Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Crabb Excerpts

Monday 11th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Cleverly]

We have long expressed our deeply held concerns about the de-stabilising activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. I take into consideration the points my hon. Friend makes about its activity, but the UK Government do not routinely comment on organisations that they may proscribe. The proscription list is regularly reviewed and we will always take situations on the ground into consideration when we update it.

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

What recent reports he has received on Israeli co-operation with the Palestinian Authority in tackling covid-19.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Israeli-Palestinian co-operation in tackling covid-19.

[Stephen Crabb [V]]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that the UN special co-ordinator for the middle east peace process recently praised the way the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority have been working together to tackle covid-19. Does he agree that that kind of practical co-operation—the building of trust and meeting shared challenges head on—is the way that peace will get built in the region? Will he step up his efforts to encourage genuine negotiations based on the two-state solution?

[James Cleverly]

In conversations I have had with both representatives of the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority I have praised the way they have worked together on this matter. I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend that international co-operation is the way that we, as the international community, will fight it. As the Prime Minister said at the coronavirus global response international pledging conference he co-hosted in May, the race for a vaccine is not a competition between countries, but the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetime. If the attitudes we bring into fighting this disease can be more broadly applied, I think the world would be a better place.