Oral Answers to Questions

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

We have set out the reasons why the Government have had to take special measures to ensure that the F-35 programme continued to operate, which includes our continued role in the global spares pool in the United States. However, I agree with the sentiments of the hon. Lady’s constituents; the deaths around aid distribution centres are clearly horrifying, and there needs to be a full investigation and action taken. Vitally, aid must get into Gaza at the scale required and from enough distribution centres in order to avoid the horrifying scenes that we have seen.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

We must not forget Gaza. Despite the eyes of the world now being turned to the Iran-Israel war, it is important that we continue to remember the suffering of the Gazans and continue to move on it. As a witness from Médecins Sans Frontières said to my Committee, there is “lethal chaos” in Gaza. There is one read-across from the Iran-Israel war that I think we should learn from: the clear closeness between Israel and America, and the fact that America can influence Israel. I ask the Minister to ensure that we continue to say in our conversations with the Americans not to give up on Gaza, and to use their influence to ensure that the Israelis do the right thing. There must be peace and the hostages must come home.

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[Mr Falconer]

As I have said, the Foreign Secretary has raised these issues with both his American and Israeli counterparts, and I have done the same. We remain steely in our focus on the situation in Gaza, including the tragic scenes around the deprivation of aid and the impact that is having on civilians right across the strip, including children. We are trying to take every measure we can to reduce that suffering. That includes aid where it can be brought in; aid into the region, where that is the most appropriate way to reach the medically vulnerable; and in a few small cases ensuring that Gazan children can access medical assistance here.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

The humanitarian situation in Gaza simply cannot continue. We have spent a lot of time in this House discussing the extent of that situation and the fact that food and essential supplies are not getting through to support innocent victims. What proposals has the Minister put to Israel about the opening of specific crossing points for aid delivery into Gaza? Will he give his assessment of why the Israeli Government may not be listening to this country and our Government on this particular issue?

[Mr Falconer]

The disagreement that the Israeli Government have is not simply with the British Government; it is with a wide range of their partners. As the right hon. Lady is aware, we signed a statement with 26 partners about the humanitarian situation. We made a leader-level statement with France and Canada. There is wide disagreement with the approach that the Israeli Government are taking in relation to aid distribution. At the weekend, the Foreign Secretary discussed these matters, including entry points, with the Foreign Minister of Israel. We would like to see the Israeli Government shift position. It is clear, for the reasons that she says, that that shift must come urgently.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

On Thursday, I received a message from Mohammed, an NHS doctor with family in Gaza. He wrote:

“My 16-year-old nephew was missing for five days after heading out to retrieve humanitarian aid at a location announced by Israeli forces. We found him dead yesterday; his body mutilated, eaten by stray dogs. He died alone. No one could reach him or others like him in time. He was only a boy who desperately wanted to get food for his starving family.”

On 10 June, the Minister sanctioned two Israeli Ministers who advocated for the blockade of Gaza, noting that that would not remove Hamas or ensure that the hostages were released. But nothing has changed. What further steps are the Government taking today to signal to the Government of Israel that the UK will not stand idly by while children in Gaza are starved, denied medicine or killed as they seek food for their families?

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[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for continuing to prosecute this issue and for raising it at every opportunity. It is a heinous crime. We have already sanctioned some of the individuals who lie behind it. I will not comment on future sanctions, but we are, of course, keeping this under full consideration. It will be a topic of discussion with both Ukrainian Foreign Ministers and NATO Ministers later today.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Foreign Secretary.

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

Ukraine has bravely fought back Putin’s illegal invasion, and that is with our undoubted support. Will the Foreign Secretary give an update on what action is under way to release the billions of pounds of frozen Russian assets? On the subject of Russian threats and malign influence, he will be alarmed to know that the political opposition leaders in Georgia have been arrested and imprisoned this week. What steps are the Government taking in response, and will further sanctions be considered to curtail Putin’s absolute abuse of democracy in Europe?

[Mr Lammy]

The Minister responsible for Europe, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), has condemned what took place in Georgia over the last few days, and I endorse that condemnation. On the issue of Russian assets, we are engaged particularly with European colleagues who are more exposed than we are. It has been right to allow new Governments in Europe to take their place and consider these issues, because they require some technical understanding, but we continue to press this issue, and it will be a topic at the NATO summit later today.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

Over the weekend, while the world’s attention was fixed on the escalating conflict in the middle east, President Putin restated publicly his desire to conquer the whole of Ukraine and his readiness to use nuclear weapons against Kyiv. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s assurance that he is maintaining a focus on Putin’s barbaric war against Ukraine.

The Foreign Secretary previously told the House that Germany and Belgium were the blockers to international agreement on seizing frozen Russian assets. Will he set out how he and the Prime Minister will raise this proposal with his Belgian and German counterparts at the NATO summit? Has he considered replicating the EU’s proposals to extract billions of euros more from those assets by moving them into higher yielding investments?

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[Julia Lopez (Hornchurch and Upminster) (Con)]

I should like to know what steps the Foreign Office is taking to protect women and girls in this country. There can be no better candidates for deportation than non-UK nationals who have violently raped children here. After the Casey report into the gangs scandal last week, Ministers promised that they would do everything they could to deport the men involved. Will the Foreign Secretary confirm that he has already told Pakistan that British aid and diplomatic visas will be withdrawn if convicted rapists are not taken back?

[Mr Speaker]

Minister, have you got something on that question?

[Catherine West]

It is probably a question for the Home Office, but we in the Foreign Office will do anything we can to support victims and bring people to justice.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

Education is a basic right, and ensuring quality education for every girl is essential to building a more equitable world. In 2023, the Conservative Government launched the women and girls strategy to deliver on the three Es: education, empowering women and girls, and ending violence. Does the Minister stand by the commitment to ensure that at least 50% of aid reaches women and girls? Most importantly, will she confirm the 2025-26 official development assistance spending for global education following the spending review?

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[Stephen Doughty]

I could not agree more. This deal is supported by the United States, by our Five Eyes partners and by India. It secures our national security, the security of our allies and the base well into the next century. As I have said many times, if there was not a problem, why did the previous Government start negotiating?

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)]

Labour’s surrender of British sovereignty has been welcomed by China, Russia and Iran, and now we learn that the UK will have to notify Mauritius of any military operations coming from Diego Garcia, jeopardising our national security. Far from upholding our international obligations, this treaty is a shameful betrayal of British Chagossians, with no guarantee of access to the Mauritian-controlled £40 million trust fund and British taxpayers forking out £30 billion to subsidise tax cuts in Mauritius. Why will the Government not allow this House a proper debate and a vote before next week’s 21-day deadline under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010? Should we not keep the Chagos islands British and under the protection of the Crown? Would that not be a better policy?

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[Mr Lammy]

My hon. Friend will have seen that we worked with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway on taking those sanctions against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. I cannot speculate on future sanctions, but I reassure him that we are co-ordinating with our allies. He will know that on the issue of humanitarian aid, for example, 26 countries joined us.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Foreign Secretary.

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

Given the clear threat that Iran poses to the United Kingdom, our allies and the middle east, does the Foreign Secretary support the actions undertaken by the United States to degrade Iran’s nuclear weapons? He will have heard that President Trump has said that Iran’s nuclear capabilities are gone. Does he welcome that?

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[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South and Walkden) (Lab)]

T6. Tulsi Gabbard, the US Director of National Intelligence, said in March that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, as did the UN atomic energy agency. However, a day before a conference on recognising Palestine, Israel decided unilaterally that Iran had a nuclear weapon, and that there was an immediate threat of attack; it therefore bombed Iran. Israel’s illegal bombing was a distraction from the shooting and killing of starving Palestinians, and to prevent the recognition of the state of Palestine. Can I ask the Minister—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Questions should be short and punchy—quick, quick.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

What steps is the Minister taking to stop the killing of Palestinians, and to recognise the state of Palestine?

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[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Earlier this month, the US President ordered the brutal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles, and called those protesting against these raids “paid insurrectionists” and “criminal invaders”. A few days later, a gunman assassinated Democratic politician Melissa Hortman. In recent months, figures associated with the US President have spread disinformation and polarising rhetoric via social media, even targeting a Government Minister. I am sure that the Secretary of State agrees that this level of political violence—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is topical questions; I have to get other people in. Questions are meant to be short and punchy. Please, let us now hear a quick answer from the Foreign Secretary.

[Mr Lammy]

Just as the hon. Gentleman would not expect members of Congress or the Senate to comment on domestic issues in our country, I am not going to stray into domestic issues in the US. It remains the closest of allies.