Oral Answers to Questions

Stella Creasy Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I think my hon. Friend refers to the two-state solution conference that was due to take place in New York last week. It has been suspended for understandable reasons, given events in the region, by its French and Saudi co-hosts. We expect that it will be rearranged, and I have been in conversation with my Saudi colleagues about when that might be.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

15. What recent progress he has made on securing the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

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

I am committed to securing Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s release—I was committed to this before coming to power, and I remain committed now. The Government are engaging intensively on this case. I raise Alaa’s imprisonment every time I am in contact with my Egyptian counterpart, and the Prime Minister has raised it in several conversations with President Sisi.

[Ms Creasy]

I think everybody in this Chamber, including the Foreign Secretary, is desperately worried about the health of Laila Soueif, who has felt that she has no choice but to be on hunger strike since her son Alaa should have been released last September. She is in and out of hospital, desperately ill, “dying in slow motion”, as her daughter says. I welcome the work that the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have done on this case and the commitments they have made. As the Foreign Secretary knows, the Egyptians have remained steadfast in their objections. Can he confirm that he is considering all options to secure Alaa’s release, including changing the Foreign Office travel advice for Egypt to highlight the risk of arbitrary detention, so that no other family is put through this kind of anguish?

[Mr Lammy]

This case and Laila’s condition concern me greatly. It has been a top priority every week that I have been in office. At every single level—Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Minister, National Security Adviser—we are engaged with the Egyptians. I believe that our strategy is working, but clearly, given Laila’s health, we must see progress at pace with the Egyptian Government.