taking, but will the Minister tell the House what conversations are being had with both the African Union and the United Nations about the possibility of surging peacekeepers into Sudan to protect civilians?

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Lady for her leadership role in the previous Parliament as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Sudan and South Sudan and as International Development Minister.

There are a number of partners; she has mentioned some of them. The participants at the London Sudan conference included Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, South Sudan, Chad, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, and of course the like-mindeds: Norway, Canada, the USA and Switzerland. It was a perfect moment and the hon. Lady asks how we can continue that. We will redouble our efforts to work with the multilaterals such as the UN and the League of Arab States. There is quite a lot on their agenda at the moment, but it is very important that Sudan is not brought down the agenda just because it is in Africa. That is a fear, which is why it is so good to see the reporting in the Financial Times, The Guardian, and many of our other mainstream newspapers, to keep it in the spotlight. We will ensure that we work bilaterally with the countries we work with in normal times, and on a multilateral level to maintain our leadership role.

Myanmar Earthquake

Debate between Catherine West and Harriett Baldwin

Monday 31st March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that suggestion. He is correct that USAID has been frozen, but it was encouraging to see over the weekend an announcement by the US Government that $2 million will immediately be put towards dealing with this dreadful earthquake. That is a hopeful sign that we can work together on this emergency. On the BBC World Service, the hon. Gentleman is right to say that often the radio is the only thing that people are able to access and it gives them so much hope. With his permission, I will write to him specifically on the exact position of the BBC World Service in Myanmar.

[Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

Many, many compassionate people across West Worcestershire and the whole of the United Kingdom will be wanting to know what they can do to help in this situation, so will the Minister give us some further information on how UK taxpayers may donate and whether there will be an aid match?

[Catherine West]

I thank the hon. Lady for her suggestions. She is right that so many people will be thinking, “How can I do my bit for the people of Myanmar?” As I mentioned to my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel), details will be available as soon as the Disasters Emergency Committee—the joint appeal across all the different bodies—comes forward, which will be within the week, because of course the earthquake happened just on Thursday night and Friday morning. I want to say very clearly from the Dispatch Box that the DEC is a proper brand that can be trusted by our constituents, because it is very important that people do not give money online through Facebook and other platforms if they are not sure of them. As soon as the announcement is ready, we will work very carefully with international partners about where those donations can go.