International Development

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Joe Powell

Thursday 19th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s support for global health and the impact of the commitment. However, we are not continuing the direct funding around polio. That is a difficult decision. What we are doing is insisting that polio is covered as part of the Gavi funding. We are funding more than £1.2 billion in investment in Gavi and the vaccines programme, and their work is now expanding into polio. Given the multiplicity of different programmes in some of those areas, we think the important thing is not to have overlapping programmes but to focus, particularly through Gavi and the Global Fund, on vaccines and on eradicating those diseases.

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

Beyond aid, our party has a proud history in this area, from debt relief to immunisation finance and leveraging capital investment in programmes such as the World Bank’s International Development Association fund. Will the Secretary of State give us an idea of how much of a priority that will be for the UK’s G20 presidency? Given that Ukraine now represents one of our biggest humanitarian budgets, what message does she have for my former constituent, Roman Abramovich, who has missed the 90-day deadline to pay the more than £2.5 billion he owes from the sale of Chelsea football club, which could be used for humanitarian needs right now in Ukraine and could alleviate some of those budgetary pressures?

[Yvette Cooper]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s focus on debt relief and the World Bank’s IDA programme, which we are increasing by 40% because it is such an important programme. I can confirm that those issues will be an important part of our G20 approach and plans for next year. I also strongly welcome what he said about Roman Abramovich and the need to get that money from the sale of Chelsea. It should be going to support families and for humanitarian support across Ukraine. That is where that money should be, not held up by someone’s refusal to follow the obligations that he committed to.

Jimmy Lai Conviction

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Joe Powell

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I know that the right hon. Member has campaigned and spoken out on this area for a long time, so let me recognise his continued speaking out, not just for Jimmy Lai, but more widely on issues around China and national security concerns. Let me be clear that we will continue to pursue this issue through international routes, as well as directly with China. He raises issues around sanctions. As he will know, we never talk about sanctions in advance, but we have expanded the sanctions not just around cyber-threats, but on issues such as support for Russia and the war on Ukraine.

I have addressed the question of the planning process for the embassy, but let me be clear that the UK continues to have strong restrictions on the numbers of people who can come to the UK and on the visa arrangements. All of that continues and does not change at all as a result of any planning decision. No state can bully and persecute the British people for exercising their basic rights. That is why we have been clear in our strong condemnation of this politically motivated prosecution and in calling for the release of Jimmy Lai.

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for her tribute to Sebastien Lai, who, as she says, has joined us in the Gallery. This afternoon, Members from across the House heard from Sebastien—Jimmy’s son and a constituent of mine—and the international legal team supporting him and the family. Jimmy is now 78. A British citizen in failing health after five years in solitary confinement, he now faces a fifth Christmas away from his family, including a granddaughter he has never met, Sebastien’s first child. What message does the Foreign Secretary specifically have for Jimmy’s family, and can she assure them that everything will be on the table in what the Government decide to do next?

[Yvette Cooper]

We send our wholehearted support to Jimmy Lai’s family, who face the most difficult of circumstances, and to Jimmy Lai himself, who is a British citizen and has our strong support. We will continue to raise this issue in every forum that we can. The priority must be to draw on those humanitarian grounds, if nothing else, to get the immediate release of a man who is 78 and who has already been incarcerated for far too many years.

Ukraine

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Joe Powell

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I thank the hon. Member for his kind words. I agree with him that there must be no other option for Putin than to cease aggression and that this is ultimately about hope for Ukrainian children.

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

I strongly welcome the sanctions targeting the $108 billion in oil revenue that the Kremlin received last year and the progress on the $350 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets. I applaud the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor for their efforts in building a coalition with the EU and others to move from using the interest payments to using the capital. Does she agree that that recent breakthrough shows that legally this money should be treated as a downpayment on the reparations for the horrific harm that Russia has caused, which we know it will do everything to avoid paying?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. The EU has set out work linking the issues around assets to reparation payments. We welcome that work and we believe that there is a strong basis to go forward. We need to do so in a co-ordinated way and recognise the importance of supporting Ukraine.