Hamish Falconer MP: speeches

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Speeches

28 Oct 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Following the US-led ceasefire agreement and the UN’s work, more trucks are starting to cross the border, but that needs to be scaled up much more rapidly, and we need the Rafah crossing fully opened, alongside other aid routes. We need international non-governmental organisations in, and able to operate in Gaza unimpeded. Civilians in Gaza cannot wait.
28 Oct 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source
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We need to see the agreement implemented in full. The Foreign Secretary has raised this particular case with the Foreign Minister of Israel. We will continue to press for the full flow of aid that needs to go in. The hon. Member rightly asked me what I say to the people of Gaza. I say that we understand the urgency, and that the aid needs to be in there now. We will continue to press those points on the phone, and when we both go to the region this weekend.
28 Oct 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source
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Alongside our international partners, the UK is working to get aid into Gaza on the scale needed to ease the desperate humanitarian crisis that is taking place. In recent days, the Foreign Secretary has spoken with Tom Fletcher of the United Nations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty and Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar about the importance of opening more crossings and removing all restrictions on aid. We are ready to play our full part in providing that aid. We have announced £74 million of humanitarian funding already this year, including the £20 million announced at the peace summit in Egypt.
28 Oct 2025 · Palestinian State · Hansard source
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I want to update the House on this very important question. We are seeing a greater flow of aid into Gaza. That is, of course, supremely welcome, and something that we have long awaited, but it is not yet at the level we would wish to see. There are still restrictions on that aid going in, and, as the Foreign Secretary has been clear on, vital crossings remain unopened. We continue to engage with all our partners on this, and I and the Foreign Secretary will be travelling to the region this weekend to pursue that work.
28 Oct 2025 · Palestinian State · Hansard source
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The UK’s commitment to a two-state solution remains steadfast. The UK has provided £116 million of aid to the Palestinian people this year. I was proud that, on 21 September, the Prime Minister announced the UK’s recognition of the state of Palestine. That was to protect the viability of the two-state solution and support a path towards lasting peace. Meanwhile, the UK Government are continuing to provide technical and financial support to the Palestinian Authority as they build a viable and effective state of Palestine. In July, we announced £7 million in technical support to strengthen governance, accountability and civic space in Palestine. I and the Foreign Secretary remain in touch with our Palestinian counterparts.
28 Oct 2025 · Palestinian State · Hansard source
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The Foreign Secretary has already been clear about the importance of a single, effective Palestinian state, which of course includes the west bank. The hon. Member has heard from me on a number of occasions about the different trading standards for both Israel itself and the occupied territories. We of course keep these questions under close review, but the whole House will appreciate that our focus now needs to be on ensuring that the ceasefire holds as we move into the 20-point plan and towards the two-state solution that we all want to see.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about the risks in Gaza—we have seen that rubble grow. The British Government would support international forces going into Gaza with the agreement of the parties. In response to the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse), I spoke about my own experience of the limitations on peacekeeping forces where there is no peace to enforce. We are depressingly clear-eyed about the continuing intent on both sides to continue conducting violence, exactly as the right hon. Gentleman has described.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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Mr Speaker, as you would expect and as is our usual practice, I will not be commenting on sanctions from the Dispatch Box. The Prime Minister has set out to this House his intentions for his meeting with President Herzog later. I can confirm that the Foreign Secretary met President Herzog this morning and raised these points among a range of others, including the urgent need both to ensure that aid gets into Gaza and that there is further Israeli support for British efforts to medically evacuate injured children and to provide fully funded scholarships to the UK.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I am grateful for the kind words from the right hon. Gentleman, and indeed for those I heard from the Labour Back Benches. I am continuing in my role and look forward to appearing before the House in the usual way. He is right to emphasise not just the important statements from the UK and our western allies, but the important commitments that have been made—particularly in July but since then as well—by Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and a range of other states, which have a real role to play in mediating the immediate pressures and in trying to end up in, as he says, the more permanent ceasefire that we want to see.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words about my reappointment. I recognise the force of what he has said about Israeli politics; it is not appropriate for one Foreign Minister to comment on the internal politics of another country, but from the sanctions I announced from this Dispatch Box in June, the House can see the strength of this Government’s feeling about—for example—the rhetoric of Mr Smotrich and that of Mr Ben-Gvir. It has been deeply disheartening to see that rhetoric repeated over the course of the summer, but where we can, we demonstrate in the strongest possible way the strength of our feeling on these questions.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I thank my right hon. Friend for the question. It is vital that at such serious moments that the UN Security Council plays its full part, so I can confirm to her that the UK is supporting calls for an emergency session of the UN Security Council this evening. The Foreign Secretary will be joining calls with her E3 counterparts this afternoon, and we will be discussing this matter, as my right hon. Friend would expect, with a range of G7 allies, including the United States.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I think I have answered questions on arms and sanctions already in this session. I want to be clear: we have condemned these strikes, and we do not want to see them again. We are discussing these matters with our allies, including, we hope, at the UN Security Council this evening. We will no doubt keep the House updated on how those discussions go.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I do not like to get ahead of the courts on the question of the F-35. There was extensive legal argumentation in the Al-Haq case, which did not find in the way the hon. Gentleman suggests. Turning to the question of air and sea access to Gaza, both methods have been tried. The UK supported airdrops alongside our Jordanian partners over the summer, such was our desperation to get aid into the strip. However, we cannot escape the fact that airdrops are a pinprick at best, given the overall scale of need. There is an aid operation that works and has a track record, which is the United Nations operation.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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As we discussed last week, the circumstances of the famine in Gaza are horrifying and it is absolutely obvious that the restrictions on aid into Gaza, for which the Israeli Government are responsible, are contributing very significantly indeed to those circumstances. The Israeli Government have raised methodological concerns with the IPC judgments. Those concerns arise from the fact that there is not free access into Gaza. We stand by the IPC and the judgments it has made. It is clear that the restrictions of the Israeli Government, on which I have been clear at the Dispatch Box innumerable times and have seen for myself at the border, are responsible for those circumstances.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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We expect Israel, alongside all of our allies, and indeed every state, to abide by international law. My hon. Friend sets out the relevant tests of self-defence and imminence. As I have said, the UK is supporting a motion for an urgent session of the Security Council this afternoon on this question.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I set out in response to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) the process by which we will make the determination on the recognition points that we set out in July. That point is very soon; the high-level week of the UN General Assembly is just weeks away. The hon. Gentleman will have an opportunity, I am sure, to question me and other members of the Government after the Prime Minister has made his determination. I do not think it is right that we should think of recognition as a punishment. If that is indeed the determination that we make, it will be a reflection of our long-standing commitment to a two-state solution. It is unlikely in and of itself to ameliorate the horrifying famine and the many other sources of agony that flow to the Palestinian people at the moment. That does not mean that, if the Prime Minister makes that determination, it may not be the right thing to do, but the House should not think that it will necessarily bring any immediate improvement in the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I am disappointed that my hon. Friend’s constituent did not reserve a cookie for me, but I am grateful for the important question that she asks. For the reasons I set out before, it is important that we continue to engage directly with the Israeli Government, particularly on questions such as the evacuation of vulnerable people from Gaza, on which Israel’s co-operation is essential for any further progress.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I would not want to be drawn on a casualty tally from the UK. As I set out in my response, Qatar has been clear about its own assessments and these things tend to develop in the immediate aftermath of a strike, so I will not be drawn on casualties or the number of people struck. Qatar, quite rightly, will release that information when it is available. My hon. Friend asks about the international law tests against which this strike must be judged. Those tests are self-defence and imminence, and in any session of the UN Security Council those are the tests that we would expect Israel to be able to satisfy.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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For reasons the House will understand, I will not give a lengthy commentary on security and intelligence matters, but I can confirm to the right hon. Gentleman that we do not provide any information to aid in targeting strikes in Gaza in the way that he described.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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The UK Government are deeply concerned by Israel’s strike in Doha yesterday. As the House heard a few minutes ago from the Prime Minister, he and the Foreign Secretary have condemned these flagrant violations of Qatar’s sovereignty, which will set back the cause for peace and risk further escalation in the region. The Prime Minister has spoken to the Emir of Qatar to express the UK’s solidarity and support and to reaffirm our shared commitment to regional stability. The Prime Minister also gave his condolences for the death of a Qatari security officer killed in the attack. Sadly, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has overnight confirmed the death of a second person. Qatar is playing a critical role in mediating the conflict, driving efforts to secure a ceasefire and to facilitate vital humanitarian access to Gaza. That must remain the priority. This Government continue to support it in its efforts to push for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, the protection of civilians and the unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza as the vital first steps towards long-term peace and stability. That is the only way to achieve lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. That is why we are working with partners to develop a framework for peace that addresses governance, security, humanitarian access and political reform. Negotiation, not more violence, is the way to achieve that. We are actively working together with our international partners, including the G7 and the UN Security Council, to co-ordinate efforts aimed at de-escalation and to reiterate our full support for the sovereignty of Qatar. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister met President Abbas to discuss the intolerable situation in Gaza, the need for an urgent solution to end horrific suffering and famine, and the Palestinian Authority’s reform agenda, which is vital for a two-state solution. Today the Prime Minister will meet President Herzog of Israel and reiterate the UK’s grave concern following yesterday’s strikes, and reiterate that man-made famine in Gaza must end and the renewed offensive in Gaza must not happen. We will continue to push for a political resolution to end this conflict and strive towards a lasting peace.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I have set out some of the steps that we are taking in relation to this strike, including supporting an emergency session of the UN Security Council and having discussions with our allies, including the E3, which the Foreign Secretary will undertake shortly. I would not wish to be drawn further as we discuss this very important incident with our allies. I take issue with the hon. Gentleman’s characterisation. The conflict in Gaza is not a question that relates primarily to UK arms. We are a tiny supplier of residual arms. We have suspended the sale of all of those arms that could be used in Gaza. There are other states with much fuller arms relationships— [ Interruption . ]
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I have set out the consultations with our partners that will be happening today and, I am sure, over coming days. The hon. Gentleman is right about the role of Qatar over the years, including in the Taliban talks that took place there for some time, and we have discussed already the questions under international law about states striking other states.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman does make me feel rather seasoned, as I was in Pakistan at that time. As I said earlier, the tests in international law are self-defence and imminence. Not every state agrees on the thresholds for those tests, but it is the expectation of the British Government with all our partners and allies—indeed, with every state—that they demonstrate how they are complying with international law regardless of who they are.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work on a whole range of questions, including current efforts to try to ensure the successful evacuation of vulnerable people from Gaza. It is important that we raise our concerns directly to the Israeli Government, both to contribute to the diplomatic process and to try to secure the practical and tangible help required to get people out of Gaza. The British Foreign Office on its own cannot secure the speedy departures that we wish to see.
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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The Prime Minister set out some of what our Government have done in relation to the suspension of arms sales and sanctions on extremist figures in the Israeli Government, so I will not belabour those points here. On peace talks, the Emir of Qatar is clear that the Qataris will continue in their mediation role. We should not count out peace talks while the Qataris rightly continue to try to push them forwards.

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