Syria

Chris Law Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

Yes, I can reassure my hon. Friend on that. It is important for us to understand the situation in many countries in the region. Jordan has a very large proportion of Palestinian refugees, and also has many Syrian refugees. I had the absolute privilege of meeting some of them when I visited the Zaatari camp in Jordan. The UK has been working with Jordan on the Jahez programme, which we announced recently, but we have also been working with the country to ensure that, where possible, we can push forward access for aid into Gaza. I pay tribute to the Jordanian Government for that.

[Chris Law (Dundee Central) (SNP)]

I have several short questions. The Minister has already touched on sanctions; the new Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said that sanctions must be lifted, and that that is not up for negotiation. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s thoughts on how we can move forward.

On behalf of the SNP, I welcome the £61 million of support, particularly for healthcare and nutrition, but who will deliver it, and how can we ensure that it is delivered to the people who need it most?

Over the last week or two, we have all seen the unfolding news about the horror of what happened, and not just in the prisons. This week, Channel 4 News has reported that hundreds of thousands of civilians have been buried in mass graves. What are the UK Government’s thoughts on the technical and forensic assistance provided following previous genocides, not least in Rwanda and the Balkans? What support could we provide? The University of Dundee is a world leader in forensics, and I would like it to have the opportunity to hear the Minister’s response.

[Anneliese Dodds]

I will try to answer the hon. Member’s four questions as quickly as possible, so that others can speak. First, there were already tough sanctions in place against the Assad regime—against 310 individuals and 74 linked entities. As I mentioned, this Government will keep all evidence and potential designations under close review, and we will not hesitate to take further action as needed.

We are working with partners, particularly the UN agencies, on delivering aid. Yesterday or the day before, I discussed in detail with the UN emergency co-ordinator how we will ensure that access is provided, working together in concert. We also need to make sure that there is no duplication, given that there is such need. That is something on which the UK is very much focused.

The UK has been engaged in ensuring that forensic evidence is collected. As I said, much of that work is conducted through the IIIM. It is important that UK experts are engaged, and I pay tribute to the Dundonians who have been engaged in this important work. Clearly, we are hearing very disturbing reports, and it is critical that we have clear, substantiated evidence that can be used to drive accountability. I hope that many UK experts will be involved in that effort.

Sudan

Chris Law Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this. We have had discussions with a number of bilateral partners both in the region and outside it. In fact, I discussed this with the USAID administrator last week when I was at the World Bank annuals, but we have of course had a number of discussions with regional actors as well—particularly countries in the Gulf, but beyond that as well. We know that many of them have relationships with individuals in Sudan, and we are really pushing for those to be used so that we see the aid delivery that is so desperately needed.

[Chris Law (Dundee Central) (SNP)]

The UN Secretary-General warned yesterday that

“outside powers are fuelling the fire”,

and intensifying the nightmare of hunger and disease for millions of people in Sudan. The Minister has previously stated:

“The UK could not be clearer in our language.”—[Official Report, 3 September 2024; Vol. 753, c. 166.]

She has said that those engaged in this conflict and enabling a proxy situation are exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. What precise actions are the UK Government taking to prevent this involvement and to stop arms reaching the conflict zones?

International Engagement

Chris Law Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important subject. Globally, an enormous amount of growth could be unlocked by increasing women’s economic opportunities. The World Bank has estimated that about 20% could be added to global GDP if women were able to work more and their pay was more reflective of men’s pay. The UK Government have been working closely on this issue with many partners, including the World Bank. We are very pleased to be seeing progress, particularly around supporting women entrepreneurs and ensuring that women’s economic empowerment is viewed as the ticket to progress and prosperity that it so often can be.

[Chris Law (Dundee Central) (SNP)]

I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. I want to raise a couple of points. First, it is only a few years ago that the Foreign Secretary said:

“We don’t just want an apology, we want reparations and compensation.”

Last week, however, the Prime Minister could not even bring himself to make a formal apology, so I hope the Minister can bring herself to do so today.

Secondly, the Minister said that

“at home and around the world…Britain is back”.

There are two reasons for that: first, there was a reduction in ODA spend to 0.5% of GNI; and, secondly, there was the merger of the Department for International Development, which is in East Kilbride in Scotland. Will there be a return to a separate Department, and how soon does she predict that we will return to spending 0.7% of GNI?

[Anneliese Dodds]

The hon. Gentleman asks a number of questions, and I will try to cover them as quickly as I can. The new Government are very clear that the slave trade was abhorrent. We condemn it, just as previous Labour Governments did. It is important that we start from there, but it is also important that we are just as clear that there has been no change in our policy on reparations. The UK does not pay reparations—we have been very clear about that.

The hon. Gentleman talks about other countries’ confidence in the UK’s leadership on international development. We have to renew that confidence, which is about ensuring that we make a number of changes, as I set out at Chatham House the week before last. That includes ensuring that we work even more closely with Brits who are leading development in different countries around the world, but also that we have genuine partnerships with other countries.

I cannot end my response to the hon. Gentleman without thanking the terrific staff in East Kilbride, who do a wonderful job on international development and on foreign policy more broadly. I take my hat off to them. As a new Minister, I have been very impressed by all those working on these issues for the UK Government.