Lords
Oral Questions
19 June 2025
Israel and Iran
As the noble Lord knows, I agree with him. Despite the urgency of the situation in relation to Iran, we are not taking our eyes off the situation in Gaza. We are focused on ensuring that we can get the humanitarian aid in, as we have promised. We are working very hard with all our allies and making …
Lords
Proceedings
17 June 2025
Gibraltar
My Lords, I should declare that I have visited Gibraltar previously, both before and immediately after the Brexit referendum. I am conscious that there has been a regrettable legacy of Brexit—which I note, as the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, did not, the people of Gibraltar rejected in almost equal nu…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 June 2025
International Vaccine Programmes: Funding
I think the noble Lord is somewhat overinterpreting what has been said. We have been very clear that we are going to prioritise humanitarian, health and climate initiatives. Because of his work in this field, he will understand that, when you are talking about health, principally, the beneficiaries …
Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2025
Conflict in the Middle East
I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement made today. I start by referring to the previous Statement on the designations. I have previously described in the House a visit that I made to a destroyed Palestinian village, Zanuta. The community education room in that village, which was co-funded …
Lords
Oral Questions
16 June 2025
Israel: Arab Israeli and Jewish Israeli Communities
The Prime Minister has made it clear that Gaza remains the focus and priority of our activity. We are working with a range of groups, and, to repeat what the noble Lord opposite said, we have to recognise that a lot of them are financing themselves. We remain committed to the sort of organisations t…
Lords
Proceedings
12 June 2025
Chinese Embassy Development
That update from the Minister is most helpful.
We know from public warnings from the director-general of MI5 that China has been operating on an “epic scale” in its attempts to obtain political influence in the United Kingdom through educational arrangements and the use of state funds. That is why …
Lords
Oral Questions
12 June 2025
Winter Fuel Payment
The noble Lord knows that winter fuel payments are a devolved policy in Scotland. The Scottish Government will receive a mechanical uplift in their funding as a result of the change in England and Wales. The Minister for Pensions spoke to his counterpart in Scotland on the day that this policy was a…
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
My Lords, we are witnessing both the systematic collective punishment and brutalisation of a civilian population combined with the weaponisation of food and medicine. A Government have made a decision to annex land that is not theirs and to put women and children, whose only sin is seeking aid, in t…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 June 2025
Cluster Munitions Convention: Article 21
I did not say the noble Lord was incorrect—I think Hansard would prove that; I said that he may have more information than I have. We are in the middle of a very detailed spending review. While the outlying figures are out, the department has to go through a programme-by-programme process to determi…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 June 2025
United Nations International Day of Peace
Maybe the noble Lord has more information than me, but I reassure him that we are absolutely focused on using all the tools in our toolkit to promote peacebuilding, and that is certainly not limited to ODA. To reassure him, we are using this year’s peacebuilding architecture review to champion the w…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 June 2025
Ukraine: UK Security Guarantee
First of all, I thank the noble Lord for the commitment that he and his party have shown to Ukraine. It is pleasing that he is taking part in the meetings that he has described. One of the things that encourages us all is the united way in which we in this House and across politics in this country a…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 June 2025
Alaa Abd el-Fattah
All these matters are a judgment call, and it is certainly the Government’s judgment at this stage that the best approach to secure the urgent release of Mr el-Fattah is that bilateral contact at the highest possible levels. We have been consistent in our support for Mr el-Fattah and his family. Of …
Lords
Oral Questions
4 June 2025
Gaza: Humanitarian Aid
My Lords, there are trucks of aid and professionals with the ability to get that aid where it needs to go, without the use of violence and at speed. Whether or not that is done through corridors, as the noble Lord suggested, I would leave to the judgment of those people on the ground, whom I have me…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
Gulf States: Trade and Human Rights
I do not believe that is what I said. What we are seeing is a combination of understanding that human rights are complex and broad. It is a much broader range of things: modern slavery and thinking about our labour standards, cultural things, same-sex marriages and how we think about women in the wo…
Lords
Proceedings
22 May 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
My Lords, it would be utterly inconceivable for us to even imagine walking out of this Parliament building and witnessing every child in London being forcibly walked with their mother to Slough and back again three times, on foot, and offered no shelter or medicine, or sanitary products, if they are…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 May 2025
Jimmy Lai
The noble Lord raises a very important subject. We will not tolerate any attempts by foreign Governments, whoever they are, to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas. The safety of Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom is of the utmost importance. Hong Kong Police issuing arrest warr…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 May 2025
Sudan: Ceasefire Talks
The noble Lord knows that has been my clear ambition from the contributions I have made in this House, and certainly from the contact we have made with all civilian groups in trying to bring them together to plan for a Sudanese country free from military rule and led by civilians. He also knows that…
Lords
Proceedings
15 May 2025
Sanctions Implementation and Enforcement
My Lords, I am impressed by the Minister’s efficiency. She replied positively to me on Monday when I asked for an opportunity to have a wider discussion on sanctions enforcement; I did not quite appreciate that she would deliver that three days later. It is very impressive indeed.
I have had the op…
Lords
Proceedings
13 May 2025
Trade Negotiations
My Lords, I look forward to the Minister answering my question from yesterday, as referenced by the noble Lord.
I wish to refer exclusively to the India agreement. We have debated in this House on a number of occasions UK-India trade, and on those occasions I have rehearsed the long-standing positi…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 May 2025
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
At the moment, it is an idea. We have seen no evidence that it will go forward. However, the noble Lord is right that humanitarian principles of delivering aid must be consistent across every area in which that aid is being delivered. Today, we are convening the UN Security Council in New York—it is…
Lords
Committee Stage
12 May 2025
Syria (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for introducing this important statutory instrument. I share some of the concerns expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Purvis. The legislation before us amends the Syria (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 to reflect the developments following the fall of Preside…
Lords
Committee Stage
12 May 2025
Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, it will come as no surprise to the Minister to know that we on these Benches continue to support strong, targeted sanctions in response to Russia’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine. Since 2022, the UK, alongside our allies, has imposed an unprecedented range of sanctions to weaken Ru…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 May 2025
UK-US Trade
To clarify, a lot of key sectors are covered in this framework, and this framework is a final decision on how those key sectors will be treated when it comes to trading between the UK and the US. Those sectors are things such as automotive, steel and pharmaceuticals, but also beef and ethanol, which…