Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emily Darlington and David Lammy

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for raising Africa. The first thing that we did on coming into office was establish an Africa approach and a widespread consultation across the continent—that is absolutely right. We must be careful that authoritarian powers do not move in where the west exits. I reassure him that I have raised and discussed those issues with Secretary of State Rubio.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

Given the devastation of the United States Agency for International Development, the temporary cuts in official development assistance and the growing desperate situation in areas of Africa, is the Foreign Secretary willing to meet me and colleagues who have worked in and care about the region, to understand our long-term strategy, particularly against China and Russia, which are moving in to fill that void?

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful for the leadership that my hon. Friend showed on these issues before coming to this place; she continues to champion them now. On the Africa approach, and changes to development aid across the continent, whether they are made by us or by partners, either I or my colleague who leads on development will be very happy to meet my hon. Friend.

Middle East

Debate between Emily Darlington and David Lammy

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I urge the hon. Gentleman to keep up to date with the latest. He will have seen that there have been announcements by Hamas on the terms for a ceasefire. We have not yet got that ceasefire; there remain disputes, for example, about the length of a ceasefire and withdrawal of the IDF from parts of Gaza. However, notwithstanding the concerns we all have, Hamas are in dialogue with our Egyptian and Qatari friends in particular.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

Happy birthday, Madam Deputy Speaker. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s comments about recognition of Palestine, which, of course, is absolutely what all Labour Members stood on in our manifesto. I would like to raise specifically the devastation and starvation of people in Gaza and the numerous reports that the IDF are targeting doctors. Will he tell the House about UK efforts to evacuate people with family links to the UK, including Dr Radi, whose case I have raised many times in the House and with Ministers?

[Mr Lammy]

It was humbling to meet once more a group of doctors in New York who have served on the ground and to hear of the hardships that they had experienced as noble humanitarians. In the coming days, my hon. Friend will see the UK’s efforts to evacuate people, particularly children, from Gaza. We rely on Israeli permits, so it is not straightforward or easy, but I am grateful that she has put the issue of doctors front and centre this afternoon.

UK-Ukraine 100-year Partnership

Debate between Emily Darlington and David Lammy

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement on this 100-year partnership with such an important European ally. We absolutely understand how our futures are linked. I want to recognise the Ukrainian community in Milton Keynes, which has established the Sunflower school and held the first Holodomor memorial event. These communities are very worried. They are coming to the renewal of their visas because they never thought that they would be here this long. They have built new businesses, family connections, and friends and community connections. Can we reassure Ukrainians in the UK that they will continue to have our support for the duration of the war, and potentially support afterwards for some of them to continue their lives here?

[Mr Lammy]

I reassure Ukrainians in the strongest terms—I hope that they might see the 100-year partnership as a signal of this—that the UK will stand with them long after none of us are in this Chamber. That is the nature of the partnership. They should be reassured, and remember that war strikes indelible bonds; just as it did between us and the United States after the second world war, it will do so between us and Ukraine.

China: Human Rights and Sanctions

Debate between Emily Darlington and David Lammy

Monday 28th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I did not give a timeline. I simply said that the sanctions should be lifted, and explained why it was just wrong and counterproductive to sanction Members of a democratic Chamber like this. That was my position, and I defend it; I think that was the right thing to say. I raised the issue with Mr Speaker before leaving, just to be absolutely clear on the current status. Although one cannot be entirely sure that what one is conveying is going in and is properly understood, I did detect that Wang Yi recognised that this was a big issue between our two countries.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

I appreciate the Foreign Secretary coming here to make much clearer our views on China, and particularly human rights abuses there. People from Hong Kong living in Milton Keynes are still fearful of intimidation and concerned about China’s influence on some of our universities. What assessment has he made of that, and how will he proceed with the Chinese Government to ensure that those influences stop?