Iran-Israel Update Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Iran-Israel Update

Jason McCartney Excerpts
Monday 15th April 2024

(2 months, 2 weeks ago)

Commons Chamber
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Rishi Sunak Portrait The Prime Minister
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We have already sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals and, as I have said, we are discussing with our allies what more we can do.

Jason McCartney Portrait Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)
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I join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to the Royal Air Force personnel who were on operations over the weekend. I also join him on the importance of de-escalating, calling for maximum restraint and, on Gaza, working towards that sustainable ceasefire. A flood of aid is going into Gaza to help the humanitarian efforts there. We all want to see an end to the bloodshed. I echo what the Chair of the Defence Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Sir Jeremy Quin), said—what we saw over the weekend shows the importance of investing in air defence systems to defend civilians from hostile regimes.

Rishi Sunak Portrait The Prime Minister
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Whether it is with Ukraine, where we have provided AMRAAM and Starstreak missiles, or here at home, where we placed new contracts at the beginning of this year to improve our air defence capability, it is a key capability that we need to invest in, and ideally we need to produce more of it here at home.