Conflict in Gaza
Stella Creasy Excerpts(4 days, 8 hours ago)
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Mr Lammy
A whole generation of Gazans are growing up in the most unbearable conditions, and I know that the right hon. Gentleman has been a champion for those children—children who we saw rummaging around in the rubble; children who are now orphaned; and the many thousands of children in Gaza who are out of school. It is absolutely right that he brings their plight to the attention of the House. But the way forward that we were shown back at the beginning of January was through a ceasefire, negotiations to get into phases 2 and 3 of that ceasefire, and a horizon for a two-state solution. That is what I will continue to fight for.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
I think we all share the Foreign Secretary’s shock, anger and frustration at the breakdown of the ceasefire and the deaths that we are seeing in Gaza. As today’s debate shows, words matter. I want to follow up on the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward), given that we are now hearing reports of ground activities in Gaza, led by Israeli forces. Israel Katz, the Defence Minister, claimed that the “evacuation” of Gaza would resume and he is threatening “total devastation”. Those are not the actions of a Government who want peace; they are the actions of an increasingly authoritarian Government who are more interested in their own political survival than in the survival of any innocent civilian, be they Palestinian or Israeli. This is not what the hostage families want to see, and we should speak for them as much as for the innocent civilians in Gaza and the Palestinians whose lives are being lost. For the avoidance of doubt, will the Foreign Secretary be clear that we do not agree with but condemn the words of Isreal Katz, as they are not going to bring forward the ceasefire or uphold international law if they are left unchallenged?
Mr Lammy
I do condemn those words and I would ask Minister Katz, who is very experienced, to withdraw them.
Syria
Stella Creasy Excerpts(2 weeks ago)
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Mr Falconer
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that moving account. The family in his constituency are representative of Syria, which is a place of many different minorities and communities with a long history of working together. I confirm that I am working with international partners, including the United Nations, to do everything we can to ensure that the violence on the coast stops.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister paints an extremely concerning picture of what is happening in Syria. On 9 December, the Government announced a temporary pause in accepting asylum applications from people from Syria, because of our hopes for the country’s future. In the light of what he is telling us, what conversations has he had with his colleagues in Government about what should inform that assessment moving forward and what it means for people in our country?
Mr Falconer
The events over the weekend are still unfolding. I am not really in a position to provide any further commentary on what they might mean in relation to other parts of Government, but I will return to the House when I am.
Jammu and Kashmir: Human Rights
Stella Creasy Excerpts(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Sarah Smith
I do agree—that is very important—and I will get to that shortly.
Human Rights Watch has stated that the Indian Government have not fully restored freedom of speech and association since the revocation of article 370 of the constitution in Jammu and Kashmir. It said in its July 2024 report:
“The Indian security forces continue to carry out repressive policies including arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and other serious abuses.”
Many of these violations are enabled by legislation such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978, which obstruct the normal course of law, impede accountability and jeopardise the right to remedy for victims of human rights violations.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
My hon. Friend’s constituents and mine will recognise well the title of Amnesty International’s report: “Five years of silence and struggle in Kashmir”. Does she agree we are making it very clear that this Government and the MPs present today will not allow that to be the case for human rights in Kashmir?
Sarah Smith
I completely agree with my hon. Friend. It is encouraging to see so many Labour Members in the Chamber who share the responsibility for ensuring that we do not stay silent on the issues that matter the most.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act remains hugely concerning, given that it gives the Indian security forces de facto legal immunity from prosecution for any human rights violation. Amnesty said:
“There is almost total impunity for enforced disappearance with little movement towards credibly investigating complaints”.
Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur, said:
“The state must respect its human rights obligations and be held accountable where it violates them.”
Amnesty has reviewed the habeas corpus petitions filed to challenge detentions under the Public Safety Act before the High Court for the periods 2014 to 2019 and 2019 to 2024. It found a sevenfold increase in the number of cases filed under the PSA after 2019, with Muslim-dominated Srinagar consistently recording more PSA cases than Hindu-dominated Jammu.
As Pakistan and India work towards a bilateral resolution for peace, I want to ask the Government how the UK is supporting that aspiration. UN Security Council resolution 47 states that the future of Jammu and Kashmir should be decided by its own people
“through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite”.
How will the UK Government encourage the implementation of that resolution, and how will they encourage the Indian authorities to comply with the Indian Supreme Court’s mandate for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir?
Given the evidence of ongoing human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, will the UK Government agree to raise their concerns in ongoing trade talks and other diplomatic negotiations with India? As part of any future UK-India trade negotiations, will the UK Government support the call for the release of journalists, and press for an open media environment that can function in a more meaningful way to promote a healthy democratic process?
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office last published an annual report on its activities to promote human rights abroad in 2023, and the previous Government unfortunately did not address Kashmir directly. Do this Government have plans to publish an annual report with reference to the Foreign Office’s activities regarding Kashmir?
I thank the Minister for her time today. The Kashmiri community in my constituency of Hyndburn make an invaluable contribution to the life of our community, but many live with anxiety about the future for their relatives in the region. I share their hope that Jammu and Kashmir will enjoy improved social and political conditions following a return to statehood, that the authorities will adopt a more humane approach to political prisoners, and that the appeal of militancy is reduced as Kashmir moves towards a peaceful resolution.
Gaza
Stella Creasy Excerpts(2 weeks, 6 days ago)
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Catherine West
I thank the hon. Gentleman for doing his research before coming to the House, and I can confirm that Hamas is a terror organisation that is proscribed by our Government for those reasons. It is really important that we are robust in our defence of the right of the state of Israel, our ally, to exist.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
The people of both Israel and Palestine have been failed by their leadership, with horrific consequences. One person who knew that more than most was my constituent’s father, Oded Lifschitz, whose coffin we saw paraded horrifically through the streets of Khan Yunis. We should say his name in this place, because he dedicated his life to securing peace between Israel and Palestine. He drove ambulances over the border to help Palestinian people. We can be clear in this Chamber that withholding aid and using starvation as a weapon of war is wrong, but if we want to challenge that leadership, we must step up ourselves. The Minister previously spoke about what we are doing to try to support medical needs in Gaza. For the avoidance of doubt—may Oded’s memory be a blessing, and in his cause we will follow up—can the Minister be clear that we will evacuate people who need medical assistance from Gaza to the UK?
Catherine West
The Lifschitz family have a great champion in my hon. Friend, who has come to the House and laid out in clear terms her expectation of the Government. There are certain schemes to assist families in medical emergencies. With her permission, I will write to her with the detail and the exact guidelines that are used by the Government to determine who is eligible for those schemes.
Ukraine
Stella Creasy Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Mr Lammy
I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman. On his comments, we share President Trump’s desire to bring this barbaric war to an end. We know that Russia could do that by withdrawing its troops tomorrow, and President Trump agrees with us that it is important that Ukraine is at the table. When I spoke to Secretary Rubio, he was absolutely clear that there can be no peace without Ukraine. He was also clear that because of the burden of UK and EU sanctions, there cannot easily be a resolution to this conflict without Europe at the table as well.
The hon. Gentleman asked about sanctions and designations. Combined across both parties, we have now introduced more sanctions for this crime and this terrible conflict than for any other in our parliamentary history. I cannot comment on future designations, but the hon. Gentleman will know—and will have heard in my comments—that our desire is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position. We know that Putin has turned his economy into a war economy, and there are evasions that we will continue to bear down on.
The hon. Gentleman rightly mentioned Abramovich and the money that has been set aside. We are redoubling our efforts to unlock that money, which could be used on the frontline to support Ukraine over the course of the next few months.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
I am sure that our Ukrainian allies will listen to the steadfast support in this House and feel heartened, and that they will also notice whose voices are absent from the House at this time. There are press reports that a deal is apparently imminent on Ukrainian mineral deposits for America as the price of continued support, so is there anything more that we and our European partners can do to stop the eventual products—those crucial metals—ending up in the hands of enemy and competitor states? Has that issue been discussed?
Mr Lammy
My hon. Friend asks a good question. I discussed that issue with President Zelensky when I was in Ukraine a few days ago, in the context of the 100-year partnership that we have just signed with Ukraine. That partnership is a unique document, not only in our history and Ukraine’s history, but in the history of the world, and I believe it sets a pretty good guide for how to strike a relationship across many fronts. Of course, that relationship will bring big wins for British businesses over the years ahead, but it will also bring big wins for Ukrainian businesses—we will learn from their innovation. I look forward to the discussions that Ukraine is having with the United States. It is for Ukraine to make its own judgments, but I think that 100-year partnership could be a good guide.
Middle East
Stella Creasy Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Mr Lammy
The hon. Lady is right that a two-state solution is the only way to a stable peace. She knows, too, that recognition in itself does not achieve that. It has always been my view, and that of important international partners such as France, that this is an important issue. If we are serious, and achieve that political process, recognition might properly be part of it, to cement the two states that are necessary. This Government, and I suspect previous Governments, fully understand the importance of the UK’s role in applying that at the appropriate moment, precisely because we have the distinguished responsibility of having a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
I know that for the next couple of days everybody in this House will hold in their hearts my constituent Sharone, whose father Oded is the oldest hostage we are awaiting news on; we hope to hear some this weekend. Oded is 85. I hold out hope for him, because we do not know what has happened to him. Oded spent his life as a peace activist, campaigning for a two-state solution and driving Gazans to hospital. In the spirit of Oded, and the work that he has done, will the Foreign Secretary work with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care to offer young Palestinians who urgently need medical help the support that they need here in the UK?
Mr Lammy
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the work that she does, and for our friendship over many years. Oded is a retired Israeli journalist who was taken from his home. His wife, Yocheved, was also taken, but she was released in October 2023. Oded’s daughter Sharone is a British national who resides in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and she has tirelessly campaigned for his release. That is what we want to see over the next period. There is a role for our own medical services where appropriate, and I will continue to work with my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary on these issues. My hon. Friend should be reassured that he raised the very same issues with me this week on how we can do more in relation to that matter.
Northern Gaza
Stella Creasy Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
I am sorry that the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) is no longer here because he is right that Hamas are terrorists, but we need to be clear in this House that this is not being done in the name of the hostage families. The hostages’ families do not want to see babies freezing to death in Gaza, and they know this will not bring their loved ones home.
The Minister was clear with us earlier that he had seen aid piling up at the borders and that Israel controls the borders. Impeding access to humanitarian aid is a direct breach of international humanitarian law, so for the avoidance of doubt, is it his testimony that Israel is impeding access at the borders by the way in which it is controlling them? I think he needs to be clear on this point, because it does have ramifications for us.
Mr Falconer
I know many others in this House have done so as well, but I saw the hostage families in December, and my hon. Friend is absolutely right. They are desperate for the safe return of their loved ones, and we hold them in our hearts as their agony continues yet further.
On aid access, my hon. Friend is of course right that these questions are relevant to determinations of international humanitarian law. When we set out the assessment that underlined our action on the arms suspensions, we made particular reference to the provision of aid into the occupied territories in Gaza, and I refer her to that statement. We tried to provide as much detail in it as possible, and it remains the clearest articulation of our view about international humanitarian law and aid provision into Gaza.
Israel and Palestine
Stella Creasy Excerpts(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Tahir Ali (Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for opening this debate, and the thousands of my constituents in Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley who have sent me emails, signed the petitions and urged me to speak up about the extremely distressing situation in Palestine.
The situation in Gaza is far beyond breaking point. In the past 14 months, we have seen Israel’s deliberate assault on the innocent people of Gaza. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 100,000 have been injured, many of them innocent women and children. The death toll continues to rise every day. The United Kingdom cannot remain complicit any more.
A step towards change would be to cease not 30 out of 350 arms exports licences, but each and every one of them. We cannot allow Israel to destroy Gaza in the way it is doing. The Government say that they want a two-state solution, but to have a two-state solution they have to recognise Palestine. If they do not recognise Palestine, what does that actually mean? It is no more than warm words. Warm words are no longer a viable option; it is time for action, and that has to include immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood. Otherwise, advocating for a two-state solution means absolutely nothing.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
I share my hon. Friend’s frustration, because 10 years ago this place voted to recognise Palestine as a state. Many of us took part in that debate. Does he therefore agree that we now need to take that vote to the United Nations? That is where we must recognise Palestine.
Tahir Ali
I thank my hon. Friend for making that important point about the vote that happened here and about taking that to the United Nations. However, the United Nations is not democratic; it is a toothless tiger, because a single nation can stand up and veto such a vote. We have seen that happen time and time again.
What we have to do is to choose to be on the right side of history. One hundred and forty-six countries recognise Palestine as a state. We, as the United Kingdom, say the warm words that we are all in favour of a two-state solution. Before long, however, if Netanyahu gets what he wants in Gaza, which is for Palestinians to leave for Lebanon and Egypt, there will be no Palestine to recognise; there will be no Palestinians left in Palestine or Gaza. That is the agenda of Netanyahu, and we cannot aid and abet it by not recognising Palestinian statehood.
We have to rise above that, with immediate effect and without any further dithering. This Government have to rise to the challenge and say to Netanyahu, “Enough is enough. We will recognise Palestine as a state and we will stop all sales of arms to Israel.” If further sanctions are needed, we need to impose further sanctions.
When the Minister responds to the debate, can he explain something? Saying that it is not the right time to recognise Palestine is no longer an excuse. Can he say why the Government are not in a position to recognise Palestine? To use the same rhetoric as the previous Government—that when the time is right, we will recognise Palestine—does not cut the mustard any more. We have to recognise the innocent children, men and women of Gaza who have died because of the genocide—plausible genocide—being carried out by Netanyahu. Arrest warrants are out; ICJ rulings are out; many world leaders have called it a genocide; and we are still debating whether we need to recognise Palestine as a state. That is shameful for this Government and it is shameful to be part of this debate today, advocating recognition of Palestine when that should have happened many, many years ago, as my good and hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy) has mentioned; that vote has already happened. We need to have such a vote again; we need to have it in this Parliament; and we need to carry out not only the wishes of the people out there but the explicit wishes of every single parliamentarian in this Chamber.
Oral Answers to Questions
Stella Creasy Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mr Lammy
I recognise that the hon. Gentleman has got some problem with having a British passport, but I have no such problem. I am proud to be a citizen of this great country, and we have some outstanding diplomats and officials in the FCDO. Of course, we recognised in opposition that there are issues in this area, which is why we have said that we will introduce a special representative to work with hostage families.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
Alaa’s friends and family, whom I have the privilege of representing as my constituents, just want their brother, uncle and son home safe. Previously, the Foreign Secretary—who has worked hard on this issue and, as he says, has raised it with the Egyptians—has talked about what we could do if the Egyptians will not restore consular access. They still have not done that, so could the Foreign Secretary update us? I know this House speaks as one in standing and demanding that Alaa be freed and able to come home to his family for this Christmas, but what more can and will the Foreign Secretary do if the Egyptians will not restore consular access for the family?
Mr Lammy
My hon. Friend has campaigned diligently on the family’s behalf. She will know that the Egyptians do not accept Mr el-Fattah’s dual nationality—that is an issue between us—and it is for that reason that they deny consular access. Currently, access is through Mr el-Fattah’s lawyer. I am urging the Egyptians to understand that he got his citizenship in the usual way, just like other members of his family. There was no conspiracy on the part of the state in the way that Mr el-Fattah got that citizenship, and I continue to press them on that very issue, which would allow him to have the consular access that he deserves.
Oral Answers to Questions
Stella Creasy Excerpts(5 months ago)
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Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
It is welcome to hear the Minister talk about looking at what the EU might suggest. It is important to be clear that the youth mobility scheme is not freedom of movement. We already have schemes with Uruguay, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and it is clear that strict conditions apply to when somebody can come here. Will the Minister update us on when he next expects to discuss the subject with the EU?
Stephen Doughty
Of course, we discuss a range of issues with our partners and friends in the EU. As I said earlier, I will not give a running commentary on those discussions. We have been clear that we will not return to freedom of movement or rejoin the EU.