Oral Answers to Questions

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

The hon. Gentleman makes important points about the situation in the west bank—points that we have discussed in this Chamber before. We have condemned the violence and the expansion of illegal settlements in the west bank. There are a range of issues on which we profoundly disagree with the Israeli Government in relation to their approach to the west bank, and we will continue to raise those issues with force. I refer him to my previous answer about recognition.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

Can my hon. Friend update me on the conference that was due to be held at the weekend but was postponed following the bombing of Iran by Israel, at which the potential for recognition was to be discussed?

Middle East

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am very sorry to hear about the position of the hon. Member’s constituent and her baby. It must have been immensely stressful for them to make their way out of Iran in that way. She will know that we have been advising against travel to Iran since 2019. We are able to offer support on the border with Azerbaijan as best we can, but she will also know that the airspace is not open in Iran. If she gets in touch with the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), of course we can look at this to see what learnings there may be.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I would first like to associate myself with the condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. We are increasingly seeing foreign leaders not only flout international law but ignore our international rules-based system, which was hard-won after the second world war. What is my right hon. Friend doing to ensure that we can get this back on track?

[Mr Lammy]

It was very appropriate to meet the Iranian Foreign Minister in Geneva, which in so many ways is the home, under the United Nations umbrella, of the multilateral system and the rules-based order. We were with him as the E3 and the EU to reinforce messages that we share with the United States and to try to broker a diplomatic solution, and we will keep trying.

Iran-Israel Conflict

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

Let me put on record my huge gratitude and respect for our diplomatic staff in Israel and Iran and across the region, and for their families and children who provide them with such support. To be absolutely clear, on Monday last week we had a tabletop exercise in Whitehall on Iran, which I chaired. There are contingency plans. None of us could have envisaged two crises at the same time—this one and India, which the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), will talk about shortly—but our staff are standing ready.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I know that my right hon. Friend will be working tirelessly and using all his diplomatic skills and those of his office to resolve this new, immediate crisis, but as others have said, how will he balance that with getting aid in, a permanent ceasefire, getting hostages out and recognition?

[Mr Lammy]

Balance it we must, because those are the issues that we are currently dealing with. We remain determined to press for what we want to see in Gaza and to stand up for those we are hugely concerned about in the west bank—my hon. Friend will have seen the statement I made last week in relation to that—as well as being absolutely clear about Iran’s intent and capability at this time and what we must do to stop that.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

The right hon. Gentleman always asks succinct and clear questions. As he will recall, I was a diplomat for a long time. Sanctions are no remedy; they are an expression of a failure in the international system. As my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (Tahir Ali) said, we have heard week after week about the agonies. We do go to the conference with a plan, but it is a conference called by our friends and allies, and we are discussing our approach closely with them.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Minister, and his team and officials, on all that they have done. I do not underestimate the amount of work that has been put in, especially the work with our international allies that has brought us to where we are. As the Minister can see, however, there is always a demand for more, as there should be given what we know is going on. May I add my voice to those of all who have said that hopefully this is the lead-up a successful announcement next week, with our allies, about recognition of the Palestinian state?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank my hon. Friend for her kind words about both me and officials in the diplomatic service, who have worked tirelessly. As I said in response to another hon. Member, I had hoped that we could make this announcement even sooner, but it is through no fault of those in the hard-working British diplomatic service, who have done everything they can to ensure that we make the most impactful sanctions announcement possible.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

The right hon. Member will appreciate that in our private discussions with Israel we have been clear about the depth of feeling across the whole country, and indeed in this House, and we have been clear about the nature of further steps coming.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I am sure the Minister can sense the frustration across the House and from all parties. I support their frustration. We were at a meeting yesterday with the former UN secretary-general for human rights, Andrew Gilmour. He said that the lack of action that the international community is taking now on this issue reminded him of the lack of action during the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s. That is a lesson we all should closely heed. I will not ask the Minister everything that everybody else has asked about sanctions and recognition—he knows where I stand on that. I will ask him about the coalition of the willing for Palestine, as we have a coalition of the willing for Ukraine. How are we building up our international allies to ensure that recognition and everything else that needs to happen has an international consensus? Again, we are looking at days, not weeks and months.

[Mr Falconer]

I just want to acknowledge for my hon. Friend that we recognise that this conflict is being measured in hours and days, not weeks and months, and it is on those timelines that we seek to take action. On the question of a coalition of the willing, we are working with our allies, as I am sure she is aware. We convened the statement of 26 on humanitarian action and the leaders’ statement of three, to which I referred earlier in my statement. We will continue to work broadly. I can confirm that even today I have been working on those questions.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

As I said before and will say again, the Palestinian cause is a just cause and that is why we are opposed to the further displacement of the Palestinian people, and to those in the Israeli Government who talk about cleansing and driving people out from their land. I repeat that we stand by a two-state solution.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and the ministerial team, who have done so much work to get the statement out and other deliverables. Given that 14,000 babies are about to lose their lives in the next 48 hours and hundreds of Palestinians have been slaughtered overnight, what are the red lines and what is the timeframe for action? If babies have only 48 hours, it needs to be of that order.

Gaza: UK Assessment

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I have condemned Hamas for their despicable actions and ugly and unacceptable rhetoric many times from this Dispatch Box, and I am happy to do so again. It is the events of 7 October, in all their full horror, that triggered this most recent, most horrific round of violence.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

In addition to calling for the release of all hostages, Tom Fletcher, the UN emergency relief co-ordinator, asked last night what action we will tell future generations that we each took

“to stop the 21st century atrocity to which we bear daily witness in Gaza.”

What action will the Government take if, in the next 24 hours, Israel does not allow aid into Gaza?

[Mr Falconer]

As I have said throughout the course of the afternoon, the responsibilities weigh heavily on all of us. We do not view the situation as acceptable, and we will continue to take steps with our allies and partners to urge Israel to change course.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 13th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

We continue, with all our partners, to call for the immediate release of all hostages. I think particularly of Avinatan Or, who has a British mother and who is still in captivity under who knows what conditions. We will continue to press for the release of all hostages.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

On 15 May we will commemorate the 77th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba, which saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes and dispossessed, and it still continues today. I pay tribute to Ministers for the diplomacy they are engaged in and for the recent memorandum of understanding that was agreed with Palestine, but the children of Gaza cannot wait weeks and months. They need food and water now. What more can we do?

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for continuing to raise these issues. We have a meeting of the UN Security Council this afternoon. It was important that I spoke to colleagues in Saudi Arabia and the UAE the weekend before last about these issues and with partners in the region, particularly as President Trump visits. I am very concerned following a meeting with my German counterpart about Israeli decisions to reduce the number of distribution points, and we will be making these representations very actively over the coming days.

India-Pakistan: Escalation

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for his acknowledgment of the importance of de-escalation. I confirm that we will prioritise regional stability, the reasonable interests of both countries and, indeed, the UK’s interest in the region, which includes stability between two great friends of this country.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I wholeheartedly support the Minister in his calls for de-escalation. I reiterate my condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in the attacks last month and overnight. About 20% of my constituents have Pakistani-Kashmiri heritage but, for our common humanity, we should extend our condolences to anyone of any religion or origin, from either side of the line of control, who has lost a loved one. Will the Minister confirm which international allies he has been working with to de-escalate tensions? Has the Minister been in contact with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, which was established back in 1951 and has extensive intelligence in the region? If so, what has been said?

[Mr Falconer]

As well as the direct contact with India, Pakistan and the variety of other nations that I have mentioned, I can confirm that we will continue to be in wide touch, including with colleagues in the Gulf, and I am due to speak shortly to my Saudi Arabian counterparts. As the House would expect, we will be in regular and intense dialogue with all those with an interest in the region, and we will be sharing with them our calls for de-escalation.

Kashmir: Increasing Tension

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

Honestly, I have not spoken to the Foreign Secretary in the past 24 hours so I am not totally sure, but I will write to the hon. Member and let him know.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I, too, associate myself with the condolences for the innocent families who have become victims of this appalling attack. It is important that there is an evidence-based investigation and I hope that, from what the Minister has said, Pakistan is assisting India in identifying the perpetrators and ensuring they are brought to justice. Tensions are certainly high, both within India and Pakistan. I appreciate the Minister’s remarks on the assistance being provided at the moment, but can this be used as an opportunity to also look at the longer- term issues that Kashmir has faced for decades?

[Mr Falconer]

I set out the Government’s position on the core dispute in Kashmir in the previous answer. I repeat that we encourage the Pakistanis to co-operate fully with the Indian Government in their efforts to investigate and we hope that they will provide assistance. This obviously remains a time of great heightened tensions, so direct dialogue on these issues is particularly important.