Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help ensure that Israel uphold its obligations under international law.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly opposes Israel's recent resumption of hostilities. The Foreign Secretary has been engaged in intensive diplomacy since to restore a ceasefire, get hostages out and aid in. He has spoken to US Secretary Rubio, to EU High Representative Kallas, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar and will shortly speak to Palestinian Prime Minister Mustafa. On international law the Foreign Secretary, with his French and German Counterparts, has publicly urged Israel to uphold its obligations and warned Israel that its block on aid to Gaza risks violating International Humanitarian Law.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will suspend arms sales to Israel.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have continued to review export licences for items to Israel and assess that there are no extant licences for items that might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian law. This is subject to the specific measures set out to Parliament excluding exports to the global F-35 programme from the scope of the suspension. There are a number of export licences which we have assessed are not for use by the Israeli Defense Forces in military operations in Gaza and therefore do not require suspension. These include military items such as components for trainer aircraft or components for air defence systems, and other, non-military, items such as food-testing chemicals, telecoms and data equipment.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department plans to take to support vulnerable claimants through upcoming changes to the Personal Independence Payment assessment process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There will be no immediate changes. Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity in to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval.
We recognise that as a department we come into contact with some claimants who have complex needs or are vulnerable. The department already has processes in place to support and safeguard people who use our services, and we will continue to provide this support as changes are taken forward. We want to go further so that there is a clear and transparent process in place to ensure vulnerable individuals are adequately supported. In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we have committed to undertaking a thorough review of our current approach to safeguarding, with the aim of developing and implementing a new departmental wide approach.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to Personal Independence Payments on disabled people in the Dewsbury and Batley constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course with some information published this week alongside the Spring Statement.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.