Middle East

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Imran Hussain

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

Hezbollah is a dangerous terrorist organisation. It is undermining the security of the people of Lebanon. We support the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese armed forces in taking action against Hezbollah. We are providing them with direct support, including funding and capabilities support, because we believe it is hugely important that they should be able to do this with international support. We also think, frankly, that Iran should be putting pressure on its proxies, rather than using proxies to escalate tensions and to escalate activity, so we are putting pressure on Iran to put pressure on Hezbollah.

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

Frankly, the measures announced today, while necessary, do not go anywhere near far enough. They will not stop the genocide in Gaza, they will not stop the war crimes in Gaza, and they certainly will not stop the continuation of illegal settlements. What real, concrete measures can the Foreign Secretary announce here today? She stated earlier, to a number of colleagues who asked the question, that she wants to see an end to trade with illegal settlements. Well, that is in her gift, because she can stand at the Dispatch Box today and announce a ban on trade with all illegal settlements. Why will she not do that?

[Yvette Cooper]

We are announcing these sanctions, which go further than ever before in targeting the organisations that are effectively facilitating, promoting, encouraging and developing illegal settlements. We want to continue to go further on sanctions and look at ways to strengthen our sanctions regime, so that we can go further and can put on additional pressure. Look, individual countries can take particular action on things such as sanctions in different ways—the trade issues we have discussed and so on—but the biggest impact will be made by building an international coalition and consensus. That is what happened in autumn around Gaza. That has been lost or reduced since then. We must rebuild that again, but this time we must ensure it includes the west bank as well as Gaza.

Venezuela

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Imran Hussain

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

Let me address some of the hon. Member’s bigger points about the international rules-based order and global power politics. He and I are old enough to have experience and reflections on the cold war, which was all about great power politics and difficulties. Alongside those big military global tensions, we had worked hard post the second world war to develop a rules-based order. This has been a part of global history for a long time: the tensions between how we maintain international law and an international rules-based order and how we engage with different competing interests, sometimes from some of the biggest countries in the world and sometimes from some of the smaller countries in the world who have particular power in particular areas.

In terms of the UK’s approach, we continue to believe in the importance of a rules-based order and of such an international framework. We also engage with the world as it is—the world as we face it. We need to be able to do so and to be agile in responding to that.

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

Regardless of what is said in this place, it is clear for all to see that Trump’s illegal actions in Venezuela are a blatant violation of international law, and now he has Greenland clearly in his sight. Frankly, the response from the international community and our own Government has been shameful. How can we pretend to defend international law when we refuse even to condemn the most blatant of violations and do not apply it equally?

The reality is that we are sending a green light to say that international rules no longer apply. Let us call this what it is. Trump’s actions are not about democracy; they are about oil and old-fashioned colonialism. I give the Foreign Secretary the opportunity again. If she truly believes and wants to stand up for international law, she should stand at that Dispatch Box and condemn these illegal actions. If she does not—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. I think we have got the gist. We really need to have shorter questions, or not everyone will get in.