Israeli-Palestinian Peace: International Fund

Kevin Bonavia Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) on securing this debate. He alluded to precedents and I want to talk about one, because the UK has been a trailblazer for peacebuilding in complex conflicts around the world, but most notably in Northern Ireland.

The attention of the world has naturally been drawn to the destruction and the suffering of the peoples of both Palestine and Israel since the devastating Hamas attacks and throughout the subsequent war. I believe that the UK has a unique contribution to make in the area of civil society and people-to-people peacebuilding in Israel and Palestine. In the mid-1980s, when a political peace process was non-existent, the international community decided to intervene at the grassroots level with the International Fund for Ireland. Expert effort was put into investing in civil society to create the social, economic and political foundations for peace. Twelve years later, the landscape in Northern Ireland was transformed, with genuine constituencies for peace. That allowed the negotiation of the Good Friday agreement. That model is one of the areas of peacebuilding in which we in the UK have unparalleled experience. Today, thanks to the tireless work of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, there is cross-party support for an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Indeed, the precedent does not just show that the UK can take a leading role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but that a Labour Government are particularly well placed to do so. It was Jonathan Powell, who was the Downing Street chief of staff in the 1990s and is now the Prime Minister’s national security adviser, who led the Good Friday agreement talks. Because of its investment in civil society at a moment when peace seemed distant, he characterised the International Fund for Ireland as

“the great unsung hero of the peace process”.

Today, we have an opportunity to play a similar role in a similarly intractable conflict. That is why I am so pleased that the Government have indicated their intention to do so, most recently in December with the Prime Minister’s announcement that the Foreign Secretary will convene an inaugural meeting to discuss next steps with partners. I end by asking whether the Minister can provide us with an update on when the meeting in London will take place and on which partners will be involved. I also ask what plans the Government have to use next week’s G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Canada to raise the establishment of an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. It is unquestionable that this summit is an opportunity to make the real progress that I believe only a Labour Government can make in these circumstances.

Ukraine

Kevin Bonavia Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

The UK, of course, supports the US-led efforts to get a lasting peace in Ukraine that deters Russia from future aggression and ensures that Ukraine is at the table as we negotiate that peace. That is the issue that we will be discussing with President Trump, just as President Macron is discussing that issue today. I am quite sure that our assessment that Putin is not ready, really, to negotiate on proper terms stands, but I admire the efforts to bring that about. Of course, the US plays a central role in achieving that.

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

Today, we pay tribute to the people of Ukraine fighting not only for their own freedom but for the freedom of all Europe. The Foreign Secretary said that we must learn from history. Over 80 years ago in Munich, this country and others talked away the future of Czechoslovakia without it being there and stripped it of its vital resources; we all know the tragic consequences. Today, there can be no peace without Ukraine, and there can be no enduring peace without the security that this country and other NATO allies can give to it.

[Mr Lammy]

My hon. Friend puts his remarks well. I agree with him.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill [Lords]

Kevin Bonavia Excerpts

Committee stage & Report stage
Wednesday 13th November 2024 Public Bill Committees

[Monica Harding]

The Bill provides for international organisation status to be conferred on the CPA. It has promoted and strengthened parliamentary democracy since its establishment in 1911, and it facilitates mutual dialogue and learning. The diversity of experience across the 53 Commonwealth countries provides numerous opportunities for us to learn from one another in our shared aspiration of good parliamentary governance. Good governance is ever-moving and our aim should be that it is ever-improving. We support enhancing the status of the CPA by granting it the required protections and immunities, with new status as an international inter-parliamentary organisation.

The Liberal Democrats are pleased to welcome the Bill, which we hope will simplify the challenges that the CPA faces in its work across the world, and keep both institutions secure in the UK. We are proud of their work, and the Bill is testament to our shared commitment to them.

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I wish to declare a personal interest: I am a director and trustee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK branch. It is a non-pecuniary interest.

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

I, too, would like to declare an interest as a member of the UK branch of the CPA. I also echo the welcome to the shadow Foreign Secretary; she had the wisdom to attend Keele University in Newcastle-under-Lyme, so her and I are best friends on that basis. I also place on record my thanks to Stephen Twigg and all those who work at the CPA; they do wonderful work, and I am pleased to be here to support the Bill.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Negotiations

Kevin Bonavia Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

Up against a tough geopolitical environment in which Russia, Iran, North Korea and China are far from playing by the global rules, it is hugely important that this country is one that supports the rules-based order, and it is hugely important that this facility has been secured for longer than anybody else in this Parliament was able to do. That is what we have secured. I trust the judgment of our closest ally, not that of the hon. Gentleman.

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

I welcome the fact that an agreement has been reached over the Chagos islands that helps to right a historic wrong and guarantees the security that we need. Among the confected outrage from the Opposition Benches we have heard the expected scaremongering over the future of other territories, including Gibraltar. Both the Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) have in recent months reaffirmed the double lock on Gibraltar’s sovereignty, meaning not only that Gibraltarian sovereignty will never be altered without its people’s consent but that the UK Government will never enter into a process of negotiation with which the Gibraltarian people are not content. Does that remain the case?

[Mr Lammy]

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. My hon. Friend the Minister of State communicated that with a letter to the Prime Minister just a few weeks ago. What we have seen in the last few days from the Opposition has been wholly irresponsible.