Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Edwards Excerpts

Tuesday 21st April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

6. What steps her Department is taking with international counterparts to help achieve a lasting resolution to the conflict in the Gulf.

[Sarah Edwards (Tamworth) (Lab)]

7. What steps her Department is taking with international counterparts to restore freedom of navigation through the strait of Hormuz.

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

16. What steps her Department is taking with international counterparts to help achieve a lasting resolution to the conflict in the Gulf.

--- Later in debate ---

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is completely right. Lebanese people need to be able to return to their homes. These are their homes, and it is a humanitarian disaster that so many people have been displaced from them. I have raised this issue directly with the Israeli Government, and we have made continued representations and raised this matter in international forums. We have also raised it with the US, which has been hosting the talks between Israel and Lebanon. It is hugely important that those talks progress, the ceasefire is maintained and Lebanese people can return home.

[Sarah Edwards]

My constituents in Tamworth are already paying the price for the blockade of the strait of Hormuz, with fuel costs soaring. My logistics sector is also facing the brunt of those fuel costs, which ultimately will be passed on to consumers. While I welcome the Prime Minister’s refusal to drag Britain into the United States’ reckless war, what steps is the Minister taking to secure the reopening of the strait and to bring down costs for my constituents and for the United Kingdom?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is right. We did not get involved in the start of this conflict, but we will work to bring it to a close and do everything we can to get the strait reopened. It is affecting the cost of living back at home in her constituency, across the country and across the world. No country should be able to hijack international shipping lanes or hold the global economy hostage. We have held repeated summits and meetings on the reopening of the strait, and we will continue to argue across the world for no tolls.