Anniversary of 7 October Attacks: Middle East

Debate between Keir Starmer and Mohammad Yasin

Monday 7th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No, there has been no stepping back of support for Israel. We have been absolutely robust in that support. I have expressed it many times in different places, including to the Prime Minister of Israel. We will continue to support Israel and we will continue to support Israel’s right to defend herself. The House is at its best when it speaks with once voice.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

It has been a year of profound suffering, darkness and trauma. Tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed and displaced, yet the world has learned nothing. The prospect of a two-state solution is a distant dream and the odds on all-out war in the middle east are growing by the day. The unimaginable devastation has to stop; the only hope is a diplomatic solution. Will the Prime Minister assure me that the Government are doing everything in their power to bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire across the region?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and we are not doing it alone. We are working with our allies in relation to it— last week, I spoke to G7 allies about it, and we speak constantly to the US about it—because we need to de-escalate across the region. We have seen escalation in recent days and weeks, and all sides need to pull back from the brink.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Keir Starmer and Mohammad Yasin

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have already set up a taskforce to put that vigour in place, as well as introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, abolishing no-fault evictions, reviewing the decent homes standard, adopting Awaab’s law and having a plan to make work pay. Before the right hon. Gentleman lectures everyone else, he should explain why, since the SNP came to power, there are 30,000 more children in poverty in Scotland.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

Q8. I am pleased to see the Government’s swift action in officially calling for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, a rapid increase of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the restoration of funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, as well as their commitment to comply with potential International Criminal Court arrest warrants and to recognise a Palestinian state, but too many innocent people are still dying every day. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, so what further pressure can the Prime Minister apply to bring about an urgent ceasefire?

[The Prime Minister]

Both the Foreign Secretary and I have set out the urgent need for a ceasefire to Prime Minister Netanyahu. We want a pathway to a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable, sovereign Palestinian state. I used my first overseas trip as Prime Minister, particularly at NATO, to raise this subject with world leaders. Under a Labour Government, it will be discussed, negotiated on and fought for at the highest levels on the world stage. The alternative is protesting on street corners. Ultimately, only one of those will deliver change.