Middle East

Debate between Ellie Chowns and David Lammy

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am very grateful to journalists and media workers, who play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war. We are part of the Media Freedom Coalition, and the UK is of course urging Israel to allow immediate independent foreign media access and to afford protections to journalists. I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend on this matter.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

The Israeli Government are clearly hellbent on their horrific plan of eradicating Palestine with their continuing and ever-worsening genocide in Gaza, and now their approval of the shocking E1 plan that will divide the west bank and East Jerusalem. How can the Government continue to take no further action when there are so many options open to them? How many times have we heard the Foreign Secretary say in this Chamber that if things do not improve and if Israel does not desist, he will take further action, and yet he has not? When will this Government take action to end UK complicity and end the horror in Palestine?

[Mr Lammy]

I say to the hon. Lady that we banned arms sales that could be used in Israel back in September; Germany did so just a few weeks ago. We have had three rounds of sanctions against Israeli settlers and some of the expansion that we are seeing; France is yet to do the same. I ask her also to look at the amount of money that this Parliament and this Government have agreed to for aid, particularly for medical supplies—[Interruption.] The hon. Lady says there is more, but she does not quite articulate what more she believes we could do. We all want to bring this war to an end—we all want that. It is becoming a bit too easy to assert that without recognising the work that we are leading globally.

Middle East

Debate between Ellie Chowns and David Lammy

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

Words do matter, but actions speak louder. What Members across the House and citizens of the country—our constituents—cannot understand is why the Foreign Secretary will not take the actions available to him to end UK complicity in this horror. A full arms embargo and an end to all military co-operation, a full ban on all settlement goods, sanctions on all those responsible for genocide, recognition of the state of Palestine—why will he not take those concrete actions now?

[Mr Lammy]

I reassure the hon. Lady that the UK Government are not complicit in any actions that would breach international humanitarian law. I took that step back in September alongside restoring funding to UNRWA. She asked for a full embargo. She will note that there was a judicial review of that decision, and the Government’s position was upheld. She does not want to see us or our allies weakened in other conflicts that have a direct bearing on the safety and security of the people of Britain.

Middle East

Debate between Ellie Chowns and David Lammy

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

The hon. Lady has to get off social media, and she has to get some help. She is swallowing conspiracy theories that should not be repeated in this House.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

The Iranian regime has long been a threat to peace, democracy and human rights, and the unilateral, illegal and dangerously provocative Israeli and, now, American attacks have made a tense situation extremely perilous and are completely outside international law. It is therefore deeply concerning to hear the Foreign Secretary echo the talking points of Netanyahu and Trump instead of standing up for those principles, clearly condemning the illegality of these bombings, and unequivocally ruling out the UK’s being dragged into any military action to support such illegal action. Why will he not do so?

[Mr Lammy]

I am focused on Iran’s desire for a nuclear weapon, I am focused on the UK’s solemn obligation to stop that happening, and I am focused on the diplomacy that is required to bring that about.

Conflict in Gaza

Debate between Ellie Chowns and David Lammy

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I commend my hon. Friend for bringing her moral clarity to the Chamber this afternoon. Of course I can confirm that we will continue to do all we can, and we stand by the judgments that we made back in September when we assessed that there was a clear risk of a breach of humanitarian law.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza—blocking the entry of humanitarian aid, cutting electricity that is essential for drinking water, the forced displacement of civilians, and now indiscriminate bombing that is killing and maiming many, many children. Those are not just clear risks of a breach of humanitarian law; they are clear breaches, and it is just not enough to say that we do not like it. I want to ask the Secretary of State a very specific question: has he explicitly asked the Israeli Government whether any UK-made arms or arms components were used in the mass air strikes in recent days that broke the ceasefire and have caused untold suffering to civilians?

[Mr Lammy]

In making our assessment of a clear risk of a breach of humanitarian law, we suspended arms sales to Israel, and I stand by that decision.

Middle East

Debate between Ellie Chowns and David Lammy

Thursday 16th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

We have raised those issues with the Israeli Government, and did so through the Christmas period. We recognise that there is pain, and that there are concerns about international humanitarian law, but all of us in this House have a responsibility to do all that we can to bridge the divides if we are to ensure that the deal holds and the people of Gaza get the respite for which I know the hon. Lady has been campaigning for many months.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

I warmly welcome this ceasefire agreement, and like colleagues across the House, I fervently hope that the Israeli Cabinet will approve it, but I think we all recognise that, while the ceasefire may bring an end to the current extremes of violence, it will not end the conflict. A number of conditions need to be met for lasting peace, so will the Foreign Secretary set out a timetable for UK recognition of the state of Palestine, and the concrete steps that he will take to end the occupation and ensure that all those who have committed war crimes are held fully accountable?

[Mr Lammy]

I cannot set out a timetable because the UK Government alone cannot be responsible for a timetable that will necessarily involve the Israeli Government, the Palestinian Authority, our friends in the United States, and Arab partners particularly. It will not be possible for me to set out a timetable on these issues, but I ask the hon. Lady to have faith. I sat down with President Abbas this week to discuss these very issues. On the question that she rightly raises of accountability, that must be a necessary matter for our international courts. I have set out from this Dispatch Box why we in this party hold dear the importance of international humanitarian law.

Middle East Update

Debate between Ellie Chowns and David Lammy

Monday 2nd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful for the question, and I would not want the House to lose sight of the further sanctions on four individuals that I announced in the House this afternoon; Members can revisit my statement to be abreast of that. My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the dangers that the IRGC poses. Indeed, it has been important for me in these early weeks in office to engage with my Iranian counterpart and to urge de-escalation, particularly in relation to any action that Iran is contemplating. This remains the very biggest and most important of issues for us in the UK, and it is absolutely right to keep it centre stage.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

The news about the suspension of some export licences is indeed welcome, and I know that many in my constituency and across the country will be glad to hear it, but I am alarmed that the principle underpinning criterion 2C seems to have been inconsistently applied. In particular, the justification that the Foreign Secretary offered for not suspending licences for the F-35 appears inconsistent. There appears to be clear evidence of risk—I understand that there are online posts from the Israel Defence Forces indicating that F-35s have been used in bombing Gaza—so I urge him to review the case again and to suspend those licences. Will he also clarify whether licensing continues for R902(W) Wankel engines, which were involved in the attack on World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers?

[Mr Lammy]

The hon. Lady asked important questions about the F-35. In looking at the F-35, it is important to understand that there is a global supply chain. She will recognise the very serious threats that exist across much of the globe in other terrible theatres of conflict. I think that, were she in my situation, she too would make the judgment that we should do nothing to equip those who would cause tremendous harm in relation to this decision. That has been important—never mind the ability to distinguish, across those multiple supply chains that involve many nations, the particular bits of armoury that she talked about.

Israel and Gaza

Debate between Ellie Chowns and David Lammy

Friday 19th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. Many in this House will know of her considerable work and the work of her colleagues on behalf of those suffering in Gaza over the past few months. They will also know just how hard and unbearable it has been for many, many of those working on the ground.

My hon. Friend makes an important statement about the independence of the work of the ICC and the ICJ. I believe in the separation of powers, as I think do all democrats in this House. It is for judges and the judiciary to have the time to reflect and make their considerations and for politicians to step back and respect them in that process. That is the case in our own country and it must be the case in international courts of law. Of course I will meet my hon. Friend and other colleagues and keep them updated.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

I welcome the Foreign Secretary and his team to their places. I also welcome the statement, in particular the emphasis on the need for an immediate ceasefire, for the immediate release of all hostages and for a stop to settler violence and expansion in the west bank. I welcome the resumption of funding to UNRWA.

I add my voice to the calls that a couple of hon. Members have made for the Foreign Secretary to commit to publishing the comprehensive review of Israel’s compliance or non-compliance with international humanitarian law, as soon as officials have completed it. In the meantime, will he apply the precautionary principle and act to stop all UK arms exports to Israel, given the already widespread evidence of considerable breaches of international law?

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her remarks; I welcome her, the Green party’s representative for North Herefordshire, to the House.

As I said in my remarks, this is one of the toughest neighbourhoods in the world. Israel is surrounded by people who would see its annihilation—it is being attacked by the Houthis, Hezbollah are firing missiles and Hamas want to wipe it off the map. For those reasons, it would not be right to have a blanket ban between our countries and Israel; what is right is for me to consider in the normal way the issues in relation to offensive weapons in Gaza, following the quasi-judicial process that I have outlined.