Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Kit Malthouse Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I believe it has been incredibly important for the UK to engage diplomatically in relation to this conflict. It is absolutely right that we have sought to work with partners on these issues, that we have supported statements within the UN Security Council, that we have worked with partners in the region, that we have sought to achieve change, and that we sought to ensure the ceasefire was agreed.

We need to see more hostages released, we need a surge of aid into Gaza and, ultimately, we need to work with other countries towards the two-state solution that is so necessary. I believe our work has been important, and I believe that Members would not have forgiven the UK Government if we had not engaged determinedly with those actions.

My hon. Friend asks about the UK’s position, particularly on the right to return. We have stated very clearly, including at the highest level with the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday, that those who are walking through the rubble to get back to their homes and communities in Gaza must be allowed home. Of course, in saying that, the Prime Minister is restating international law.

[Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)]

Does the Minister accept that we got here after 16 months of weakness and vacillation by both this Government and the previous Government? As we contemplate the hundreds of thousands of people who are returning to their homes to dig out their relatives from under the rubble, the welcome return of the hostages, and the 40,000-odd orphans—and even more amputees—does she recognise that the hot air we have heard from both Governments, frankly, got us to a situation in which the Israelis are demolishing buildings in Jenin with people still inside and in which the President of the United States is openly contemplating the forcible transfer of Palestinians?

If the right hon. Lady accepts that vacillation, will she confirm a couple of things for the avoidance of doubt? First, are Arabs, and Palestinians in particular, entitled to the same protections under international law as everybody else? Secondly, do we still affirm our support for UN Security Council resolution 3236, which guarantees the Palestinians’ safety, security and sovereignty in their own land? If so, when will she stop just talking about it and actually take action to enforce these matters in law?

[Anneliese Dodds]

As the right hon. Member is aware and as we have discussed previously, this UK Government have taken a different approach from the previous Government on matters of accountability. We were very clear that the UK’s arms export regime had to be held to and operated in line with international humanitarian law. That underwrote the decisions we took in the autumn: we said we would examine that regime and deliver on it, and we examined that regime and suspended a number of licences. He is also aware about the new UK Government’s different position on the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and UNRWA, and he is aware that we resumed funding for UNRWA.

I do not want to labour the point because so many hon. Members want to ask questions, but it is important that the UK has engaged in diplomacy and sought to work with our partners. I believe hon. Members would expect the UK Government to do that and to engage with the UN on these matters, rather than to walk away. I would underline that international law is universal: it must be—that is its founding principle. It operates regardless of circumstance or which population and individuals we are talking about. On the right hon. Member’s last point, we have been very clear about the right to return.

Gaza and Lebanon

Kit Malthouse Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her remarks, and congratulate her on her leadership of the International Development Committee. This Government have shown that we are absolutely determined to play our part with UK leadership on these issues, which are of such desperate concern to our constituents and, of course, to the whole world. That has meant there has been serious engagement at every level, including in the first days of the new Government coming into office. There has been engagement at the highest level from the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and me—right across Government—with our counterparts, whether they be the Palestinian Authority, the Lebanese Government, the Israeli Government, other regional actors or the US. More broadly, we are determined to ensure that the cease- fires that are so desperately needed are put into place and that we play our part in facing up to the humanitarian crisis that we see unfolding.

[Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)]

Even if you care little for the tens of thousands of dead Arabs and the millions displaced; even if you could not give a damn for the children shot in the head or the burning hospital inmates in northern Gaza; if your only concern is the security of Israel, can the Minister see any argument why yet another massacre of Gazans will enhance that security in the future? If she cannot, when will the Government stop wringing their hands at this conflict and take positive, active steps to enforce international law and bring about a ceasefire?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I could not disagree more with the right hon. Gentleman’s characterisation of the UK Government’s approach. I mentioned a few moments ago the engagement that has taken place, but I want to be crystal clear that the new UK Government have always supported international humanitarian law. That is why we have been clear from the first moment of entering office that we support the mandate of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. We reviewed arms export licences—something that the previous Government had not done—because we believed that was a legal imperative. We will continue to take action to show that UK leadership, which the UK population and those globally are looking to our country to deliver.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kit Malthouse Excerpts

Wednesday 12th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

Obviously, the House will be concerned to hear about the case of the hon. Lady’s constituent, as I am. The hon. Lady will know that one of the effects of the transition from DLA to PIP is that more people are now eligible for support—particularly those, as it happens, with mental health problems. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will have heard her point, and I have no doubt that if she contacts him, he will look into the case personally.

[Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)]

Q7. Some of the most distressing cases that I and other Members see in our constituency surgeries are those involving domestic violence. The Queen’s Speech has promised a Bill to help to strengthen our confrontation of this problem, so will the Deputy Prime Minister—sorry, the First Secretary—tell us when we can expect this legislation, urgently needed as it is, and what the Government are doing about this problem while we await it?

[Damian Green]

I agree that this is a hugely important issue, and my hon. Friend is right that we have committed in the Queen’s Speech to introduce a domestic abuse Bill in this Session, which I hope will be a landmark in this important area. What we want to do in the Bill is set in motion a transformation not just to protect and support victims, but to recognise the lifelong impact domestic abuse can have on children and to make sure that the agencies respond effectively to domestic abuse. We will, of course, be consulting all the relevant professions and voluntary groups on this, but we are absolutely determined to press ahead with this very important legislation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kit Malthouse Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

As we have said throughout the progress of the Housing and Planning Bill, on the Floor of the House and in Committee, we are looking at tapering to bring this in and we are working with the sector itself. It is absolutely right that we come up with a deal that is also fair for taxpayers, to make sure that as people earn more and can afford to pay towards their home they do so in a way that always makes it pay to work.

[Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)]

I assume that the Minister is aware that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s local plan is due for adoption this spring. Could he reassure the council’s planning committee that it can now start to make decisions in line with that plan, safe in the knowledge that the planning inspector will not overturn those decisions, thus protecting the countryside from speculative development?

[Brandon Lewis]

That is good news. My hon. Friend outlines another local plan that is in its later stages. I can confirm that, as a local plan gets to those later stages, it picks up more weight, so the local authority should be making planning decisions in line with the local plan. That is the right thing to do for local communities.