Baroness Berger
Main Page: Baroness Berger (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Berger's debates with the Leader of the House
(1 day, 22 hours ago)
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Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
I hope I made it clear before. Over the weekend, the Foreign Secretary and Minister Falconer reached out to all our allies in the region. The noble Lord is right and I agree completely that we need to ensure constant communication and dialogue with all our allies in the region. We have been focused on that. The simple, straightforward answer is that he is right.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, I have received a number of messages from British nationals who are currently in Israel, including the following, which I share with permission: “About to have 50 missiles. So scared. I don’t care about me, but it makes it so hard with a young child. I am covering my child with my body when I hear the booms, it’s that loud. I called the FCDO and there is nothing the UK Government can do right now”.
I have listened very closely to what the Minister has said, but will the Government proactively facilitate evacuation via one of Israel’s neighbours rather than wait for British nationals to get through Egyptian or Jordanian borders?
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
We are doing whatever is possible. As I said, our embassy, and the consulate in Jerusalem, are working around the clock and can be contacted 24/7 by any British national in need of consular assistance. As I said, we have deployed a rapid deployment team to either side of the Israeli-Jordan border to assist those who choose to travel out of the country via land. The situation is fast-moving. British nationals should read the FCDO’s advice and also follow, wherever appropriate, local government advice. I reassure my noble friend that we are monitoring the situation closely and keeping all plans under constant review.