West Bank: Purchase of Settlement Land and Property

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, we will hear from the Labour Benches next and then from the Conservative Benches.

[Baroness Primarolo (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister told us that the settlements are illegal and that the Government support a two-state solution. How do the Government think they will achieve a two-state solution? Are the settlements, and the purchases by British citizens, fulfilling the UK’s international obligation to recognise the State of Palestine and facilitate that two-state solution? If not, what steps will we take to make that a reality?

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[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Conservative Benches. Can they please make up their minds as to who will ask the question?

[Lord Polak (Con)]

I appreciate the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, giving way, because the debate has been one-sided. The noble Baroness, Lady Deech, was right: the double standards on show are staggering. Is it okay for a Brit to purchase property in occupied Northern Cyprus? What useful objective does the Minister consider that this proposal will achieve, other than propagating the deeply antisemitic notion that Judea and Samaria—an area, I remind the House, that remained under Israeli administration throughout the Oslo accords—should be ethnically cleansed of its Jews?

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[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

As the noble Lord knows, for generations communities have lived side by side in the West Bank and throughout Israel, and that is the aspiration that we all share. The reason we have not done this is because of pragmatic issues around implementation and how you enforce it, and what the good of it would be in the end. There is no point to us embarking upon measures that turn us back and move us further away from peace, and which prolong this conflict. But I have to say that it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold back from some of the things that we are being encouraged to do, because of the behaviour and the settler violence and the increased aggression that we see. I know the noble Lord to be a man of integrity who cares greatly for his fellow human beings, whatever their faith, and I know that some of the things that have been happening—which he will be aware of—will be distasteful to him, as they are to me.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, before we move on to the third Question, I remind all noble Lords that questions and answers should be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. That is what the House wants. Please can all Members adhere to that.