Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Seamus Logan

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I will certainly look further at the evidence and the horrendous accounts that the right hon. Member describes. We are establishing, with international partners, a coalition for atrocity prevention and justice to work on Sudan and to work together on preventing atrocities and gathering evidence. We have been pursuing some of the findings in the UN’s report on El Fasher, which talked about systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting. The right hon. Member has added a further horrendous account to that, which is why it is important not only to pursue these atrocities but to ensure that there is basic humanitarian support. That is why we are prioritising Sudan for humanitarian support as well.

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

The Foreign Secretary has referred to the UN report published on 19 February, which said that the horrific events in El Fasher bore all the “hallmarks of genocide”. Does she agree with that assessment?

[Yvette Cooper]

The account in that report is truly appalling and shocking. It describes deliberate ethnic targeting of particular groups, as well as some of the most horrendous torture, and the use of rape as a weapon of conflict. The long-standing position of successive British Governments is that any formal determination on genocide is a matter for the courts. However, we should be clear that the evidence of atrocities committed by the armed forces across Sudan is staggering and horrendous, and the perpetrators must be held to account.

Sudan

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Seamus Logan

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I agree with my hon. Friend about the way in which violence against women and girls has too often been discounted. Too often, people look away; we need to ensure that is not the case, which is why I have been clear that violence against women and girls and issues of equality for women more widely should be central to UK foreign policy and the discussions we have across the world. It is also why, as my hon. Friend knows, we have a domestic ambition and mission to halve violence against women and girls. We are now working with other countries to share experience globally, working together to tackle what is not just a national emergency but a global emergency.

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

I salute the Foreign Secretary’s commitment and passion on this topic, and congratulate her on her recent efforts. She has already mentioned the UK’s role as the penholder at the UN Security Council. With that in mind, I am sure she agrees that without the inclusion of Sudanese civic society, a long-term, peaceful and democratic resolution simply cannot be achieved. However, is the Foreign Secretary planning to support the African Union-led quintet initiative—which involves multilateral organisations, including the UN—to bring together Sudanese political parties and civil society to agree a joint position on a peaceful, civilian-led political transition? If so, what steps is she taking to support that initiative?

[Yvette Cooper]

That is exactly why I had meetings directly with the African Union, to make sure that the work to support civic society involves the work it is doing locally and also involves neighbouring countries directly. The hon. Member is completely right to say that if this simply becomes an ongoing stand-off between two military-led parties, we will not get a secure and sustainable peace for Sudan. The first stage has to be the humanitarian truce, but we have to have that civilian transition.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Seamus Logan

Tuesday 20th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I gather that that sentiment was also expressed by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, who has been with us in Parliament over the last few days. I think there are many people on both sides of the Atlantic, across Europe and north America, who recognise the vital importance of our NATO alliance to keeping all of us safe.

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

T9. My constituent Pelin Omar has asked me about the ceasefire that was announced on Sunday between the Syrian Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, which has already unravelled, with fighting resuming in less than 24 hours. What is the Foreign Secretary doing to promote humanitarian access, international monitoring and a long-term reconciliation between the Kurdish people in Aleppo and northern Syria and the Syrian Government? Do the Government support more devolved government as a solution to bring about lasting peace for the Kurdish people?