Gaza and Sudan

Richard Foord Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend has championed this issue for a long time, and I thank him for his continuing work on the Select Committee. Like him, I am deeply worried that Tawila will be next if there is not concerted action to pull the warring parties back from the brink, halt the RSF advances, and ensure a humanitarian truce that is at least long enough to get humanitarian aid in and civilians out. Frankly, though, we need an end to this horrendous conflict. As we have seen in Gaza, it is only when a huge international effort comes together that we can make progress. We urgently need to ensure that happens.

[Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) (LD)]

Earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary announced additional funding for Sudan, including £2 million for survivors of rape and sexual violence. However, yesterday, this House debated ending spending £2 billion on asylum hotels in the UK—that is what they cost the UK taxpayer. When might we get back to spending less official development assistance in the UK, and more of it in the region, where it would help more people in desperate need, and keep them from fleeing to Europe?

[Yvette Cooper]

As the hon. Member knows, we have already taken steps to make savings on asylum hotels, and yesterday the Home Secretary announced further reforms to the asylum system. We clearly need to end asylum hotels altogether, and to stop spending taxpayers’ money on this broken system. We need to make sure that we can invest in aid and prevention. The Italian Prime Minister has talked about ensuring that people have a “right not to migrate” by preventing conflict closer to home. Most immediately, though, the hon. Member referred to survivors of rape and sexual violence. This has escalated in the most horrendous way in recent years, and we are funding additional action to tackle rape and its use as a weapon of war. We will need to increase that work.