Gaza: Humanitarian Aid and Children

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Thursday 8th February 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

Thank you for calling me to speak so quickly, Ms Vaz. I was rushing here—I had trouble with my journey, and I think you got that message. I am obliged to you.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) on securing the debate. It is absolutely timely and absolutely essential that this debate be held, because the war has just become a horror show—a horror show of bodies being taken away, of unknown numbers hidden under rubble in Gaza, and of the terrible devastation caused by all the other disasters that war brings about, such as shortage of water, shortage of food, shortage of medicine and everything else.

Obviously what happened on 7 October was appalling by any stretch of the imagination, and the continued hostage-holding of a number of children obviously has to be brought to an end as quickly as it possibly can. But as the Secretary-General of the United Nations pointed out at the time, this did not all come from nowhere; it comes from the siege of Gaza, which has gone on for a very long time, and also, of course, the occupation of the west bank. I recall many visits I have made to Gaza and the west bank, some in the company of my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter), on a number of occasions. Every time I have been to Gaza, I always felt, “It can’t get any worse.” Then you go back there and it is even worse. Now, the bombing has made it absolutely appalling.

The International Court of Justice hearing was a seminal moment in many ways. I went to the ICJ hearing, at the invitation of the South African delegation, and I was there in the Court for the whole of the hearing. It lasted a very long time, and it was painstakingly presented by South Africa. There was a certain synergy about South Africa, a country that had come out of apartheid, presenting a case, essentially on behalf of the Palestinian people, that the behaviour of the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza was tantamount to acts of genocide against the Palestinian people. The statement made as a result of the ICJ hearing, which should be read very carefully, calls upon Israel to cease activities in the Gaza strip that could be construed as a continuation of genocidal acts against the Palestinian people. It is quite important that the world recognises that, in essence, it was calling for an urgent and immediate ceasefire and an increase in aid going through. That aid has increased very slightly, but it is very difficult to deliver aid when you are under bombardment at the same time.

There are now more than 1 million people around the Rafah crossing. It is a small town. It is grotesquely overcrowded and has a shortage of absolutely everything. One can cite many images, but I saw one the other day of two children—they looked five or six—walking down the road together, hand in hand. They were a boy and a girl. The girl was holding a bottle with a small amount of water in it, and they were aimlessly wandering about. When they saw anyone, they said, “Do you know where we can get food?” The world should not treat children that way, particularly when a few kilometres away there is plenty of food, medicine and clean water deliberately being denied to those people. This country signed the UN convention on the rights of the child in 1989—there is a stone commemorating that in Hyde Park—and we should abide by it.

The UK Government’s decision to withhold further funding to UNRWA until the inquiries have taken place is beyond regrettable. When he announced his decision in Parliament, the Foreign Office Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), pointed out that payments had already been made and that this was withholding future payments that might be due after April. Well, I think we need a bit more certainty than that that we will continue supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency. Around one third of its income is now at risk or already gone.

The case against the people who are alleged to have taken part in the 7 October event has not yet been backed up with evidence, not yet been presented and not yet been concluded. In any event, if there is a case against individuals who were employed by UNRWA, let us bring it forward, bring it into the open and have the hearing. But to deny the whole organisation funding and to deny the staff of UNRWA continued employment all across the piece—in the refugee camps and the west bank as well as in Gaza—seems to me to be totally wrong and unfair. I hope that when the Minister who is here today replies, he will be able to assure us that we will rapidly resume funding for UNRWA.

I have visited many UNRWA depots over the years, with my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith and others, in the west bank, Gaza and indeed the refugee camps. It is an underfunded organisation, anyway. It performs superhuman tasks just to provide food, medicine and education for Palestinian people. It is the oldest UN agency. We have to recognise the absolute importance of that.

The question of food supply to Gaza is obviously critical. The population is very young and possibly half of the 27,000 recorded deaths in Gaza will be of young people or children. The number who are still under the rubble is enormous. There is very limited access for outside help to get in. The numbers of medical staff who have been killed are huge, as are the numbers of journalists who could report on the situation—80 journalists have already lost their lives in Gaza. This is a horror show on live TV all over the world.

The idea that, somehow or other, this country can adopt a policy of not funding the one agency that can deliver help, food, aid and medicine to the children of Gaza I find to be completely unconscionable.

[Mr Dhesi]

Like my right hon. Friend, I have seen the amazing work of UNRWA on the ground in Palestine. We in the UK and across the globe cannot become desensitised to the civilian deaths that we are witnessing, especially those of thousands of innocent children, and there has been no let-up to the suffering in Gaza. Does my right hon. Friend agree that with so many displaced, desperate and hungry people and with potential aid cuts and continuing conflict, there is a real danger of a deadly famine engulfing Gaza as well?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

My hon. Friend is right. Frankly, the famine is already there. The number of people dying from wholly preventable conditions in the southern part of the Gaza strip is already greater than the number who have been killed by the daily bombardment there. And what are they dying from? Diarrhoea, hunger, malnutrition and lack of any kind of medicine.

I talked to a doctor who I met in Leeds two weeks ago when I was at an event in support of the people of Gaza. He told me that he had done something that he had hoped he would never, ever have to do in his life: perform an amputation on somebody without anaesthetic —on a child. Imagine being a professional doctor who has taken the Hippocratic oath and having to put a child through the most unbelievable pain in order to, hopefully, save their life. He told me of cases where he has performed a successful operation, in the sense that the operation was carried out, but the patient has then died of a heart attack because of the pain inflicted on them. None of that is necessary. Medical aid and anaesthetics could get there if only they were allowed in.

Currently, in the southern end of the Gaza strip there are reported to be 135,000 cases of diarrhoea; they have been recorded by those doctors who remain there. That is 13.5% of the people around Rafah and possibly even more than that. Diarrhoea is a killer, particularly of children, because it means that they cannot feed food down or keep their body hydrated; it is an absolute killer.

In addition, no child has been to school anywhere in the Gaza strip since November—so that is three months of education already lost. Even if the bombardment and fighting stopped tomorrow, there is no school to be reopened; there would have to be schools in tents for months, if not years, to come. The children affected will be physically devastated, and mentally scarred and devastated. What is the next generation going to be like when they have been through this horrific experience?

Surely, therefore, it is incumbent on all of us to do everything we can to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and save the lives of children. The messages are there—from the UN, from all the children’s agencies, from the World Food Programme, from Amnesty International, from Human Rights Watch and from a whole range of other people who have either been to Gaza or managed to pick up information about what is going on there regarding the crying need for help, particularly for children. That help can best be achieved by a ceasefire.

The Government announced that they were providing £87 million of aid; I am sure that the Minister will correct me if I have got that figure wrong. However, it was not clear how that aid was going to be delivered, how it was going to be dispersed or who was going to disperse it. I gently say to the Minister that the existing agencies that have done so much work for so long and managed to ensure the continuation of a health service of some sort throughout Palestine but particularly in Gaza, such as Palestinian Red Crescent and others, are the best people to do it. The most important role that any of us anywhere else in the world can play is absolutely to demand peace in the region and a solution to this crisis, starting with an immediate and permanent ceasefire to stop the killing of so many children in Gaza.

As somebody who has been in this House for quite a while and in Israel, Gaza and the west bank, including in the refugee camps, on nine occasions, I feel the sense of hope that children there have. I went to a primary school in Jabalia refugee camp; I have been there twice, on successive visits. It was a beautifully run if underfunded school. From the roof of the school, it was possible to see the fence—the border with Israel. We met the children; this was a primary school, so they were 10 or 11-year-olds. They were excitable, artistic, enjoyable to be with, full of ideas, full of hope and full of aspirations. I always left that school feeling, “Well, these children will be a huge asset to the country of the future, as they are the citizens of the future.” The school has now been destroyed—completely destroyed. Those kids have lost their school. Having lost their homes, the one strong factor in their lives had been their sense of a place to go to school, and that applies to every other school across the Gaza strip, as well as to every hospital across the Gaza strip.

Let us give all the aid we can to UNRWA now and give all the support we can now to the people of Gaza—particularly the children, so that they may grow up to at least live without the threat of being bombed day in and day out. But above all, get off the fence and get on the side of supporting a ceasefire now to save life in Gaza and bring about a long-term peace for all the people of the region, before this thing degenerates into a ghastly war that engulfs the whole region.

As you can gather, Ms Vaz, I feel extremely strongly about this issue, but it is not just me. I am stopped by people in the street who have never shown the slightest interest in international affairs or politics of any sort, but they now say, “Please, please, you’re our MP—do what you can to save life in Gaza!”

Financial and Social Emergency Support Package

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Wednesday 25th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Corbyn]

If employers are putting us all at risk by forcing people to work in a non-essential industry or company or non-essential work, they should be sanctioned, and those sanctions should include fines. They have to understand that they have a responsibility as well.

The Government should ensure the closure of any construction work that is not urgent or health and safety-related, just as Transport for London and the Scottish Government have already done—and remember, both have many major building projects going on at any one time.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

Having worked in the construction industry for the past two decades, I appreciate how critical that industry is. Does my right hon. Friend agree that because of the Government’s mixed messages and the lack of support for the many workers in that industry who are self-employed, freelance, working as consultants or on zero-hours contracts, they are left in the unenviable position of having to get on the tube and go to work, because they have no other source of income? That is why the Government must step in, give a clear and concise message and support the self-employed workers in the construction industry.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

My hon. Friend anticipates the point I was about to make. We have all seen the images this morning of construction workers packed on to the London tube and other trains all around the country, going on to site because it is the only way they can earn a living, and putting themselves and all of us at risk as a result. Action has to be taken now on this.

European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Tuesday 29th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Angela Smith]

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

[Mr Dhesi]

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I give way to my hon. Friend.

Hon. Members: “Oh!”

[Mr Dhesi]

I can see that I am very well liked here. Does my right hon. Friend agree that clear, close and collaborative describes the relationship proposed by his amendment? That is why we need a customs union. The unions, Labour members and others are telling us that we need a customs union with our neighbours.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and, of course, he is right. If we are to protect jobs and industries and maintain living standards, there has to be a customs union.

No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Wednesday 16th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Who has confidence in this Government’s ability to negotiate a future trade deal with the EU by December 2020 after the shambles that we have all witnessed over the past two years? This Frankenstein deal is now officially dead, and the Prime Minister is trying to blame absolutely everybody else.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

In modern British history, when faced with a defeat even a fraction of the size of the titanic and calamitous margin that the Prime Minister faced yesterday, Prime Ministers have done the right and honourable thing and have resigned and called a general election. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Prime Minister, in the pursuit of power and the trappings of office, has now forgotten what is right and honourable?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. As I made clear, all the precedents are that when a Government experiences a defeat like last night’s, it is time to resign and allow the people to elect a new Parliament to deal with the issues facing the country.

Let me be clear that the blame for this mess lies firmly at the feet of the Prime Minister and her Government, who have time after time made hollow demands and given what turned out to be false promises. They say that they want this Parliament to be sovereign. Yet when their plans have come up against scrutiny, they have done all they can to obstruct and evade. The Prime Minister’s original plan was to push through a deal without the appropriate approval of this Parliament, only to be forced into holding a meaningful vote by the courts and by Members of this House, to whom I pay tribute for ensuring that we actually had the meaningful vote last night.

Exiting the European Union: Meaningful Vote

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Tuesday 11th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the Prime Minister’s unprecedented decision not to proceed with the final two days of debate and the meaningful vote, despite the House’s Order of Tuesday 4 December 2018, and her failure to allow this House to express its view on the Government’s deal or her proposed negotiating objectives, without the agreement of this House.

I have had the privilege of serving this House for 35 years, and I have had strong disagreements with every Prime Minister who has served in that time—it is all there on the record—but I have never, in all those years, witnessed such an abject mess as this Prime Minister is making of these crucial Brexit negotiations and in presenting her deal to the House. Most Prime Ministers lose votes and get things wrong, but yesterday she demeaned her office by unilaterally taking her discredited deal off the table and running away, rather than facing the verdict of this House. We should have been voting on it today. There is nothing wrong with standing by your principles, but this deal is not one of principle—or apparently not one that she is prepared to stand by, anyway. Yesterday the Government did not even have the decency to allow a vote on withdrawing the business. The Prime Minister let down all MPs and the people we represent, on both sides of this House, the overwhelming majority of whom know that this deal is dead and want to get on with putting a realistic solution in place.

I want to thank my colleagues in the Labour party who supported the application for the debate yesterday, and colleagues in all the other opposition parties who supported it, and indeed Conservative Members, on both sides of the debate, in order to ensure that a vote could take place.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the frequency with which the Government hold this Parliament in contempt, and the ease with which they mislead the British public, is frankly appalling and pathetic? [Interruption.] It is true. It is now alleged on BuzzFeed that the Prime Minister told top EU officials that she intended to pull the Brexit vote 24 hours before she told senior Cabinet members. Does my right hon. Friend agree—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I had wanted the hon. Gentleman to complete his intervention. I remind the House that interventions should be brief, not mini speeches, because there is a lot to get through and 32 Members want to contribute after the principal speakers.