Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Lady will know that Israel did offer fuel yesterday, but Hamas did not allow it to be accepted.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I congratulate Lord Cameron on his appointment as Foreign Secretary. I know that he will be well respected in foreign capitals. However, as Mr Speaker said yesterday, there is a scrutiny problem for this House of Commons. Many of my constituents care deeply about the Israel-Palestine situation and other issues, such as the ongoing negotiations on the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Therefore, in order to enhance Commons scrutiny, will the Foreign Office commit to the Secretary of State’s coming before the Foreign Affairs Committee on the same regular cycle that the Foreign Secretary would have appeared at the Dispatch Box for FCDO questions?

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. We are committed to ensuring that this House can fully scrutinise everything that the Foreign Office does, and his suggestion about a similar pattern of appearances for the Foreign Secretary before the Foreign Affairs Committee is a good one.