Oral Answers to Questions

Harpreet Uppal Excerpts

Tuesday 26th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is horrific, and it is clear that rape is being used as a weapon of war. Recent data from Médecins Sans Frontières highlights that 90% of sexual violence survivors in a hospital in Chad were abused by armed perpetrators, and 50% were attacked in their homes. This is happening in 2024. Can the Foreign Secretary provide details on how the UK’s recent pledges on humanitarian aid for Sudan and the region are being used to support survivors of sexual and gender-based violence?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that incredibly concerning situation. The UK has been determined to do all that it can, particularly in relation to conflict-related sexual violence. In October 2024, it was the UK that led moves to secure the renewal of the mandate of the fact-finding mission at the United Nations Human Rights Council. As was just mentioned, we recently doubled humanitarian aid, and the Foreign Secretary also led efforts at the UN Security Council to take action on the humanitarian emergency in Sudan.

Ukraine: 1,000 Days

Harpreet Uppal Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I do not take issue with the right hon. Gentleman saying that there are still gaps and holes, and that Putin has been very clever in attempting to get around the sanctions that I put in place. But on 17 October we sanctioned a further 18 oil tankers in the Russian shadow fleet, bringing the total number to 43, and in the margins of the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace, we led the call for action on tackling the shadow fleet, which has now been endorsed by 46 countries in the European Union. Therefore, the suggestion that we are doing nothing does not hold. We will also continue to address the circumvention of sanctions, which includes highlighting the risk to partners such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates and supporting their efforts to continue to tackle the problem.

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

I welcome the statement by the Foreign Secretary. Will he join me in paying tribute to the Huddersfield Ukrainian Club, which continues to support families who have had to flee Ukraine, including many children? It is really important—probably now more than ever—that we work closely with our European allies, so can he set out how we will strengthen that co-operation? As Ukraine faces a long and challenging winter, how will we help it cope with the relentless attacks on its energy infrastructure?

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. As I outlined, this morning I spoke to a meeting of the Weimar group of nations across Europe. It is not a forum in which the UK traditionally participates, but I was very grateful to the Polish Foreign Minister, Radek Sikorski, for reaching out at this time and ensuring that the UK, Italy and Spain were part of that group, along with France and Germany. That is an indication of how united we are attempting to be at this time.

My hon. Friend rightly raises the big issues around energy over the next period. She calls to mind the pernicious attacks by Russia over the past 48 hours, which have been driven at those energy supplies and are basically trying to turn the lights out in Ukraine. We must do all that we can in a co-ordinated effort to repel that activity and to help Ukraine repel that activity over the coming months.