Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Shockat Adam Excerpts(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Mr Lammy
I think I have now answered that question many times, but the whole House will have heard what my hon. Friend has said.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
I, too, cautiously welcome the Foreign Secretary’s passion and his statement, although they come a little late for 51,000 Palestinians. He has talked of the suspension of negotiations on new trade deals; would not a suspension of existing trade deals be more effective? If the Foreign Secretary does indeed believe that the behaviour of the Israeli Government is abominable, may I ask why a Minister partied with the Israelis just last week, while 370 Gazans were massacred and the world was mourning for them? Does that not undermine trust in the UK’s role in this conflict?
Mr Lammy
As I said earlier to the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse), it is important that we make a distinction between the Israeli people and the current direction of the Israeli Government, and I insist that we be precise in our language on that point.
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Shockat Adam Excerpts(1 week, 6 days ago)
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Kim Leadbeater
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has a neutral position on the issue of assisted dying. If we refer to the impact—[Interruption.] Yes, it does.
Dr Shastri-Hurst
I will make some progress, if I may. The point is that people cannot have a fully informed discussion and weigh up the balance of the decision if they do not know the full options available to them. That is a part of informed consent.
Dr Shastri-Hurst
I will make a little progress, if I may.
In respect of new clause 2, those who have had the privilege of meeting a young person living with a terminal illness will know that they often display a maturity and a depth of understanding far beyond their years. To deny them the opportunity of a considered conversation about their future upon reaching adulthood is not an act of compassion, in my view; it is to abandon them. It is to leave them isolated, navigating a complex and deeply personal journey through the filter of online forums, rather than in dialogue with trusted, qualified professionals. We owe them better than that.
Gaza: UK Assessment
Shockat Adam Excerpts(2 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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Mr Falconer
My hon. Friend is committed to these questions. I responded to an earlier question by emphasising the central importance of road routes in ensuring aid of the scale required. However, I assure the House that we continue to look at what alternatives we can find to help where we can. That has included supporting a small number of Gazan children to get access to specialist healthcare here in the UK, which they are currently accessing. Where we can help, we will help, but I must be honest with the House about the scale of aid that is required if the IPC findings of Monday are to be averted.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
Three weeks ago, while I was in the west bank, I spoke to a young Palestinian refugee mother who asked me, with tears in her eyes, “Why has the world forgotten us?” My response then has been echoed today: the world has not forgotten them, but what we have done is fail them completely. The failure looks like this: the United Nations has now confirmed that since March, more than 100 children every single day have been killed or injured. Imagine if it was our children. If, God forbid, 100 European children or 100 Israeli children were being killed every single day, would we be supplying even a penknife to the perpetrators of the crime—yes or no?
Mr Falconer
The death of any child is a tragedy. I have set out already the steps that we have taken in relation to arms suspensions. I reassure those watching not from the UK, as I reassured the Jordanian MPs whom I saw this morning, that nobody has forgotten about Gaza—not in this House, and not in this country. It will continue to be an issue of first-rank importance for this Government, and I will continue to work every day to try to see the changes we have described this afternoon.
Oral Answers to Questions
Shockat Adam Excerpts(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Catherine West)
The British Council has no greater champions than Labour Ministers on the Front Bench. It does a fantastic job to promote the UK abroad. Across this House, we love the British Council.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
London Sudan Conference
Shockat Adam Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Falconer
I am not familiar with the case. I will discuss it with the Minister for Africa and ensure that the hon. Member gets a proper response.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
I thank the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) for securing the urgent question. Despite the barbarity of Sudan, it seems to be the forgotten conflict. What steps are being taken to investigate and prevent the transfer of arms to Sudan via third countries who may have been present at the conference over the weekend and are allies of the UK?
Mr Falconer
We were clear in the co-chairs’ statement, as we have been in many other places, that we do not want external interference in this conflict. We are taking every step we can to try to ensure that we get back to a diplomatic solution and back to a civilian transfer towards civilian rule, which is what the Sudanese so desperately need.
Gaza: Israeli Military Operations
Shockat Adam Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Falconer
I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on particular cases involving constituents in Gaza. My hon. Friend works incredibly hard for her constituents, as do many other Members. Where I am in direct correspondence with Members about the fate of constituents and their relatives in Gaza, I will not provide a running commentary from the Dispatch Box, but the Foreign Office will do everything it can to ensure that British nationals in distress, and their loved ones, including in Gaza, are able to get to safety. I can confirm to her that we have raised the urgency of these matters with the Israeli Government.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
Another day, another statement, another day of predictable and depressing answers. Nothing is more predictable and depressing than the statement, “We are doing everything we can.” Are we really doing everything we can when we do not call out genocide and ethnic cleansing as we see it happening in real time? Are we doing everything we can when we have not imposed bilateral economic sanctions? Are we doing everything we can when we have not even called in the ambassador to express our concerns? If we are indeed doing everything we can, why have the Government just sold £9 million-worth of technology for Israeli submarines that are being built to house nuclear weapons?
Mr Falconer
We are doing everything we can. I recognise from the commentary of many Members how unbearably frustrating they and their constituents find this situation. I have been calling for a ceasefire ever since I have been a Minister. It is also deeply depressing for me to be in this situation today, as I have been so many times in the House. We will continue to do everything, in accordance with the measures I have laid out this afternoon, to bring the conflict back to a ceasefire.
Oral Answers to Questions
Shockat Adam Excerpts(1 month, 4 weeks ago)
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Mr Falconer
I thank my hon. Friend for her question; I know how attentive to these issues she has been. The Foreign Secretary has condemned in this Chamber the comments of Defence Minister Katz, and this Government are clear what the path to reconstruction in Gaza must be. We have engaged closely with our partners in the Arab world, we welcome their plan for reconstructing Gaza, and we will continue to do all we can to see that as the path to reconstruction, with dignity for the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
Today is the anniversary of the killing of the 33-year-old ex-Royal Marine James Henderson, who was killed by the Israelis among seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen. A year later, as the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed) has mentioned, mass graves have been found with eight bodies of those who worked for the Red Crescent and the Red Cross. That comes two weeks after eight aid workers from the Al-Khair Foundation were killed. It is believed that 1,500 aid workers have been killed. Does the Minister believe that it is illegal under international law to kill aid workers and, if so, what is he prepared to do about it?
Mr Falconer
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me the opportunity to comment. Today is indeed the one-year anniversary of the appalling strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy, which killed seven people, including British citizens John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby. I would like to pay tribute to their bravery and remember again the appalling tragedy of that day. I, alongside the Foreign Secretary, met their families in November. They are determined to see justice for their family members, and I know that the whole Chamber will be united in that determination. Israel’s Military Advocate General must quickly and thoroughly conclude their consideration of the strike, including determining whether criminal proceedings should be initiated. As the hon. Gentleman has said, Gaza is now the most dangerous place in the world to be an aid worker. This cannot continue.
Conflict in Gaza
Shockat Adam Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Mr Lammy
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the issue of recognition, which I know is dear to him and others in this House. It is a serious issue. He knows that recognition, in and of itself, does not deliver a two-state solution. He knows that we want a two-state solution and the recognition of a Palestinian state, but that is best done as part of a process that actually gets us to two states. He will recognise that the decision by other partners to move to recognition has not alleviated the suffering before our eyes, which is why there must be a careful balance. I recognise that different Governments and Members will come to different judgments, but I am holding out for two states—including an actual state for the Palestinian people, which is a just cause—and not just for a symbolic act.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
Along with a billion Muslims around the world, I began my fast on Tuesday morning, having taken some food and water, with the screams of 400 innocent men, women and children ringing in my ears, as they were burned alive in their makeshift tents. I object to the resumption of the conflict and the cessation of the peace deal. The Israelis have continued to kill hundreds of people, including freezing babies, and to proceed with the Gazafication of the west bank through the removal of 40,000 people.
The Minister will be aware of the peace deal that was available in May 2024. According to President Biden, the hostages are not a priority for the Israelis—a sentiment that was echoed just the other day by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which accused Mr Netanyahu of “complete deception”, and said that
“the Israeli Government has chosen to abandon the hostages.”
The fact is that the Foreign Secretary is aware of all this, as we continue to provide Israel with military support and the use of our air base in Cyprus, and to give it moral, economic and political support. I hope that he takes my sincere question as it is meant. He has spoken passionately about his heritage and his ancestors, who were shackled in the chains of slavery. To unshackle his own chains, will he immediately cease all arms licences? Despite the £6.1 billion-worth of economic ties between Israel and the UK, will he impose economic sanctions, and put in place a viable process for recognising the state of Palestine?
Mr Lammy
The hon. Gentleman brings powerful rhetoric to the House this afternoon. Notwithstanding the horrors of the conflict that has begun, we are three days into it. In the end, it is the ceasefire that will alleviate the suffering. It is my job to use all endeavours to get back to that ceasefire. That is my job, and that is what I intend to do.
Israeli-Palestinian Peace: International Fund
Shockat Adam Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg.
I congratulate the hon. Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) on securing this debate. I start by acknowledging the incredibly fragile ceasefire, which I think everyone in this House wants to see endure. In aid of that, we need to see the return of each and every hostage taken by Hamas during the barbaric acts of 7 October 2023.
We are all appalled by Hamas’s cynical move to continue holding hostages as human bargaining chips. Those individuals, their families and loved ones have all experienced unimaginable pain over the last 500 days and more. The world has been watching as the hostages released so far have returned to their homes and loved ones. Of course, many have not returned alive. We continue to call on Hamas to immediately release the remaining hostages, who have already suffered so deeply. That is key to a sustainable end to the conflict.
I would be grateful if the Minister could update us on his latest discussions with Israel, the US, the UAE and other regional players to help the parties reach agreement on phase 2 of the ceasefire. I also ask what he is doing to ensure that the UK is a proactive contributor to these discussions and is doing its bit to keep the fragile peace together and to support the deal.
The Prime Minister has pledged his support for establishing an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace, and for the plans to hold an inaugural meeting in London. We all aspire to peace in the region, and the fund was first endorsed by the Conservative Government in 2018. When will the inaugural meeting take place, and who will be a party to those discussions?
On peace more broadly, we understand that the Government share our view that Hamas can have no role in the future governance of Gaza, but we have had very little detail on how they plan to help achieve a post-Hamas Gaza. Hamas have been shown to have a callous disregard for human life through their appalling actions on 7 October, their persistent use of Palestinians as human shields, and their murder and mistreatment of hostages. Hamas have extensively repressed civil society in Gaza, stamped out political opposition and arbitrarily arrested journalists. What discussions has the Minister had with Israeli and regional partners on the future governance of Gaza?
Wendy Morton
I will make progress because I am very short on time. Promoting peace in the region is an aim that we all aspire to in this House. The Abraham accords signed in 2020 were a welcome step that normalised relations between Israel and the other regional actors. We celebrate the success of the accords and encourage more countries to normalise relations with Israel as a potential route to a broader peace. Building on the accords presents an opportunity for greater shared prosperity, which we want and hope will mean real, tangible benefits for the Palestinian people too.
During our time in government, we took steps to try to preserve stability in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Between 2021 and 2023, the UK’s conflict, stability and security fund helped over 18,000 Palestinians at risk of eviction to protect their property rights. We strengthened economic opportunity by funding key water infrastructure and we launched the UK-Palestinian tech hub. Between 2015 and 2020, UK official development assistance supported 70,000 children to gain a decent education, and it also supported the middle east peace process, a £30 million programme that ran between 2015 and 2019. The UK is a party outside the region, but it is an important player with key historical links that act as a connector. What is the Minister doing to ensure that we continue our role as a trusted partner, supporting normalised relations and a greater peace in the region?
The most pressing task is ensuring that the fragile peace holds, and we must shift our eyes to the reconstruction of Gaza once we meet the subsequent stages of the ceasefire agreement. What role does the Minister envisage the UK playing in the reconstruction of Gaza? How will we work together with regional allies? What is his response to the paper produced by the Cairo summit? We must also understand what the ODA changes mean in practice for programmes in the region. Will the Minister see funding for the OPTs drop following the announcement? For a lasting peace, Palestinians need the same liberties that their neighbours enjoy in Israel. That involves reforming the Palestinian Authority. We want reforms to continue, including on transparency, fighting corruption and improving public sector efficiency, which we supported last year in government.
As I conclude, and I am very conscious of time, it is important to recognise that, if the Palestinian Authority is to have an expanded role, it needs to implement very significant reforms on welfare and education, and it must demonstrate a commitment to democratic processes. We have an incredibly fragile ceasefire agreement that we must all work to protect. The Government must redouble their efforts to preserve the viability of the two-state solution and ensure that the UK plays its part in helping to lift the people’s eyes to a brighter future—
Mr Falconer
I will give way first to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).
Syria
Shockat Adam Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mr Falconer
As I said before, we condemn any sectarian attacks and any actions to stoke intercommunal tensions within Syria. Syria has long benefited from its many minorities and its great diversity, and that is what we want to see in its future. We have given £62 million since the fall of Assad. We monitor that closely to ensure that it goes, as the hon. Gentleman says, through reliable channels with proper controls to ensure that there is no misuse.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
An Arab proverb goes, “Better a hundred days of tyranny than one day of anarchy.” We saw the result of that anarchy over the weekend with potentially over 1,500 civilians killed. Would the Government support a well-resourced, integrated United Nations group with a beefed-up mandate, and potentially a new Syrian envoy familiar with the country and who speaks Arabic, to help resolve the issue?
Mr Falconer
As I said in response to a previous question, we are in discussions about what a UN role could be in a future Syria. I will not comment too much on what personnel might staff it.