Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for the points she has made. I wish to join her in expressing sincere condolences to the families of those eight hostages who will not be able to be back with their families, as is their right, and as so many of us hoped would be the case. Their families must be suffering intensely now.

The hon. Lady’s point about displacement is well made. The UK position is very clear: the UK believes that international humanitarian law must be held to and that it must be feasible and, indeed, a reality that Gazans are able to return to their homes, including in northern Gaza. That has consistently been the UK Government’s position.

The hon. Lady asked about mine clearing and unexploded ordnance. As I said, it is really important that those areas are safe for people to come back to. I spoke with some specialists in this area last week. I know how meticulous and difficult the work of removing unexploded ordnance is. The UK is actively engaged with experts and considering what role we might be able to play, but above all, we are ensuring that there is a co-ordinated approach to this across our partners and international institutions.

The hon. Lady asks about children. The situation for children has been a priority for the UK Government, as it was for the previous Government. We have ensured that support from UK-Med is provided for children. Unfortunately, we have seen the pressure on children’s health coming through. The UK was heavily involved in seeking to deal with polio through the vaccination campaign, and we will continue to ensure that we do what we can to support children, particularly following the trauma that they have experienced.

Finally, on the issue of UNRWA, the hon. Lady is absolutely right: the deadline is coming up speedily and is in two days’ time. The UK Government remain absolutely committed to our position that no other organisation can operate at the scale or depth of UNRWA. It is absolutely essential for providing both direct humanitarian supplies and health and education services to Palestinians, and we will continue to make that very clear, as we have done repeatedly, to our Israeli counterparts, multilaterally and to our other partners as well.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

I am glad to hear of the uplift in funding for Gaza, and I share the Minister’s serious concerns about the effective ban on UNRWA coming into force this week. Of course, 60% of the food that has entered Gaza during the ceasefire has been delivered through UNRWA, which plays a vital lifesaving and stabilising role in the west bank by providing education to 50,000 Palestinian children, as well as healthcare, clean water and rubbish collection. What reassurances has the Minister had from Israel that if UNRWA can no longer operate, there is a viable and humane alternative way of getting support to the Palestinians?

[Anneliese Dodds]

Like other Members of the House, my hon. Friend has considerable experience of these issues, with a background in humanitarian services. The UK Government are very clear that UNRWA underpins the entire humanitarian response in Gaza. It has a vital role in delivering the uplift in humanitarian assistance that we need to see following the ceasefire and, as she rightly mentioned, education and health services. We are opposed to the Knesset legislation that was previously passed, and we call on Israel to work urgently with international partners, including the UN, so that there is no disruption to this vital work.

Sudan: US Determination of Genocide

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am pleased to see the right hon. Lady nodding.

The right hon. Lady asked about the political pushes and the mechanism we have been seeking to use. We will keep up the pressure at the UN Security Council, and the Foreign Secretary has been seeking to use that mechanism as much as possible. When we last discussed these matters, it was before the UK special representative to Sudan, Richard Crowder, was able to visit Port Sudan in December last year. I was pleased that happened as it was the first time we had had a UK delegation in Sudan since the conflict began. It is really important that we can be there to put pressure on the parties to the conflict.

As I have mentioned, we keep our sanctions under review but will not comment on future designations, for reasons that the right hon. Lady fully understands. We have been seeking to use our expertise. We are determined to do all we can to support the International Criminal Court, across a whole range of different theatres of conflict and different situations where it is active. Part of that work includes its activities in relation to Sudan.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

As we have heard, the situation for women and girls is particularly severe in Sudan, with reports of gender-based violence surging, including kidnapping, forced marriage, child marriage and intimate partner violence. In fact, the UN has reported a 288% increase in the number of survivors of gender-based violence seeking its case management services. Will the Minister outline what steps we are taking to ensure that those perpetrating gender-based violence are being held to account?

Impact of Conflict on Women and Girls

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) for securing today’s important debate. Before I go further, I declare an interest, having previously been executive director of the International Rescue Committee in the UK, which is part of a global humanitarian agency that supports women in conflict and crisis around the world.

As we heard from my hon. Friend, women and girls are suffering disproportionately from rising conflict around the world. The number of women living in conflict zones has surged: in 2022 around 600 million women—that is more than one in seven of the world’s women—lived in, or in close proximity to, an armed conflict. That is double the figure it was in the 1990s. As we have also heard, conflict impacts women in many specific ways, including increased sexual violence, the loss of livelihoods and worsening healthcare, resulting in higher death rates even from preventable causes. I want to share some examples from two particularly brutal ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, and then move on to solutions.

In Gaza, women are being impacted in so many ways, but let me talk about reproductive health in particular, having heard some very powerful testimony at the International Development Committee. Pregnant women living through that conflict are three times more likely to miscarry, and if they do carry their babies to full term, they are three times more likely to die in childbirth due to lack of access to appropriate antenatal and post-natal medical care, and lack of access to basic medicine, safe shelter and adequate nutrition.

Nebal Farsakh from the Palestine Red Crescent told us at the Committee evidence session:

“Almost 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza are lacking everything. They are malnourished, not able to receive the food they need and not even receiving the proper healthcare service they deserve. They are living in shelters, thousands of people are sharing one toilet and you cannot even imagine…how a pregnant woman has to endure such inhuman conditions”.

As well as that,

“because of the collapsing healthcare system, as a pregnant woman, you barely have the luxury of delivering your baby in a hospital.”

If pregnant women are “lucky enough” to, they cannot stay and

“many women have had c-sections without anaesthesia because it had run out.”

That is one of many “continuous struggles”, with

“hospitals lacking anaesthesia, painkillers and other basic medications and medical supplies.”

Israeli authorities have denied entry to many of those critical supplies, including anaesthesia supplies, oxygen cylinders, ventilators and other medicines. According to UNRWA, of the total—extremely limited—humanitarian supplies that have entered Gaza since October 2023, just 2% were medical supplies. On 4 November last year, the United Nations Population Fund announced that attacks on hospitals have forced the only functioning neonatal intensive care unit in northern Gaza to close. The denial of access to newborn and maternal healthcare and the removal of the conditions necessary to give birth safely represent a grave threat to the survival of pregnant women, and Palestinians more widely, in Gaza.

Let me also touch on the impact of the conflict in Sudan—mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North—which is having similarly grave consequences for women and girls. For example, reports of gender-based violence in Sudan have drastically surged, encompassing alarming incidents such as kidnapping, forced marriage, intimate partner violence, conflict-related sexual violence and child marriage. The UN has witnessed a staggering 288% increase in the number of survivors seeking case-management services for gender-based violence, and at least 6.7 million people in Sudan are at risk of gender-based violence. There are also cases of sexual exploitation driven by food insecurity and water scarcity, and there is severely limited access to essential post-rape care and support services for survivors, who are in desperate need of medical, psychological and mental health support.

Despite the horrific impacts of conflict on women that we have heard about, often it is women in conflict zones who lead the response. Women are often the first responders. In Gaza, women make up 70% of frontline healthcare workers and 60% of caregivers. We know that that can lead to improved healthcare outcomes. For example, in Niger and Burkina Faso local organisations are nearly twice as likely as international organisations to report increased GBV caseloads, which suggests that women are more likely to report violence to those local women’s organisations. Women are also some of the chief advocates. For example, in Niger, when groups of women who were IDPs—internally displaced people—were excluded from receiving humanitarian aid, they lobbied district authorities to officially recognise their community, and in doing so secured services for people with disabilities and cash assistance for their community.

When I spent time with Syrian refugees in Jordan in my previous role at IRC, I met incredible Syrian refugee women who were there without partners, or had lost their partners in the war, and who had set up their own businesses on top of caring for their families; and not only doing that but pushing donors to change their approach to better support women refugees to be entrepreneurial and to earn a living alongside looking after their families. Women, showing such great leadership, are proving absolutely critical to building lasting peace in places where conflict is being brought to an end.

There is strong evidence to demonstrate that the involvement of women and girls in peacebuilding is key to achieving successful outcomes. Research shows that where women lead and participate in conflict prevention, response, recovery and peacebuilding, societies are more stable and peace is more durable. Women’s participation in peace negotiations results in peace agreements being 35% more likely to last at least 15 years, while the participation of civil society, including women’s organisations, in peace processes makes them 64% less likely to fail. Yet despite the huge volume of evidence showing that women are best placed to understand and meet the needs of their communities before, during and after conflicts, too often their voices are still ignored.

I will highlight two key solutions. I have been pleased to hear the Minister speak passionately about her commitment to gender equality and I know that she has hit the ground running to make that commitment and ambition a reality. I also welcome the Prime Minister’s appointment of Lord Collins as the special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict. I pay tribute to the many brilliant NGOs that are delivering important support for women in conflict and championing the rights of those women, including with funding from our Government. They are not only international NGOs such as IRC, Co-operative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Plan and Save the Children but, most importantly, women-led local groups like the International Committee for the Development of Peoples in Somalia and Right To Play in Pakistan and elsewhere. They are doing fantastic work, but there are two particular ways in which we can do more.

The first is funding. Of course, we must recognise that all Government budgets are limited, and that there are many competing priorities for those budgets, including for the global humanitarian and development budgets—that is just the reality that we are living in—but we can get our limited budgets working harder. We can expand the amount of multi-year funding available to organisations that support women and girls in conflict—that makes a real difference to their ability to plan and deliver their work effectively. We can ensure that funding is flexible to adapt to the evolving needs of women and girls at different stages of conflict and crisis. We can introduce measurable targets to increase the amount and quality of funding that goes to women-led organisations within a particular humanitarian budget. We can use our influence within the UN to reform the multilateral funding mechanisms that are absolutely crucial in some contexts where funding is otherwise very difficult to get in—such as the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ country-based pooled funds. That would make it easier for women-led organisations to apply and succeed in receiving funding.

The second point I want to touch on is how we think about and categorise the issue of women and conflict in the first place. We must start thinking about women in conflict as central, not just to our development work but to our foreign policy. We have such a great track record and reputation to build on, and real, live opportunities to make progress, for example, through our work through as penholder on women, peace and security at the UN Security Council.

But it means much more if we encourage countries to adopt and adhere to international human rights treaties that cover the rights of women in conflict; it means increasing pressure on perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict and external parties that back those perpetrators through sanctions, where appropriate. It means using the UK’s voice at the UN Security Council to continue shining a light on this issue and calling for accountability. It means fully supporting UN fact-finding missions so that evidence is compiled and perpetrators are deterred through monitoring. Another example is to facilitate meaningful participation of diverse groups of survivor-led organisations and women’s rights organisations in conflict prevention and peacebuilding processes.

I look forward to our Government’s continued progress on this important matter. I believe those two things—reforming the way we think about funding for women in conflict, and elevating women in conflict—are not just a development priority but a diplomatic one, and are the right places to start.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

I wish to move away from the distracting, insulting and dangerous politics of some Conservative Members and return to the key principles of the Bill, which will reduce the pervasive inequality in our society. It will drive high standards throughout our education and care systems so that every child can achieve and thrive, no matter where and into what circumstances they were born.

In Aylesbury, 15% of children live in absolute poverty. That reality is sometimes lost in the perception of Buckinghamshire as a wealthy place, which masks significant inequality. I will highlight three ways in which the Bill will make a difference to children and families struggling in my constituency.

First, I support the Bill’s commitment to delivering high and rising standards for every child in school by establishing core national standards from which all schools can build and innovate. When I visit schools, I meet children full of hope and ambition and teachers determined to drive that ambition forward. However, budgets are stretched, staff recruitment is tough and standards across the sector are uneven. The Bill contains very welcome measures such as putting more qualified teachers in classrooms, and updating the pay and conditions framework for teachers, including in schools in areas with high levels of deprivation. I have heard great ideas in my constituency about the curriculum and assessment review, including from some brilliant pupils I spoke to at the Grange school. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of that review later this year.

Secondly, I am pleased that the Bill will support the many parents and carers who are struggling with the cost of living. Free breakfast clubs will save parents and carers £450 per child, and limiting the number of branded school uniform items will save £50 per child in the back-to-school shop. One Broughton resident told me that seven branded items cost them £280—seven items that their child will grow out of or lose before they knew it. They said that the costs are

“crippling families, even more so in this current climate, and it is only getting worse.”

We have heard those concerns, and are acting on them through the Bill.

Thirdly, I am so pleased that the Bill will ensure that fewer children fall through the cracks in the education system. I welcome in particular the measures to introduce a register of children out of school, with a unique number for every child. I recently spoke to a headteacher in Aylesbury about the scandal she calls “ghost children”—children who disappear from schools and social services. In Buckinghamshire alone, the number of children missing education has doubled in the past two years. The measures in the Bill will ensure that the most vulnerable children cannot be withdrawn from school until it is confirmed that it is in their best interests and there is suitable alternative education for them.

This is a deeply principled Bill that we can all take pride in. It is a realisation of one of our most important ambitious for this country: that no matter who someone is or the circumstances they were born into, the Government will support them to make a success of their life.

UK Leadership on Sudan

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call another member of the International Development Committee.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her updates. Part of the reason that Sudan is becoming not just a devastating conflict but a protracted one is the involvement of state and non-state actors from elsewhere in Africa, the middle east and further afield. Does she consider Sudan to be a foreign policy priority as well as a humanitarian priority, and what diplomatic actions is the Department taking with the warring parties and their backers to urge de-escalation?

[Anneliese Dodds]

Yes, to use the words of my hon. Friend—who of course has considerable experience in the area of humanitarian emergencies—this is a foreign policy priority for the UK Government. That is demonstrated by the recent leadership of the Foreign Secretary at the Security Council. It will continue to be a foreign policy priority, as has been made very clear by the Foreign Secretary and, indeed, by the Prime Minister. We will continue to use every lever available to us to ensure that we are speaking up for the people of Sudan and doing all we can to secure an end to this dreadful conflict.

Sudan

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for the incredibly important point. She is right to underline that we must see an end to the hostilities. As I mentioned in response to the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), the two warring parties both appear to believe that they can win the war, so they are continuing hostilities. The impact of that on the civilian population is extreme: as we mentioned, there is the highest level of displacement and of food insecurity anywhere in the world. There must be an end to hostilities and the UK Government are doing all we can to advocate for that.

I am pleased to hear that the hon. Lady met the former leader of Sudan, Hamdok, from the transitional Government. I also met representatives of Tagadum, which is an important civil society organisation, when I was in Addis Ababa. Their voice must be heard, especially when it comes to the protection of refugees. We have seen so many attacks on refugees, internally displaced people in Sudan, and civilians. We will continue to argue against that.

The hon. Lady asked about our activity in Sudan. Richard Crowder is the newly appointed head of British Office Sudan and the UK special representative to Sudan. He is working incredibly hard on that, as are all the Ministers in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as I mentioned.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

I am grateful to the Minister for updating us on her work. The violence continues in part because the warring parties have their sponsors in the region, including Iran and the Gulf. What efforts are the Government making to work with those regional sponsors to encourage de-escalation and secure a ceasefire?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning that; she has considerable experience in the area of humanitarian need. We were extremely concerned by the situation that was revealed, for example, in the panel of experts’ report in January 2024 about external engagement. I have said from the Dispatch Box before, and I will say again, that the only reason for another country to be engaged in Sudan is to help to provide humanitarian support. That is the only reason for external engagement, and we will continue to make that argument very strongly.

International Engagement

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

There are already many strong economic relationships between Commonwealth states. The new Government are very proud of that, and we want to ensure that even faster progress is made. A number of countries within the Commonwealth are currently subject to trade deals with the UK or have trade deals under discussion. We want to cement those economic ties, and that is a priority for the new Government.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

New International Rescue Committee analysis finds that just 16 climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected countries, including Sudan, Myanmar and Syria, represent 43% of all people living in extreme poverty and 79% of all people in humanitarian need. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that we address the underlying causes of fragility and get aid into those 16 countries with the highest needs?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue, in which she has considerable experience. Globally, by 2030, 60% of people in extreme poverty will live in fragile and conflict-affected states. We need to see much more action: less than 5% of climate finance, for example, goes into adaptation, with only a tiny fragment going into fragile and conflict-affected states. The UK is determined to exercise leadership, and the new Government have been pressing multilateral institutions to do more. Last week, at the World Bank, we saw some important moves, which I am pleased to say were pushed by the new Government.

Sudan

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

We have been very clear that there must not be demonisation of individuals from any heritage or background. We are seeing a situation where a separation is being undertaken by some of the warring parties, so that it is becoming impossible for fathers to leave with their children, and for uncles and grandfathers to leave. They are being separated, unfortunately, and effectively pressganged into supporting some of the warring parties. That is extremely disturbing. We saw that previously, but we are seeing it again intensifying. I met a young boy whose uncle had been subject to that and who escaped by the skin of his teeth. We will ensure that we focus on human rights, including for young men, for everybody in those situations, but the critical thing will be to ensure that Sudan itself has the ceasefire that is desperately needed, and that there is de-escalation and greater regional stability. That is what will be important in both the medium and long term.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for dedicating time to this crisis. Given the challenges of getting international aid into Sudan, the humanitarian response is very dependent on local community-led emergency response routes. What measures are the Government taking to ensure that funding reaches frontline responders?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point. She has considerable expertise on these issues from before she became a Member of Parliament. We are concerned about the situation of access for humanitarian aid in Sudan. I talked a little about that earlier, but it is important that we do not see unreasonable impediments put in place. I recognise her point about community support being provided. I met some representatives from the so-called emergency response rooms. I also met, as I said, some civil society voices from Sudan who are also engaged in that humanitarian effort. It is important that their contribution is recognised. They are not part of the warring parties; they are completely politically neutral. For that reason, of course, they are being targeted themselves.

Education and Opportunity

Laura Kyrke-Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to address the House, and I congratulate you on your election to the Chair. I am sure that the House will want to join me in extending our deepest sympathies to my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden). I am very sorry and sad to learn of the death of his mother. I congratulate him on a wonderful maiden speech, and on speaking with such passion about our children and the potential of the next generation.

I want to pay tribute to my predecessor, Rob Butler, who I know has great affection for Aylesbury, and who served the constituency with great loyalty and good will. It is a true honour to be here as the new Member of Parliament for Aylesbury. Given that my constituency houses the county town of Buckinghamshire and has returned a long line of Conservative Members to Parliament, as might be expected from that county, I am particularly proud to be here as Aylesbury’s first ever Labour MP, and its first female MP.

My constituency is very diverse geographically; it covers the rapidly growing town of Aylesbury, many lovely villages, such as Whitchurch, Wing, Cheddington and Edlesborough, historic woodlands and farmlands, and the Chiltern hills. It also has very diverse communities, with people of Christian, Muslim, Hindu and other faiths, and people of Asian, African and Eastern European heritage, living alongside elderly residents and young people whose families have called my constituency home for many generations. We are a historic constituency, too. Britain’s oldest road, the Ridgeway, crosses through to Ivinghoe Beacon; the remains of an iron-age hill fort lie beneath Aylesbury town; and an Aylesbury constituency has existed in some form since 1554. It was from Aylesbury that John Hampden defended Parliament against Charles I in 1642, and his statue overlooking Market Square in the town centre still celebrates the parliamentary freedom that he championed. Perhaps I will not dwell for too long on our Conservative-leaning political history from then onwards, but I want to highlight three other ways in which history shapes my brilliant constituency today.

First, there is our vibrant culture. Roald Dahl made Buckinghamshire his home, and today we host the Roald Dahl children’s gallery at Discover Bucks museum. We are the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, and hosted the first competition for people with spinal injuries in Stoke Mandeville back in 1948. For decades, Aylesbury was home to the iconic Friars nightclub, where acts like Queen and U2 performed. David Bowie’s first performance of “Ziggy Stardust” there is now marked in the town by a bronze sculpture, which bursts into song, catching visitors by surprise.

Secondly, my constituency has a history of offering a friendly welcome, including to many evacuees from London in world war two and the exiled Czech Government, who operated out of Old Manor House, between Wingrave and Aston Abbotts. You can still see the bus shelter that the Czech President instructed to be built on that road, having taken pity on the local schoolchildren waiting in the rain. We have seen the same welcome to many people who have moved into the constituency in recent decades, and particularly into the many new housing developments in the area.

Thirdly, I want to highlight the inequalities in income and wealth that exist in the constituency. Members of this House may be surprised to hear that Aylesbury has high levels of deprivation. In fact, one in eight children in the town live in poverty, and we have always had a history of people struggling to get by on a low wage in the print and car factories, or as agricultural labourers. I pay tribute to the local food banks and to fantastic charities like Youth Concern and Aylesbury Homeless Action Group, which make life more manageable for those who are struggling most today, but they should not have to exist.

That takes me to the four points that I will prioritise as the Member for Aylesbury, and to the reason why I wanted to speak in today’s debate on education and opportunity. Above all, I want my constituents to feel a sense of opportunity and optimism again. First, I will focus on the desperate need to improve healthcare. We are home to Stoke Mandeville hospital, where my son was born, and its internationally renowned spinal injuries unit. I have the deepest respect for everyone who works in the healthcare sector across the constituency, but we have to make it possible for people to get basic healthcare and to see their GP again, and we have to tackle the awful and pervasive mental health crisis in my constituency and across the country. One of my most brilliant and best friends, Sophie Middlemiss, is not here to witness this moment of great change and opportunity for our country, because she took her own life when her little girl was 10 weeks old. I do not want anyone to suffer from post-natal depression and anxiety in the way that she did, and I will fight to get better help for people in her situation.

Secondly, I will focus on education for our children, and I will fight to ensure that all children, whatever their background and circumstances, get the opportunities that they deserve in life. I am particularly concerned about SEND children—I am pleased to have heard a lot about that in the House today—and their parents, families, carers and teachers, who are not getting anything like the support they deserve. That has to change.

Thirdly, I will help our businesses to thrive. I will support the small businesses that I hope will be part of a revival of Aylesbury town centre. We have to make it a safe and attractive place to spend time again, and we have to make it possible to get in, across and out of town without spending hours in traffic. I will also support the farming businesses in the rural parts of our constituency, within a wider, careful approach to protecting and managing our nature-rich and agricultural lands.

Finally, I come to this job conscious not just of the challenges and the opportunities for my constituency and my country, but of the very challenging moment that we are in globally. Before coming to Parliament I was leading a humanitarian aid agency, and I will continue to be a voice for, and do right by, the most vulnerable people around the world. There are record numbers of people caught up in conflict and crisis, at a time when geopolitical rivalry is on the rise and the global institutions set up after world war two no longer offer the protections that they used to. A strong and principled Britain can make a real difference in the world, and I know this matters to my constituents, most pressingly in their concerns about the awful suffering in Gaza and the suffering of the Israeli hostages and their families.

Let me conclude with one final point. I mentioned that Aylesbury is home to the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery, so I will end with some inspiration from Matilda, perhaps Roald Dahl’s finest character—certainly that is my daughter’s view. Matilda said:

“Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.”

Every day, in this place of power, we all make choices. I will know if I have made the right choices if people in crisis around the world and, most importantly, people struggling in my constituency tell me that I have played my part in making a positive difference to their lives.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call Emily Darlington to make her maiden speech.