Extract from
PMQs
(Aberdeen South) (SNP): Some
30,000 people dead; 70,000 injured; 1.5 million sheltering in
Rafah; 300,000 living in feral conditions in northern Gaza; and,
of course, 100 hostages still tragically held by Hamas. The
horror of those numbers demands that this House have its say,
just as it shows that this House should demand an immediate
ceasefire. President Biden has indicated that the ceasefire may
take place from Monday. Does the Prime Minister share his
confidence?
The Prime Minister: We have consistently called for an immediate
humanitarian pause, which would allow for the safe release of
hostages—including British nationals—and more aid to Gaza. We
welcome progress on a deal. As the hon. Gentleman said, there has
been progress, and we urge everyone on all sides to seize the
opportunity. I have been clear that we must seize the momentum
from this terrible tragedy to find a lasting resolution to this
conflict that delivers on the promise of a two-state solution,
and ensures that Israelis and Palestinians can live in dignity
and security.
: We are approaching five
months since this conflict began. In that time, this House has
equivocated and, on three occasions at the United Nations, this
Government have abstained when they could have voted for a
ceasefire. Abstentionism is not leadership. Should this matter
now come before the United Nations, with a ceasefire potentially
in sight, will the Prime Minister use his Government’s vote to
deliver that ceasefire?
The Prime Minister: We support the United States’ draft
resolution that was discussed with colleagues at the United
Nations last week. But just calling for an immediate, full
ceasefire now, which collapses back into fighting within days or
weeks and does not include the release of hostages, including
British ones, is not in anyone’s interests. We must work towards
a permanent ceasefire. That starts with an immediate humanitarian
pause, to get aid in and hostages out. I agree about the
suffering of the people in Gaza; in this country we should be
proud of everything we are doing to help them and to provide them
with the lifesaving aid they deserve.
Extract from Commons
statement on defence procurement
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
(SNP): ...There is a considerable emphasis on prioritising
exportability. Do the Government acknowledge that arms exports
and procurement programmes with the state of Israel could
make us complicit in war crimes? That is a concern for many
members of the public, and I would be grateful for the Minister’s
comments on it.
The Minister for Defence Procurement (): I am grateful to the
hon. Gentleman for the broad thrust of his comments. Let me deal
with them in reverse order, beginning with his point about arms
exports. As he knows, we have strong and robust rules, and we do
of course follow them. We keep all our existing export rules and
priorities under review. He mentioned nuclear parliamentary
scrutiny. I responded to two successive Adjournment debates on
nuclear matters that had been initiated by Scottish colleagues. I
also appeared before the Defence Committee recently, when I spoke
as openly as I could about the highly sensitive issue of the
recent certification of our nuclear submarine, HMS Vanguard.
Extract from money
resolution on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and
International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill
Sir (Northampton North) (Con): We
all know the tragic consequences of that decision, for which the
ICRC has—or had—retrospectively apologised, and rightly so.
Following that apology, His Majesty’s Government, and other
Governments around the world, have supported the International
Committee of the Red Cross with British taxpayers’ money, and
have done so for years, but today families in the United
Kingdom—and there are families in the United Kingdom whose
relatives are being held hostage—as well as families
from Israel and
around the world whose loved ones have been missing now for
almost five months, understand the history of the Red Cross as it
relates to the Nazis in world war two, for obvious reasons, and
it is painful. As a consequence, this most recent failure by the
ICRC will never be understood and is likely, I am sorry to say,
never to be forgiven.
When questioned about that by the Prime Minister of Israel
the ICRC president, Spoljaric Egger, said that applying pressure
to Hamas
“is not going to work”.
As can be imagined, that is inconceivably frustrating for
Israel’s leadership and for Jewish people around
the world, particularly in this country.
Israel’s Foreign Minister at the time, Eli
Cohen, said that the Red Cross had no right to exist if it could
not reach the hostages, determine their condition and provide
them with medical treatment and medications. He added:
“Every day that passes is another failure for the Red Cross.”
Even more shocking was a meeting with hostage families. Someone
from the ICRC went to meet hostage families, and the Red Cross
responded to pleas to deliver medication to the hostages with
reprimands of the hostage families, telling them to think about
the Palestinians. Imagine saying to a recent rape victim, “Can
you think about others?”
In the circumstances, perhaps it is not surprising that a
reported mathematical breakdown of the ICRC’s statements on
social media showed that 77% of them solely condemn Israel
while only 7% solely condemn Hamas—an 11 times difference, which
surely points to a worrying trend towards political bias in the
ICRC. Bearing in mind its second world war history, that is
deeply shaming. Criticism of the organisation is mounting across
the world, as well as in Israel
Near-weekly rallies have taken place outside the ICRC offices in
the United States since 7 October to demand that the Red Cross
meets individuals in the Gaza strip.
We are asking His Majesty’s Government for taxpayers’ money to go
to the ICRC. We should take the demands about the hostages held
by Hamas seriously and urgently, because it is the ICRC’s
distinguished reputation that I am talking about now. I applaud
its good work in so many regions around the world; I just want it
to do good work for Jewish people as well as for people around
the world. There are too many examples of international
organisations and institutions, and national ones, that do
excellent work everywhere else except where Jews are concerned.
It is for the ICRC’s reputation that I speak now. Where it does
such excellent work internationally in other cases, I want it to
do excellent work for Jewish people, who are being tortured, with
children being kept hostage.
This issue has led to deep-seated feelings of frustration and
disappointment. I will conclude by saying that I am sure that His
Majesty’s Treasury and His Majesty’s Ministers in the Treasury
will think carefully, as they always do—I know that they
will—about spending taxpayers’ money.
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (): I thank the hon. Member
for Cardiff South and Penarth () and my right hon. and
learned Friend the Member for Northampton North (Sir ) for their contributions. I
have heard my right hon. and learned Friend, as I am sure has the
ICRC.
The purpose of the Bill is to enable the Government to treat the
CPA and the ICRC in a manner comparable to that of an
international organisation. My right hon. and learned Friend made
some broader comments and, as I say, the Government have heard
them and I am sure that the ICRC has heard them.
For context, OPEN HERE
