Oral Answers to Questions

Joe Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

We have been clear about the importance of mobilising the Russian sovereign assets in order to invest in and support Ukraine. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the proposal put forward by the EU, which we support, is for reparation loans based on those sovereign assets that would allow us to maintain the appropriate stability and approach to the financial markets, and also to mobilise those assets to support Ukraine. The purpose is to ensure that Russia pays for the damage that it has done, as it should, and we will continue to press for those Russian sovereign assets to be mobilised for Ukraine.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

5. What steps her Department is taking to help improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

[Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)]

11. What steps her Department is taking to help improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Yvette Cooper)]

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire as winter weather draws in, while thousands of families do not have proper shelter. This weekend, after more than a year’s delay, we were finally able to get UK-funded tents into Gaza through Kerem Shalom, working with UNICEF. Those tents will provide critical shelter for 12,000 people, but more support is needed, so from today the Government will also match, pound for pound, new donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s middle east appeal over the winter, with an additional £3 million of support through those charities to help the people who are most in need and get support to families in Gaza.

[Joe Morris]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for her response. I am very concerned about recent reports that over 1,000 tents that were consigned were prevented from entering Gaza. Can she assure me that we are doing whatever we can to get this aid from the UK—tents to provide shelter as winter approaches—through the border to those who need it the most?

[Yvette Cooper]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We are continuing to press to get increased humanitarian aid in. The level of aid is increasing, and as we have seen, we have been able to get the UK-funded tents into Gaza. However, I have seen some of the warehouses in Amman that still hold UK-funded aid—wheat that could feed hundreds of thousands of people—that we need to get into Gaza, which is why we need all the crossings opened.