Israeli Settlements: Trade Ban
Harpreet Uppal Excerpts(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) for her powerful speech, and it is an absolute honour to follow the Father of the House.
On the west bank, settlement expansion continues in violation of UN Security Council resolution 2334. That includes the E1 project that aims to cut the west bank in half, and separate East Jerusalem. Last month, Israel approved 2,000 settlement housing units across the west bank, bringing the total approved this year to over 6,000. Those settlements continue to destroy historic Palestinian communities, any chance of long-term peace and a two-state solution. They are also accompanied by staggering levels of violence, and co-ordinated attacks on civilians and religious sites, facilitated by a culture of impunity.
According to the UN, there has been an average of six attacks every day against Palestinians in the west bank since the start of 2026. A recent report from the UN Secretary-General highlighted a steep rise in attacks by settlers on Palestinian children, reportedly often supported by Israeli security forces. It is part of a surge of settler aggression across the west bank, driven by the dynamics of Israeli politics.
We know that elections in Israel must be held by the end of October at the latest, and as things stand, Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right bloc is facing the prospect of defeat. The radical settler elements in the coalition are scrambling to impose facts on the ground in the west bank before the elections. Throughout 2025 and the first half of this year, the creeping de facto annexation of the west bank has increased greatly, driven primarily by farm outposts, which require none of the planning and construction work of older settlements. According to a report published on Monday by Kerem Navot, and its fellow activist organisation Peace Now, farm outposts now control more than 100,000 hectares, which is 18% of the entire west bank. Nearly one third of that wholesale seizure took place in 2025.
Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) for laying out her remarks so clearly—much better than I could have done—and to the Father of the House. Emotion rightly comes into this debate. We are not just legislators, and we need to bring that sense of feeling.
My hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) is right to highlight not just that the settlements are happening, but that the aggression, backed up by the Israeli Government, exacerbates the issue. Does she have any hope that, realistically, any election in Israel will change that, and does she agree with me and my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central that we need to act internationally to resolve this? I do not have faith that an election in Israel will stop this happening.
Harpreet Uppal
I agree, and I will come on to that point in a moment.
Recourse to the law has been cut off almost entirely for Palestinians, particularly since another settler extremist, Ben-Gvir, was made National Security Minister. The violence is horrific, and it must end. The Government have been clear that we oppose the expansion of the settlements, which are a violation of international law, and I welcome the sanctions on individual settlers and settler networks that the Foreign Secretary announced last month. However, my constituents have been clear that we must go further.
Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)
As well as the ban on trade with settlements that we are debating, does my hon. Friend agree that the Government now need to spell out exactly how they will seek to dissuade those who might engage in the E1 project, which would be so damaging to the prospects of a two-state solution?
Harpreet Uppal
I agree. We must hold Israel to account for its actions, and we must end all trade with the illegal settlements. Those settlements do not build themselves; they require money and trade, and they are backed by the Israeli Government. That is the only way we can ensure that we are not financially legitimising violations of international law.
I understand that there are complexities in banning that trade, but I share the belief of many of my constituents, and other Members, that the violence has continued at a rate that demands a proportionate response from the international community. Will the Minister update the House on what discussions the Government have had with international partners to better understand their plans to ban trade with illegal settlements? As my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central mentioned, bans are in the process of being introduced in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Spain. No law is perfect—absolutely not—but that does not mean we should not work on banning trade with the illegal settlements.
Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)
I thank the hon. Lady for her powerful speech. She talks about international law; does she agree with me on the importance of applying it consistently? In particular, given that the UK has rightly imposed sanctions and trade restrictions elsewhere—notably on Russia—does she agree that the same measures need to be applied to the Israeli Government’s illegal settlements on Palestinian territory?
Harpreet Uppal
I do agree.
The statistics that I referred to must remain in our minds as we focus on illegal settlements, which are rapidly eroding the prospects for peaceful co-existence and a viable independent Palestinian state. Finally, I say to the Minister that it is imperative that we avoid the real prospect of doing too little, too late.
Steel Tariffs
Harpreet Uppal Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Chris McDonald
I can go further than understanding and offer some practical advice, if that is helpful. The first thing to check is whether the steels that the hon. Member mentions are made, or could be made, in the UK—the “could be made” is important. He is shaking his head, so I assume that they are not made in the UK but are caught in a category group simply because the groups are so broad, and they might represent a small part of that group. That is the purpose of the quota. If the hon. Member’s businesses feel that the quota is too small for their needs and for other businesses in the sector, they should urgently get in touch with me.
Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)
Local manufacturers in Huddersfield have raised real concerns with me, particularly about the unintended consequences of this policy, the lack of a level playing field for raw materials and finished imports, and uncertainty around supply. Some are already seeing cost inflation in key steel outputs. Can the Minister please look at these matters again? Categories 14 and 27 have also been raised with me, and we must communicate better with our local companies.
Chris McDonald
My hon. Friend mentions categories 14 and 27, and perhaps her businesses could share their views with me. She says that we must communicate better. I am absolutely determined to communicate as much as possible, so if she gets her businesses to get in touch with me and my officials, we will take their representations into account.
Specialist Manufacturing Sector: Regional Economies
Harpreet Uppal Excerpts(8 months, 1 week ago)
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Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour the Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn) for securing the debate. We have some Yorkshire people here today.
Our manufacturing towns and communities have long been the engine rooms of this country. They built our economy, drove innovation and gave generations of working-class families good, secure jobs and pride in their local identity. From textiles and engineering to precision manufacturing, these industries shaped the story of our country.
In my constituency of Huddersfield, that story runs deep. The town’s industrial heritage is woven into its very fabric—literally, as Huddersfield’s rich textile history dates back to the early 1700s. Since establishing a worldwide reputation for the manufacturing of fine woollen and worsted cloth, the words “Made in Huddersfield” have been a highly revered global brand. Merchants travelled from across the world to buy Huddersfield cloth, and generations of local workers powered an industry known for exceptional craftsmanship, precision and skill. I have seen at first hand the skill and dedication needed to work in these industries, as my dad worked as a weaver for over 30 years at a local textile firm, C & J Antich & Sons. It makes the cloth for the best fashion houses in the world, as well as putting together materials for Formula 1 cars, which is very exciting.
The truth is that manufacturing matters to Huddersfield, and it matters that we make things in our country. Since becoming the MP for Huddersfield, I have had the opportunity to meet and visit many incredible family-owned and locally born manufacturers working in Huddersfield. That includes W. T. Johnson & Sons, a fourth-generation family-run textile finishing firm that has operated in Huddersfield since 1910; David Brown, a defence manufacturer providing highly complex equipment to the defence industry; the Textile Centre of Excellence, which provides training and research; Thomas Broadbent & Sons, which has run its company in Huddersfield since 1864; Olympus Technologies, which has been designing robotic solutions since the 1980s; Camira Yarns, a woollen spun yarn specialist that was founded in Huddersfield in the 1860s; and Reliance Precision, which has been around for 60 years and does some highly technical stuff that I do not fully understand, but it is very exciting. I also recently attended a roundtable hosted by the Calderdale and Kirklees Manufacturing Alliance.
On those visits, manufacturers and industry leaders often told me the same story. They want to grow, innovate and recruit locally, but there is an issue with finding a younger workforce, so continued investment in vocational training and partnerships between industry and education is really important. Energy costs continue to be a concern, and they want to make sure manufacturing —not just advanced manufacturing—is a strategic priority for this Government. We must invest in the businesses that make things here in Britain.
The ongoing impact of Brexit on trade and the supply chain is a concern for some businesses. SMEs particularly need support with cyber-security. Could the Minister explain what support is available to them? There was also some positive feedback on the export growth programme, which provides tailored advice to industry, and businesses asked what we can do to make sure that model goes further.
These businesses are not nostalgic for the past; they are building for the future. The challenge and the opportunity is to make sure that the benefits of that innovation reach the people and places who need them most. Skills and workforce development will be particularly important for that. Without long-term funding for skills, the system will continue to fall short of what both learners and employers need. If we invest in people, prioritise skills and provide stability for the specialist industries that underpin our economy, we can restore pride and prosperity to the regions that built this country. That means creating secure, high-quality jobs. It means keeping our young people in the towns where we grew up, and it means ensuring that the next generation can take pride in the industries that define their communities.
Oral Answers to Questions
Harpreet Uppal Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Gareth Thomas
The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise the issue of Capture. As he will know, we have published our response to the independent Kroll report on the Capture software issue and the way in which the Post Office responded to the data that came out of it. We have been meeting sub-postmasters who used the Capture system and who were the victims in that regard to talk through a redress scheme with them. We are also working closely with the Criminal Cases Review Commission and have made it clear to the Post Office that it must co-operate with requests from the CCRC so that we can speed up its deliberations on the 21 cases.
Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)
I recently met a constituent who is a former postmaster affected by the Horizon scandal. He has applied for compensation but feels that the process is taking too long, with unreasonable asks. Given the legal ruling that postmasters should be afforded the benefit of the doubt, what steps is the Department taking to ensure that compensation claims are processed fairly and without delays that could further affect the victims?
Gareth Thomas
As my hon. Friend will know, we inherited a compensation process that was perceived by many sub-postmasters as being slow, legalistic and adversarial, so we have already taken a series of steps to try to speed things up, particularly in trying to get out more fixed-sum payments—for example, we are moving in more staff to support work on the compensation process. If she would like me to look in more detail at her constituency case, I am very happy to do so.