Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Visit

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for her question, her long-standing interest in this topic and the thoughtful way she goes about raising these issues. We have announced funding recently, but this comes after the money that was announced for the OPTs in 2024-25. This included £41 million for UNRWA, providing vital services to civilians in Gaza.

In answer to the question about why we are providing this support now and to the Palestinian Authority, I invite noble Lords who are concerned about this to consider who it might be that would be leading this work in Gaza if it were not for the people who are currently doing it. They are mostly technocrats who had other roles, who have come back and want to do the right thing by their population. They are deserving of our support. The reason we have had to put additional aid in is, frankly, the absolutely desperate situation that civilians—who have had no role in any of the violence—find themselves in.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s Statement and the Government’s announcement of the aid package. Would the Minister agree that most of the Israeli settlers in the West Bank have contributed significantly to the local economy, farming, small businesses and enterprise? However, if you believe in the two-state solution, as the Minister has mentioned on four occasions—my noble friend also mentioned it on four occasions, and I support it strongly—then surely the logic is that these settlers must accept that their future lies certainly as residents, and maybe as citizens, of a Palestinian sovereign state. What representations have HMG made to the Israeli Government on this point?

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[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

My Lords, if I wanted to write to the noble Baroness, I would have said that I was going to write to her. It is up to her to challenge me—I am here for that; I enjoy it and that is what I want to do—but it is up to me to decide whether I like what she says or not.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, I would like to take the question I asked a bit further. If we accept that the settlers have contributed a great deal and invested heavily, what is the ideal outcome? Is it that they are forced to move if we have a Palestinian state, or would it be better if they stayed and worked with a new Palestinian Authority at some stage in the future, maybe a long way off? It is our avowed mission and wish to see this two-state solution take place.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Yes, it absolutely is. I am careful not to make comments that might pre-empt or get ahead of negotiations. That would not be a good idea for me as a Minister. The issues that the noble Lord raises are incredibly important and he is right to raise them, but they are probably best dealt with through a process of negotiation, which I hope we can enter into sooner rather than later.