Oral Answers to Questions

Steve McCabe Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Anne McGuire (Stirling) (Lab)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to support projects which foster co-operation and co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians.

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

11. What recent discussions he has had with his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts and others on the continuing violence and loss of life in Gaza.

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

12. What plans he has to visit Israel to discuss the current situation in that region.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Ellwood]

The right hon. Lady is right to point out that there are some wider issues to be dealt with. Our aim is to support and strengthen constituencies for peace through the tri-departmental conflict pool fund. In 2013-14 we funded 17 projects through the conflict pool programme for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with a budget of £4 million.

[Steve McCabe]

I welcome the Minister to his post. I support Israel’s right to defend itself and I condemn the actions of Hamas, but may I urge the Minister to redouble the British Government’s efforts not just to achieve a ceasefire but to restart peace talks designed to achieve a lasting peace, so that we can end this recurring spectre of the suffering of thousands of innocent Palestinians?

[Mr Ellwood]

That is exactly what the Foreign Secretary is trying to achieve in his work in Brussels today, and the Egyptian leadership is making efforts to do the same, bringing parties together in the region. The UK has three objectives: to secure a ceasefire; to alleviate humanitarian suffering; and to keep alive the prospects for peace negotiations, which are the only hope for ending the cycle of violence once and for all.