Middle East

Roger Gale Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr David Lammy)]

With permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the middle east. I will begin with Syria. We have been horrified by the recent violence in the south, including civilian deaths. Clashes between Druze and Bedouin militias have quickly escalated into intense fighting, with involvement from Government forces and further Israeli strikes on the Syrian military. As I have said directly to Foreign Minister al-Shaibani, we want to see the fighting ended, civilians protected, and the rights of all Syrians upheld. The violence in Suwayda must be investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable. We want humanitarian access to be restored and for aid to be delivered, and Syria’s sovereignty must be respected.

The UK can be proud of our support to the Syrian people over many years. A stable Syria matters to the UK’s national interest, in terms of terrorism, irregular migration and regional stability. We must work to prevent extremism, sectarianism or lawlessness taking hold now that Assad is gone. That is why we are backing a sustainable ceasefire. It is why we support an inclusive transition, and it is why I visited Damascus recently to support the new Government and to press them to meet their commitments.

I will now turn to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It is two and a half months since Prime Minister Netanyahu restarted offensive operations. The Israel Defence Forces have driven Palestinians out of 86% of Gaza, leaving around 2 million people trapped in an area scarcely over 20 square miles. Whatever this Israeli Government might claim, repeated displacement of so many civilians is not keeping them safe. In fact, it is quite the reverse.

The new Israeli aid system is inhumane and dangerous, and it deprives Gazans of human dignity. It contradicts long-established humanitarian principles. It creates disorder that Hamas are now exploiting, with distribution points reduced from 400 to just four. It forces desperate civilians, children among them, to scramble unsafely for the essentials of life. It is a grotesque spectacle, wreaking a terrible human cost.

Almost 1,000 civilians have been killed since May seeking aid, including 100 this weekend alone. There are near-daily reports of Israeli troops opening fire on people trying to access food. Israeli jets have hit women and children waiting for a health clinic to open. An Israeli drone has struck down children filling water containers, which Israeli officials blamed on a technical error. Hamas are of course contributing to the chaos and taking advantage of it, but I utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their basic needs. The Israeli Government must answer: what possible military justification can there be for strikes that have killed desperate, starving children? What immediate actions are they taking to stop this litany of horrors? What will they do to hold those responsible to account?

I am a steadfast supporter of Israel’s security and right to exist. I treasure the many connections between our peoples, and the horrors of 7 October must never be forgotten, but I firmly believe that the Israeli Government’s actions are doing untold damage to Israel’s standing in the world and undermining Israel’s long-term security. Netanyahu should listen to the Israeli people, some 82% of whom desperately want a ceasefire, and to the hostages’ families, because they know a ceasefire offers the best chance to bring their loved ones home. Those hostages may be hidden in cramped tunnels under the ruins of Gaza, but we will not forget them, or Hamas’s despicable actions, and we will continue to demand their unconditional release. This offensive puts them in grave danger, but still Netanyahu persists.

Indeed, Minister Katz has gone further, proposing to drive Gaza’s entire population into Rafah, imprisoning Palestinians, unless they are persuaded to emigrate. This is a cruel vision that must never come to pass, and I condemn it unequivocally. Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law. Many Israelis themselves are appalled. As the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said,

“it marches us into the abyss”.

He is right.

Today I join a statement with 31 Foreign Ministers as signatories. It had a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now. There is no military solution. Negotiations will secure the hostages. Further bloodshed serves no purpose. Hamas and Israel must both commit to a ceasefire now, and the next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire. I thank the United States, Qatar and Egypt for their tireless efforts. I am sure that all Members share my intense frustration that the ceasefire has not happened. Until there is a breakthrough, we must keep doing all we can to relieve the suffering.

UK aid has saved lives, reaching hundreds of thousands with food, water, hygiene and sanitation, and essential healthcare. Under the most appalling circumstances, our aid is saving lives today. That includes the almost £9 million the UK has provided to UK-Med since we entered office, reaching half a million patients inside Gaza and 24,000 in the past fortnight alone, including three-year old Razan—UK-funded medics removed a bullet from her neck after nearly three hours of surgery. These doctors and nurses working in the most extreme conditions are true heroes. They deserve the thanks and admiration of the entire House.

We are also working multilaterally. The 149 trucks from the World Food Programme and UNICEF entering Gaza in recent days included food supplies funded by the UK. Thousands more trucks laden with aid paid for by British taxpayers can enter the moment that the Israeli Government let them in. Today I am announcing an extra £40 million for humanitarian assistance in Gaza this year, including £7.5 million for UK-Med to sustain its vital operations in Gaza and save more lives.

Accompanying the horrors in Gaza is an accelerating campaign to prevent a future Palestinian state in the west bank. It is embraced by Netanyahu, encouraged by his Ministers and driven by an extremist ideology that wants to suffocate the two-state solution, which is the only route to a lasting peace and security. We see it in the unprecedented pace of settlement expansion and in the shocking levels of settler violence—and even settler terrorism, for that is what the most egregious ideological attacks are. The deliberate attempts to squeeze the Palestinian Authority, unjustly denying them access to their own funds, harms Israel’s long-term interests in the process. Now the Israeli Government are reintroducing plans to construct new units in the E1 area of occupied East Jerusalem. If built, that settlement would separate the west bank’s north from its south, and Palestinians in the west bank from East Jerusalem. These plans are wholly unacceptable, they are illegal, and they must not happen.

We are striving to keep open the prospects of a two-state solution. UK assistance has been preserving the Palestinian Authority, contributing to essential Palestinian workers’ salaries and supporting them to progress critical reforms. Today I can confirm that we are enhancing our support, providing £7 million to strengthen the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian governance, implementing the agreement signed by me and Prime Minister Mustafa earlier this year, and delivering the reform plans that President Abbas has set out. I can also confirm that we are providing £20 million to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s many services for Palestinian refugees.

Alongside that support, we are leading diplomatic efforts to show that there must be a viable peaceful pathway to a Palestinian state involving the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, in the security and governance of the area. Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza, and nor must it be allowed to use it as a launchpad for terrorism. Israeli Ministers should support the Palestinian Authority, not actively undermine their economy, as Ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich are doing. The UK is co-leading with Egypt the humanitarian and reconstruction track for the forthcoming two-state solution conference, and we are pushing to agree plans for a credible next phase in Gaza, with a responsible, reformed PA at their core, so that we can turn any temporary ceasefire into a lasting peace.

In our year in office, this Labour Government have acted to address this horrendous conflict. We restored funding to UNRWA after the Tories froze it. We suspended arms export licences, when the Tories had declined to act. We have provided nearly a quarter of a billion in humanitarian assistance this year and next, getting medical treatment and food to hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza. We have stood with the hostage families at every stage. We have worked with Jordan to fly medicines into Gaza, with Egypt to treat medically evacuated civilians, and with Kuwait and UNICEF to help children in Gaza.

We have delivered three sanctions packages on violent settlers, suspended trade negotiations with the Israeli Government, and sanctioned far-right Israeli Ministers for incitement. We have defended the independence of the international courts. We have signed a landmark agreement with the Palestinian Authority and hosted the Palestinian Prime Minister in London, pushing for the reform they need. We called for, worked for and voted for an immediate ceasefire and the release of the hostages at every possible opportunity, and we will keep doing so until this war is over, Hamas release the hostages and we finally have a pathway to a two-state solution. I commend this statement to the House.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to the shadow Foreign Secretary for the tone of her remarks, and I am grateful for the cross-party consensus in the House that this war must come to an end. I note the huge concern that we all feel, not just in the House but in the international community, about the humanitarian suffering that we continue to see.

The right hon. Lady asked what more could be done and prayed in aid the work of the former Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron. She will recognise that Lord Cameron and, before him, the right hon. Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly) raised the humanitarian situation with the Israelis. It has become steadily worse. The number of aid points is now down to four, and, while the new foundation is offering aid, people are dying as they scramble for that aid. I note that the right hon. Lady did not say we should return to the 400 aid points that we had in the past, and she will note that her Government did not refund funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, but we believe that the UN and its system are best placed to deliver aid to Gaza, and that is the position that we continue to maintain.

Against that backdrop, the right hon. Lady asked what we were doing on a multilateral basis and what we were doing in working with others to bring this to an end. I ask her to read the statement that has landed, which 31 countries have now signed up to. Of course we are pressing and working with colleagues. I spoke to Minister Sa’ar once again today, urging him to do the right thing—to secure a ceasefire, but also to look at the aid system that is not working.

As for governance, the right hon. Lady will know that in a couple of weeks’ time we will participate in the two-state conference that has been organised by France, and she will also know that that conference is now dedicated to looking closely at the governance arrangements that must be put in place. When Hamas leave—and they must go; they cannot govern Gaza—how do we ensure that it is not a 60-day pause, but that we bring an end to this and move to the two-state solution? The right hon. Lady knows our commitment to recognition, as set out in our manifesto, and the conversation about recognition that is going on internationally.

The right hon. Lady rightly pressed the case on Syria. When I met al-Sharaa, I made it absolutely clear that his Government had to be inclusive. I pressed him on his background as a terrorist, and on our concerns—the concerns that exist in this Chamber—but we must work with him to ensure that the Government are inclusive, and to ensure that security is fundamental. As the right hon. Lady will understand, there is much that we need to do to support them on counter-terrorism at this time, and, in a country where 90% of people are living in poverty, to ensure that people receive the aid and support that they need—and, indeed, that that aid and support go to the areas affected by the murders we have seen over the last few days.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

Earlier today, 31 countries put out a powerful message: the war must end now, aid must go into Gaza unrestricted, the hostages must be released, and all parties must uphold international law. That powerful message was sent to Israel, and by return it was rejected. It was denounced by Israel as being “disconnected from reality”. So what now? In that statement, the 31 nations said:

“We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.”

What are we going to do, may I ask, and does that include the final recognition of Palestine?

[Mr Lammy]

My right hon. Friend is right to call into question so quickly the Israeli Government’s rejection of the advice of their friends and 31 countries, which have come together to express their horror at people losing their lives when simply reaching out to get aid and humanitarian care. She referred to the debate about recognition. We will be working with our French colleagues, who are focusing the upcoming conference on how we get to two states; as she would expect, the UK will play its part. On the broader issues, I hope and pray that we get a ceasefire, and of course that will lead to further activity as we head towards the UN General Assembly.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesman.

[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement. I welcome his commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Syria, and to holding the Governments of Syria and Israel accountable for protecting all civilians, especially minorities.

The Foreign Secretary is right to say that the situation in Gaza is inhumane and grotesque and that a ceasefire is desperately needed. I welcome the aid allocations that he has announced, but the problem is that the situation is not new and that repeated expressions of regret by this Government have not prevented further carnage from being wrought by the Netanyahu Government.

The whole House saw the passion with which the right hon. Gentleman announced the British, French and Canadian joint position on 20 May, and with which the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the hon. Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), sanctioned Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir on 10 June. In those statements, Ministers said that “we cannot stand by” and that they would respond

“not just with words but with action.”—[Official Report, 10 June 2025; Vol. 768, c. 913.]

I think they meant it, and yet two months later, the Secretary of State has only words, not action. Once again, his joint statement with other countries says only that

“We are prepared to take further action”,

and yet children queuing for food or water are still being killed every single day as the Israeli Cabinet maintains its grotesque blockade of humanitarian aid. It now proposes an open-air prison for all Gazans, which, according to Ehud Olmert, would amount to “ethnic cleansing”.

Today, I spoke to the Oxfordshire doctors Nick Maynard and Nada Al-Hadithy from Nasser hospital in Gaza. They described the desperation of civilians facing the latest Israeli attack, on Deir al-Balah, and the deaths of patients for want of basic dressings, and said that IDF snipers fired directly into the hospital compound. Yet settlers in the west bank continue illegally to occupy Palestinian homes and land, and the remaining hostages, who have been held in Gaza for over 650 days at the hands of Hamas terrorists, are no closer to release.

I have written to the Foreign Secretary frequently to set out the many more steps that Liberal Democrats believe he should take, so I will simply ask him this. Does he truly believe that his Government are doing all they can to put an end to the terrible violence and starvation being visited on Gaza in clear contravention of international law? Can he explain why there have been so few consequences since he and the Under-Secretary of State spoke so powerfully in the last two months? And can he dispel the widespread view that he is not setting the policy he would choose, but that he is instead being reined in by No. 10’s desire not to upset President Trump by acting more boldly?

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

Order. Once again, a very large number of hon. Members wish to take part in this discussion. The intention is to try to accommodate everybody, but that will mean Members exercising a degree of self-restraint that was not entirely evident during the previous statement. I leave it to you, but if you want everybody to be called, then please, we need questions, not statements. If I may say so, Foreign Secretary, we also need relatively brief answers.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) (Lab)]

The statement we have from the 25 or 31 partners takes us no further forward. It says:

“We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire”.

People want action, not more repetition of, “We call for”, “We demand” and “We urge”. We want action, and this is not action. We have had this so many times before. We have this terrible humanitarian crisis, the forcible transfer of civilians, and starvation by Israel. How can it be that we have a situation in which the IDF are firing at children and systematically going for the head, stomach and testicles for their sport, and in which Rafah has been razed to the ground and this euphemistic “humanitarian city” is being constructed, which the former Prime Minister of Israel has called a “concentration camp”? When are we going to take the appropriate action to bring about a comprehensive trade and arms embargo and concentrate the mind of Israel? Nothing else is working. They are not listening, and they are getting away with murder every single day.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

The hon. Gentleman clearly did not listen to a word that I said, but I am sure that the Foreign Secretary did.

[Mr Lammy]

I understand my hon. Friend’s frustration, and he has been consistent for a very long time. As I have said, I regret that we are not in a place where we currently have a ceasefire, despite the international community calling for one and the pressure that exists. He is right: what we are seeing at the moment is an abomination, and I join him in those remarks.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

I call the Father of the House.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

Of course we all condemn the evil Hamas, but is not Prime Minister Netanyahu the biggest recruiting sergeant for Hamas? For every fighter he kills, he is radicalising the whole world against the state of Israel because of this appalling humanitarian solution. I agree with everything the Foreign Secretary says, but are words enough? I wonder whether he will oblige the House and allow a free vote, which I bet would pass by an enormous majority, on a motion for further action against the extreme right-wing actions of Prime Minister Netanyahu, sanctions, and recognition of the state of Palestine.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty

Roger Gale Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[James Cartlidge (South Suffolk) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. In answer to the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George), the Minister seemed to imply—to Opposition Members’ ears anyway—that the United States would be paying, I think he said, a larger quantum of the funding for the deal. I think he was referring to the operational cost of the base. May I ask for confirmation that the United States is not contributing at all to the £30 billion lease under the settlement?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

Order. That is not a point of order for the Chair, as the hon. Gentleman will appreciate, but if the Minister wishes to respond I will allow him to do so.

[Stephen Doughty]

Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Perhaps it was because of the noise and the shouting, but I was clear. The United States contributes to the operations on Diego Garcia, and rightly so. There is establishment of that in relation to the exchange of notes between the UK and the United States. It is not contributing towards the costs of the treaty deal.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Roger Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

As you know, Mr Speaker, I have tried for two days to raise this issue through an urgent question. When the Minister came to the Dispatch Box, I expected to hear something constructive; what we have actually heard about is the sanctioning of two people. The United Kingdom Government could unilaterally recognise Palestine and show the world that they are taking the lead. Above all, they could, as an absolute priority, negotiate the delivery of food, water and medicine to women and children in Palestine who are starving through the route from Larnaca directly into Gaza. I asked the Minister last week, and I will ask him again: when are the Government going to do something?

[Mr Falconer]

In this House, we have to be focused on what the real options are for getting aid at volume into Gaza. The truth is that it must be done via land routes, and even when aid gets into Gaza by land, that is still incredibly dangerous for aid workers. Ultimately, deconfliction mechanisms for aid workers in Gaza will be vital, should a full aid operation be again allowed in the strip. I met this week with the bereaved families of the victims from the World Central Kitchen operation. There were three British veterans lost while trying to deliver aid to the people of Gaza, and three British families are still mourning the loss of their loved one at the hands of the Israel Defence Forces. If there was some other option to get aid into Gaza safely, we would take it. No such option exists. We have to negotiate access with the Israeli Government, and that is what we seek to do.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Roger Gale Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I hear the frustration of the House. I am sure that other Members will also raise the deeply distressing reports that there have been in recent days, and indeed going even further back, in both the west bank and in Gaza. Let me be clear, as the Prime Minister was clear with France and Canada: if Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in this place. [Hon. Members: “When?”] I will not say from the Dispatch Box today when that might be.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

I concur entirely with the views expressed by the two Privy Counsellors on the Conservative Back Benches who have already spoken, my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse) and my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Sir Jeremy Wright). For weeks we have been listening to fine words from Government Front Benchers, and we have seen a lot of handwringing and a vast amount of inactivity. The question that everybody in this Chamber is asking of the Minister is “When?” Yesterday, as he knows, four of us tried to deliver a letter to Downing Street calling for the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine. We were not even allowed to deliver that letter. The time has come to act now. There is a route from Larnaca in Cyprus straight into Gaza—use it! Let us save these children.

[Mr Falconer]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the force of his remarks. I hear so many colleagues say that they are fed up with my words, which is gentle, but on 20 May we announced concrete actions. I am telling the House this afternoon that further actions will come if there are not changes. [Hon. Members: “When?”] I will return to the House when I am in a position to do so. I hear everybody’s frustration, but let us not pretend that the UK’s position has not changed—that it has not continued to change. It will continue to change while the situation remains as it is.

Ukraine: Forcibly Deported Children

Roger Gale Excerpts

Wednesday 21st May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Stephen Doughty]

I have been very clear, as the Foreign Secretary was yesterday, that we respect the independence of international courts and judicial processes, including the ICC, as I mentioned. However, I am also happy to be clear that this must be resolved: Russia must return those children. We are clear that we will not lift our sanctions, and we reserve the right to take further measures, as we have done in the last 24 hours—and we will continue to do so.

I was asked many times about the UK’s specific efforts. We are working closely as a member of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, and with the Ukrainian Government. That includes initiatives to identify, locate and return children to their families, as well as collaboration on diplomatic efforts and the provision of financial and logistical support. Our overseas missions are hosting events to raise the issue locally in capitals around the world. To support the work to get the children returned, we are bringing together experts from a range of backgrounds, including from academia and industry, and from other countries that have also suffered from conflict. I discussed that with the Deputy Minister when she was here.

I have already mentioned Save Ukraine and the Bring Kids Back initiative. We are providing practical and political support to both. The Foreign Secretary has also been working with Mrs Zelensky to support Ukraine’s children. He met her in Kyiv in February to discuss her campaign to end the Soviet legacy of institutionalised care and instead promote family-based care and provide support to foster families.

I was asked by the shadow Minister, the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), about our wider diplomatic efforts. We are continuing to work at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, where we are calling out Russia’s unacceptable actions and challenging their lies. We are also supporting the OSCE’s support programme for Ukraine and its fact-finding missions to expose human rights abuses, including deportation.

In December, our permanent representative was absolutely clear at the United Nations Security Council that Russia must stop these deportations and return Ukrainian children to their homes. We welcome the renewal of the UN’s independent international commission of inquiry on Ukraine, and we also note the significant role that Qatar is playing in mediating the return of Ukrainian children. We are grateful for its engagement. Those efforts are part of wider diplomatic initiatives involving others, including the Holy See and NGOs such as Save Ukraine. Around 900 children have returned thanks to those efforts.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

I do not for one moment doubt the Minister’s sincerity or his determination to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion, but we all know that one of the keys to that is President Trump. Very little has been said, even in this debate, about the pressure that can and should be brought to bear on Trump and Putin together. The Minister does not have a magic wand, but will he make sure as far as he can that this issue does not come off the agenda and that it forms part of any settlement?

[Stephen Doughty]

The right hon. Gentleman can be assured that we raise a series of matters in our engagement with the United States, and we are working closely with President Trump and his Administration to find a just, lasting and sustainable ceasefire. We are working together with our European partners and the United States on that, as well as with President Zelensky and the Ukrainian Government. There have been many meetings in the last few days that the right hon. Gentleman and others will have seen. I can assure him that I raise the issue regularly. I met congressional delegations in the last few weeks, and I specifically raised this issue. There was broad bipartisan concern on it, and I will continue to raise it.

I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South for her powerful and passionate exposé of this wicked and heinous action by Putin’s regime. I fully endorse her fantastic work on the issue. It should unite us all in this House. Like many Members, my hon. Friend spoke powerfully of her visit to Ukraine, and she also asked about the Yale research. I wrote to her on that, and I want to add a correction to that. The data has now been sent to Europol, and we will endeavour to ensure that it gets to the Ukrainian Government Office of the Prosecutor General as soon as possible. We will be following up on that and I will update my hon. Friend as soon as we have further information.

The hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) spoke about the importance of retaining our ODA support and humanitarian assistance. She will note that Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan have been all highlighted as areas to which we will continue to pay special attention, despite the cuts that we have to make. I have been looking at our programmes to see what more we can do over the weeks and months ahead.

I return to the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife (Richard Baker) about disabled children. I want to make clear that we have particularly focused on disability inclusion and rehabilitation services in the £5 million of support that we have provided. Indeed, we also supported that through the partnership fund for a resilient Ukraine. My hon. Friend made some important points and I will write to him just in case I have not got the figures exactly right to ensure that he has the exact numbers. I would not want inadvertently to mislead the House.

I know the hon. Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) well, as we travelled to Ukraine together not long after the illegal invasion and saw the reality. He also spoke about the Yale research and raised the situation regarding Belarus, as other Members did. We are deeply concerned by the attendance of Ukrainian children at so-called “recreation camps” in Belarus, and we are following closely the investigations into those transfers. We call on Belarus to ensure that no Ukrainian children are forcibly transferred to, or via, its territory. I will continue to follow that very closely.

My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) spoke passionately about the local support in her constituency, which is similar to that in my Cardiff South and Penarth constituency.

The hon. Member for Woking (Mr Forster) asked how we are engaging with the United States, and I hope that I have answered that question. He spoke about important research into trauma and the work that needs to be done on that. We are providing a lot of mental health and psychosocial support. That is a crucial issue, and it is important that he raised it.

My hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South mentioned the national day of action. I note her and other hon. Members’ request, and I have asked officials to consider the merits of supporting it. I hope to be able to update her soon.

My hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) asked important questions about our own programmes. I can assure him that our concern for children will remain at the heart of those.

Hon. Members asked many questions about sanctions. As well as our wider Russia sanctions regime, we have already issued a number of rounds of sanctions in relation to this issue specifically. I will not comment on future designations, but I assure the House that we keep all such matters under close review.

The hon. Member for Horsham (John Milne) spoke passionately about his experience of the resilience and ingenuity of Ukrainians, which I have seen again and again. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) always speaks passionately about these issues. We must not stand idly by, as the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart) also made clear.

I have updated the House many times on seized assets, Chelsea and so on, and I will continue to keep the House closely informed. I hope to be able to update the House in due course on those matters, on which we are working at pace with international and other partners.

I reiterate that the UK will not let up until Ukraine’s stolen children are returned. This is a heinous, wicked and unforgivable crime, and I want to see action taken on it. We will continue to work with our allies, the brilliant campaign organisations I have mentioned and, of course, the Government of Ukraine to trace and return those children and to hold Russia to account.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Roger Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I recognise why my hon. Friend puts his remarks in the way he does. What we must do is act in concert. This is deeply frustrating, of course, but he knows history and will recognise that the ability of the UK to act unilaterally or with one other partner was determined in the Suez crisis, when it was crystal clear that we no longer had unilateral influence in the middle east. That is why it is so important that 27 partners came together, and that I continue to discuss these issues with Secretary of State Rubio, and with Vice-President Vance, with whom I discussed them on Sunday.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

I doubt whether there is a single Member of this House who does not wish to see the 58 remaining hostages returned to their families, whether dead or alive. I think that the Foreign Secretary was right to say that genocide and war crimes—my words, not his—are not the way to get the hostages released. There are parents and grandparents in this House who will stand up for children anywhere in the world—I am prepared to nail my colours to that mast. We have to take action; we cannot stand by and do nothing.

A number of Privy Counsellors—all of us, I think—wrote to the Prime Minister relatively recently, calling for the two-state solution to be imposed immediately. Sadly, that private letter did not receive a response, which is why it was published. Foreign Secretary, please take that message back to the Prime Minister and act.

[Mr Lammy]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for what he said in a cross-party spirit. He brings great authority and experience to these matters. He knows that, as a P5 nation, we are talking to our French counterparts about the way forward as we head to their conference next month. We are also talking to Saudi Arabia, which is jointly hosting that conference. I recognise why he raises these issues, particularly in relation to children, in the manner in which he does.

Ukraine War: London Talks

Roger Gale Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

I point my hon. Friend to the important 100-year partnership that we signed. Engagement at every level between civil society and people in every community is crucial. I know that there are very important twinning arrangements between cities and communities across the UK, and we look forward to strengthening those, and working with those communities. I met Ukrainian civil society organisations in Kyiv just a few weeks ago, and I regularly meet organisations here in the UK. If all of us across this House can create more links, that will give true strength for the future to the foundation on which that partnership is built.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

The Minister’s confirmation that the coalition of the willing will not permit the concession of any Ukrainian sovereign territory to Russia is most welcome, but I am not sure that I understand how that squares with Mr Trump’s current negotiating position, which seems to be based entirely on that. Some 20,000 Ukrainian children have been stolen by the neo-Soviet Union and sovietised. That is a war crime. Did the meeting yesterday make it absolutely plain that no recognition of any concession based on war crimes will be admitted at any time?

[Stephen Doughty]

The right hon. Gentleman asks important questions. He has heard what I had to say about the abducted children, and I completely share his passion, and his horror at what has happened. I will not go into the details of what was discussed yesterday, but as I said, I spoke about this issue very recently with our Ukrainian counterparts, and I know that the Foreign Secretary takes a very keen interest in it. The right hon. Gentleman also asked about territory. I will repeat what I said: we do not recognise Russian sovereignty over any territory illegally seized from Ukraine, including Crimea.

Oral Answers to Questions

Roger Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

This is not a matter for us. The United States is a sovereign, democratic nation, and the issue of voting rights in the District of Columbia is a matter for the United States.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

In the interests of self-determination, will the Foreign Secretary take the earliest opportunity to remind his opposite number in the United States that Canada has chosen to be a member state of the Commonwealth, that the Head of the Commonwealth and the Head of State of Canada is His Majesty King Charles, and that there is no prospect whatsoever of Canada being annexed by the United States?

[Stephen Doughty]

Canada is a strong friend and Commonwealth ally. It is a NATO ally and a fellow G7 member. I have strong ties with Canada myself, as the right hon. Gentleman might know. I was delighted to reiterate our friendship when I met my ministerial counterpart the other week; Prime Minister Carney, the new Canadian Prime Minister, was welcomed by the Prime Minister; and in recent weeks, the Foreign Secretary has been meeting with his counterpart. We continue to work strongly with Canada on many global issues.

Ukraine

Roger Gale Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for putting on the record the tremendous support the British people have given to Ukrainian refugees. It allows me to say that there is still a war, and there is still a need for those people to seek sanctuary in our country. It is my assessment that Putin is not showing a serious willingness to negotiate, and it may be that negotiations go on for some time. So I want to reassure her constituent that we are of course in close dialogue with my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

Some of us are old enough to remember Hungary in 1956 and some of us are old enough to remember Czechoslovakia in 1968. None of us wants to see Ukraine sacrificed on the same altar of expediency. When the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister go to Washington, they will know that they will carry with them the good wishes of—almost—all of this House. Ukraine is not for sale, and it can never be for sale; this is not a transaction. The United Kingdom will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

UK-Ukraine 100-year Partnership

Roger Gale Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I reassure Ukrainians in the strongest terms—I hope that they might see the 100-year partnership as a signal of this—that the UK will stand with them long after none of us are in this Chamber. That is the nature of the partnership. They should be reassured, and remember that war strikes indelible bonds; just as it did between us and the United States after the second world war, it will do so between us and Ukraine.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

I am sure that the Foreign Secretary’s statement will be as welcome in Kyiv as it is in this House. He referred to the 200,000 refugees in this country. Further to the point that the hon. Member for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) made, many of those people would like to return home, but home is a war zone, particularly in the east, and they cannot do so. They therefore have children in school here, and have built lives here. It would reassure them to know that they are safe and secure in the United Kingdom for not just the future but the immediate future, and will be able to be here for as long as it takes.

[Mr Lammy]

None of us knows when the war will complete, but across our constituencies we all recognise communities that continue to be here, coming out of other conflicts. I am thinking of Kosovan communities, for example, which exist right across the country; I can think of a significant community in south London in particular. Many Ukrainians want to return, and we should make it possible for them to do so, but in some areas there will have to be a lot of de-mining, let us face it, in order for them to go back to their homes. Let us see where we get to at the end of the conflict.