Extract from Church
Commissioners questions
Sir (Gainsborough) (Con): Whether
the Church has taken recent steps to support the Armenian church
in the old city of Jerusalem. (902239)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner (): The has raised this issue
repeatedly in the other place over the past six months, and it
remains an ongoing and very concerning issue. Only 15 days ago,
an unlawful eviction was led by the Israeli police within the
premises of the Armenian Patriarchate, with no court orders or
permits presented.
Sir : Those of us who are good
friends of Israel need to call out
the violent activities of the settler movement. The Armenian
Christians have enjoyed the best part of 2,000 years in their
part of the old city in tranquillity. The appalling incident on 3
April was led not just by thugs but by an Israeli officer called
Assaf Harel. Frankly, there was downright intimidation and an
attempt to force out Armenian Christians. The Christian
population in the old city has declined from 25% a century ago to
just 1%. Will the Church of England stand up for Christians in
the old city?
: I am extremely grateful to
my right hon. Friend for his sustained interest in this really
important issue. It would be an absolute tragedy if there were to
be no Christians left in the Holy Land. The House will have heard
the figures that he has just presented. The pressures facing the
Armenian church exemplify those faced by other churches in
Jerusalem and the west bank. The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
is one of the custodians of the Holy Land and overseers of the
four quarters of the city. The Church of England is absolutely
clear that the historic settlement and the status quo of
Jerusalem need to be maintained. The lack of any call for
restraint from the Israeli Government is escalating tensions in
Jerusalem, and that remains a great concern.
Extract from Business
Questions
(Manchester Central)
(Lab/Co-op): The attacks by Iran on Israel have
rightly been condemned by all sides of the House. Thankfully, its
intentions were thwarted, and we join together in calling for
restraint and de-escalation in the aftermath. We cannot let those
recent events deter or distract from international efforts to
bring about a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza and create the
conditions for a lasting two-state solution...
The Leader of the House of Commons ():...On Monday evening, the
very special Jewish festival of Passover begins. Like their
ancestors before them, Jewish families around the world will
gather around their Seder tables to retell the story of the
Jewish people's exodus from Egypt. However, this year many of
them will be leaving an empty seat open at those tables for those
still held captive by Hamas in Gaza. I hope this will be the last
Jewish holiday where they are unable to celebrate with their
families, and wish chag sameach to all those celebrating. I also
thank all hon. Members for their resolve and support with regard
to Israel's security—that is an important message that we send
from this House...
Extracts from Lords
debate on NHS: Long-term Sustainability
Baroness Merron (Lab):...I do not consider myself a technological
expert, but rather a technological convert, which I am sure the
noble Lord, Lord Allan, will be very pleased to hear. So I have
looked to countries such as Israel which I believe
to be at the cutting edge, which is where the UK needs to be. At
the emergency department of the Sourasky Medical Center, people
register digitally, identify themselves through facial
recognition and measure their own blood pressure, temperature and
heart rate in self-triage booths. Patients are given a barcode
and a number is sent to their phone, which they can track on a
screen. The most serious cases are seen within minutes, and
virtually no one waits more than an hour. Last month, this Tel
Aviv hospital became the first in the world to integrate an AI
chatbot into its triage process.
What is the driving force behind that? This Israeli hospital is
designing healthcare around the needs of the patient, which my
noble friend Lord Carter and many other noble Lords called for.
Sadly, that is very much in contrast with Britain, where our NHS
reels from crisis to crisis, while the political debate circles
around funding, staffing and pay. The way that we bank, shop,
travel and work has been digitised in the past decade, yet the
NHS remains largely outdated. There are multiple IT systems in
the NHS and no requirement for them to be interoperable...
