Rachael Maskell
Main Page: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)Department Debates - View all Rachael Maskell's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(2 days ago)
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Catherine West
I thank the hon. Gentleman for all the work he did before coming to Parliament and his important support for so many countries; I have been in debates with him on Myanmar and others. It is important that we lay on the record that £120 million is a lot of money, and that we have to follow that money. As I explained before, de-banking sometimes occurs in certain contexts, which is why we need to have those relationships on the ground with the sorts of aid organisations that my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow spoke about, covering the situation as it is today and how to maintain those relationships. My personal view is that it is not always just about the impact of the budget; sometimes it is about the diplomatic work that goes on around the funding so that we can maximise that money.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The brutal violence being perpetrated against Sudanese civilians is only fuelled by external actors from the UAE, Egypt, Russia and beyond. Will the Minister ensure diplomatic interventions with each of those nations and report back to the House on the outcome of those dialogues? Will she also ensure that the UK leads on banning the use of mercenaries in areas of conflict? We have not signed a convention as the UK Government, and it is time that we led a new convention on the use of mercenaries.
Catherine West
I thank my hon. Friend for her work as the chair of the APPG for Sudan and South Sudan. We have now heard from both the former chair, the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Dame Harriett Baldwin), and the current chair. I know that my hon. Friend has a Sudanese diaspora in her locality, too.
May I just emphasise that the UK is not protecting any country with an interest in this conflict? We have been very clear that we expect all countries to comply with existing UN sanctions regimes and the arms embargo, and we continue to work closely with partners at the UN Security Council to enforce them. We need to move on to the political resolution of the conflict. I also ask for my hon. Friend’s patience; I will fold the second part of her question into the challenge I had from my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) on updating some of our policies and procedures that have not been updated since 2019.