G7 Summit

James Naish Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for the manner in which he put his remarks and for his tribute to the Prime Minister for his public service. I will relay that to the Prime Minister when I see him later.

On Ukraine, I am pleased to confirm that I hope to go to the Ukraine recovery conference later this week to continue to discuss these issues. The right hon. Gentleman is right to raise the issue of frozen Russian assets, which remain a long-standing item of discussion across G7 nations. He recognises that some European countries are more exposed than others, and I hope that we can break the deadlock soon.

The right hon. Gentleman also raises the deal in the strait of Hormuz. It is a fragile deal, and the continued bombardment of Lebanon, which is affecting the fragile ceasefire in relation to Lebanon that is holding as of this morning, particularly pertains to that. We call for restraint from Israel particularly. It is important that we maintain peace across the region at this time.

I can confirm that the defence investment plan will be published before the NATO summit. I think it is important that the Prime Minister is in post for that NATO summit. The right hon. Gentleman will recall that I was the first Foreign Secretary to return to the top table of Foreign Secretaries in Europe, and I hope that the EU summit takes place as soon as possible.

[James Naish (Rushcliffe) (Lab)]

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his update on a range of issues from the G7 summit. Could he set out how the Government’s work to de-escalate things in the middle east will help families in Britain and my constituency, specifically when it comes to protecting shipping routes, reducing energy pressures and keeping prices down?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I pay tribute to the Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister and our National Security Adviser for their determination to keep the strait of Hormuz open and their work with partners to bring together a coalition to achieve that. We stand ready to help, particularly with de-mining. We all want to reassure industry and get back to freedom of travel down the strait of Hormuz. All of that will affect the cost of living in this country and stabilise our economy and the global economy.