COP27

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is why this can be a win-win. There are already hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK involved in our transition to net zero. Not only is that good for our economy, but that expertise is helping other countries to make the transition. We need to make sure that all our funding and all our policies are geared towards supporting her fantastic businesses in Stroud, because that is the right thing to do not just for us, but for the world.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

I wrote to the Prime Minister to ask him to make representations to the Egyptian President about the case of my constituent Jessica Kelly’s husband, Karim Ennarah, an Egyptian human rights activist who was imprisoned. We campaigned and managed to get him released, but he is the subject of a travel ban and an asset freeze. First, did the Prime Minister raise that case, along with that of Alaa Abd el-Fattah? Secondly, does the Prime Minister think that it is right that his Government should divert billions of pounds of aid funding away from those who are most vulnerable to climate change and other risks when he has already made aid budget cuts?

[The Prime Minister]

We are not diverting funding; we remain committed to the £11.6 billion of climate finance that we outlined last year. I raised in general the topic of human rights with the President. I am keen to see the release of the detainees, as are other countries, and we will continue to press on all those matters.