Hamish Falconer MP: speeches 2025

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Speeches

16 Jun 2025 · Air India Plane Crash · Hansard source
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I agree with the hon. Gentleman—they are not alone. In relation to any questions about the experience of our consular support, I invite right hon. and hon. Members to ensure that I am aware, both in relation to the tragic incident in India, but also in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Iran. As the Minister for consular affairs, let me say that it is important that we understand what the experience is like for people on ground. In relation to this incident, as I told the shadow Foreign Secretary, I spoke with teams this afternoon to ensure that UK support is as clearly signposted as possible on the ground.
16 Jun 2025 · Air India Plane Crash · Hansard source
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I have set out some of the detail around our support for the Indian Government. The High Commissioner remains in regular dialogue with the Indian authorities and met Prime Minister Modi to discuss the case in recent days. We will continue to do all that we can so that your constituents— [ Interruption. ] Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker; it is obviously contagious. We will continue to do all that we can so that my hon. Friend’s constituents, and the constituents of all right hon. and hon. Members across the House, can feel confident.
16 Jun 2025 · Air India Plane Crash · Hansard source
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I thank one of my hon. Friends from Bournemouth—the other MP for Bournemouth is unable to speak as she is a Parliamentary Private Secretary, but I know they have both been very engaged with the tragedy that is being felt across the city. We are doing everything we can to support people both in India and here in the UK, and we will continue to do so until people have navigated the full depths of this tragedy. I am particularly conscious of those going through the difficult but necessarily time-consuming process of identifying remains.
16 Jun 2025 · Air India Plane Crash · Hansard source
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I thank the shadow Foreign Secretary for the tone of her questions. She rightly points to the scale of this; it is the single largest loss of British life in an aviation accident since 9/11, and one of the single largest losses of British national life overseas in one incident in a long time. Ten years ago this month, practically, I was part of the diplomatic service on the ground in Sousse after a terrible tragedy. I know well the agony for families seeking to pick up the pieces after an incident like this. The right hon. Lady asks an important question about the mortuary process, which can be particularly traumatic in another country. I can confirm that any British national who wants consular assistance in going through that process will have it from my officials. She rightly raises questions that have been asked by some of the families about the location of our reception centre and our presence at the hospital. Since becoming aware of those reports, I have sent officials to the hospital. We are not aware at the moment of British nationals congregating there. I have asked officials to review the signage and general arrangements to ensure that people know where our reception centre is. It is at Ummed hotel, which is close to the airport, because we though that would be the best place to receive British nationals, rather than the hospital, where, tragically, there are no living British nationals. We keep these questions under review. As I know from my experience, in tragedies like this, it is difficult to get right the first time the assistance that British nationals need. We will learn lessons with each step. I spoke to some of the families who made those points this afternoon.
16 Jun 2025 · Air India Plane Crash · Hansard source
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I am happy to talk to any hon. Member about particular cases of people affected by the incident.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend, both for her kind words and her commitment to these issues; I can reassure her constituents that she raises them with me regularly. With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am sure I will return to the House next week to talk about the conference and the next steps. I hope that the situation improves: that we see aid reaching Gaza, that we see a ceasefire, and that we can start to talk about these issues in a more measured way in this House, reflecting that the situation is not as urgent as it is today. Until that time, I am sure I will be returning to the House with further updates, as I have been doing.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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The right hon. Gentleman always asks succinct and clear questions. As he will recall, I was a diplomat for a long time. Sanctions are no remedy; they are an expression of a failure in the international system. As my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (Tahir Ali) said, we have heard week after week about the agonies. We do go to the conference with a plan, but it is a conference called by our friends and allies, and we are discussing our approach closely with them.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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For the purposes of time, I will not address the legal questions, not least given that they are being considered by a judicial review. We are confident that the limited carve-out we have done to maintain the functioning of the F-35 programme, which is vital to our national security and that of so many of our allies, is legal, proportionate and moral, and we will continue to fight that case in court.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I reassure my hon. Friend’s constituents that she does indeed press me on these issues, as do so many Members on my own Government Benches and across the House. I am not sure I entirely agree with her characterisation that this is the beginning, but I assure her that it is not the end until progress is made.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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As I am afraid I say with regularity, I will not speculate on further sanctions on either side of the conflict from the Dispatch Box, but the hon. Gentleman is right that the thresholds and tests are the same. We condemn antisemitic rhetoric, we condemn incitement to violence, and we will keep all sanctions under review.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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It is not the first step in relation to sanctions either; this is the third set of sanctions we have announced in relation to settlements in the west bank. On the two-state solution conference next week, we are talking with our friends and allies. I am sure that—with your permission, Mr Speaker—I will be back in this House next week to talk about that.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I thank the right hon. Lady for her questions. She raises important points about work with allies. Let me address what she said about Egypt, which is vital. The Egyptians have conducted important work, and I am pleased that I will be with them next week at the two-state solution conference to discuss the reconstruction of Gaza. She is absolutely right that we need to focus on working with partners in the region and beyond to ensure that vital building blocks are put in place for a reformed Palestinian Authority and a rebuilt Gaza. We can all see how acute that need is. I am grateful to the Speaker and to colleagues for their flexibility this evening, as we deliver this statement in a slightly unusual way. We have sought to work with partners, and to co-ordinate closely with those who are part of this statement. We are also co-ordinating with others. We have had direct discussions with a range of partners, including the United States, about some of these questions. We have spoken to the Israeli Government directly today. The right hon. Lady invites me to comment on the state of the relationship between the UK and Israel. The state of disagreement is clear. I regret the tone of some of our exchanges most recently. We do not wish to have such a profound disagreement with the Israeli Government, but when we disagree as profoundly as we do, then I am afraid that as Minister for the middle east, I have to say so both publicly and privately, and that is what I have done.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is very committed to these issues. He rightly points to some of the rhetoric and extremist language that has been used by these two men. I will not repeat my answers in relation to the conference next week. We will work with our friends and allies on our approach.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I called next week’s conference what it is called by the French and Saudi Arabian authorities. I can confirm to the right hon. Gentleman that I have done no deals, grubby or otherwise; we take sovereign steps on this issue. The right hon. Gentleman has asked about timing. As I know many Members will appreciate, working in concert with our allies and making a joint announcement of this kind requires some co-ordination. I was in the Chamber last Wednesday, when I was understandably asked by many Members when I would be in a position to announce further steps. I would have liked to have been in a position to announce further steps earlier than I have been, but we have always taken the view that it is most powerful to act with our allies. As such, we took the time to enable us to work in concert with them.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend speaks with real force and authority, and I have heard her message clearly.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for her kind words. While I am always glad to come to the House, I reassure her constituents and those of many Labour Members that even were I not glad to do so, they would certainly summon me. I am always glad to answer questions from my hon. Friend, and indeed from hon. Members on both sides of the House. In relation to the Madleen, I confirm that the UK pressed the Israeli authorities before its arrival to ensure that any action taken was in line with international law, would be undertaken with restraint and would be resolved safely for the passengers on board.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman asks a vital question. That was one of the central focuses of the visit of the Palestinian Prime Minister to the UK and the memorandum of understanding that we agreed with him. We welcome the recent statements of the Palestinian Authority on vital reforms, including on the so-called pay-for-slay provisions for welfare, and their statement in recent days that Hamas must have no role in the future governance of Gaza.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions. The two-state solution conference next week is an important moment. We are discussing with our friends and allies our approach to that conference, and no doubt I will return to this House next week—with your permission, Mr Speaker—to discuss that further. I will not speculate on further sanctions from the Dispatch Box. We have taken these steps because of the extremist rhetoric and the damage that these two men have done to Palestinian human rights, and we will keep further sanctions under review.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I will not repeat the answer about settlement goods that I gave earlier, but I want to be absolutely clear for the House that settlements are illegal under Israeli and international law and they should be dismantled.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is kind, and I am grateful for her words. She is very welcome to call me her hon. Friend. The questions that she raises are key. We discuss these issues with our friends and our allies. Not all our positions are the same, but I will always set out with clarity, both from this Dispatch Box and in all my diplomatic engagements, the position of the UK Government.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I welcome the tone and spirit of my hon. Friend’s question. We do have agency in this House. The frustrations that are felt by so many, both within and without the House, are completely understandable and justifiable. This Government have sought change and have been frustrated by how slow that change has been, but we will continue to work for a better situation for those in Gaza, for those in west bank and, of course, for those in Israel. My hon. Friend asks about maritime corridors, which are an important but, ultimately, relatively peripheral part of any aid operation if it is to be at the scale required. There were maritime corridors supported in an earlier phase of the conflict and they did important work, but ultimately the three road crossings into Jordan, Egypt and Israel are the most practical, most viable, and most tried and tested routes to get aid in at the scale and with the flexibility required to meet the needs of those in the strip.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman is aware of the long-standing position on determinations in respect breaches of international law and crimes. I want to make it clear that our sanctions do not target the entirety of the Israeli people. They target two individuals who have been promulgating extremist rhetoric and action and have breached the rights of the Palestinians, and it is on that breach of rights that we are focused.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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I summoned the Israeli ambassador and set out the strength of views to the Israeli Government that the British Government feel on these questions. It is of vital importance that we have an Israeli ambassador. Whatever the views of this House, it is important that we maintain relations. We also have an ambassador from Iran in London, and that is important, too. We need to be able to deliver messages to friends, to allies and to those with whom we do not enjoy good relations. We will continue to host ambassadors because of the importance of maintaining those diplomatic relations.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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On aid provision within Gaza, as I know my hon. Friend will be aware, there has been much discussion on the importance of there being multiple distribution sites far in excess of those currently available. That helps manage the pressures and provides more humane conditions for aid delivery, and that is what we want to see in the strip.
10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend describes the heartbreaking case of her constituent’s family member, which she has raised with me on a number of occasions. Members from across the House have done the same, and I am usually not in a position to discuss such cases on the Floor of the House. Where constituents and their families are affected, we will do everything that we can to try to support them. We have heard a great deal about the restrictions on aid, and it is candidly not easy to support people to leave Gaza, but where there is a UK connection, I am always keen to do what I can to try to secure people’s safety.

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