Hamish Falconer MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 13 May 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. We are doing everything we can to ensure that aid gets in, that hostages are released, that Hamas are no longer in charge of Gaza, and that we get the ceasefire and path to a two-state solution that we so desperately need.

• 13 May 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  This Government have a clear position on the vital importance of aid returning to Gaza. That is why we are calling an urgent session of the UN Security Council this afternoon. It is why the Foreign Secretary has made these points repeatedly and clearly to his Israeli counterparts, as indeed have I.

• 13 May 2025 · Gaza: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  I know that Rochdale is the home of the co-operative movement in this country and that there are many co-operatives in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as well. On 20 April, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Palestinian Authority. That includes pursuing further co-operation in exactly the areas he describes, including economic development and trade.

• 13 May 2025 · Release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah · Hansard source

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  The Government are committed to securing Alaa’s release, and we continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian Government. The Foreign Secretary has raised the case on multiple occasions, as have I. The national security adviser has also raised this case, as has the Prime Minister.

• 13 May 2025 · Release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah · Hansard source

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  I would also like to pay tribute to the fortitude and bravery of Alaa’s family, both those in the Gallery and, of course, Laila, whom I have met on a number of occasions and the Prime Minister has met, too. We consider Alaa a British national. He holds both British and Egyptian nationality. We have been clear on that point, even though it is disputed by the Egyptian Government. We are committed to continuing to work on this case.

• 13 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has long been an advocate on these issues. We emphasise the necessity of demonstrating commitment to the protection of human rights in all our engagements with the Syrian Government. Our public statements have also made it clear that civilians must be protected from violence, and those responsible held to account. The protection of all civilians and their full inclusion in the transition process is vital for peace in Syria.

• 13 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We continue, with all our partners, to call for the immediate release of all hostages. I think particularly of Avinatan Or, who has a British mother and who is still in captivity under who knows what conditions. We will continue to press for the release of all hostages.

• 13 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state at a time that has the most impact in achieving a reality most conducive to long-term peace in the region, and we continue to talk to our partners about that. The other issues that the hon. Member raised have already been discussed in this session.

• 13 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  As I said last week, we are opposed to an expansion of Israel’s military operation. I was also asked about the Israeli Finance Minister’s comments about the destruction of Gaza—comments that I had not seen at the time. I have since seen them and I condemn them.

• 13 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The entirety of Hezbollah has been proscribed in the UK since 2019. Raising money for terrorist organisations is a criminal offence. This Government will continue to take robust action against those suspected of raising money for terrorist organisations in the middle east and around the world.

• 13 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for transmitting his constituents’ concerns, which I know are felt widely across this House. I can confirm that our permanent representative in New York will be expressing the full force of our views, as we heard earlier in this session.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman asks important questions. The UK’s goal is de-escalation to try to ensure that we return to regional stability. The other issues between India and Pakistan—which have long been discussed in this House—are important questions to which we can return, but today the focus must be on de-escalation.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I can confirm to my hon. Friend that the dialogue will continue. Of course, the Prime Minister was in touch with Prime Minister Modi just yesterday, and I was with the Pakistani Finance Minister and, indeed, the Pakistani high commissioner in London just an hour or two ago.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I can assure the hon. Member that the UK remains committed in all our interactions to emphasising the pre-eminent importance of international humanitarian law and the rules-based international order.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is right to finish his remarks focusing on the importance of direct dialogue, which I of course support. I will not seek to adjudicate from this Dispatch Box on the competing claims about the facts.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  As I said in the previous answer, there is clearly a considerable amount of debate about the facts of what has happened just in the last few hours. I do not wish to focus, and it would indeed be inappropriate for the UK to speculate, on those exact facts. We need to focus from this House on de-escalating the risks to regional stability that we see today.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I can confirm that it will be in that spirit that we conduct our diplomatic efforts. Many hon. Members have alluded to their own family connections with India or Pakistan. As I said earlier, I lived in Pakistan during my first lengthy overseas posting. I know that many hon. Members from across the House feel our friendship with both India and Pakistan very deeply, and it is in that spirit that we will conduct our work.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for his acknowledgment of the importance of de-escalation. I confirm that we will prioritise regional stability, the reasonable interests of both countries and, indeed, the UK’s interest in the region, which includes stability between two great friends of this country.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a doughty champion for her constituents. We have been updating the travel advice and I can confirm that my Department has taken steps to be able to respond as fully as possible to the concerns of our collective constituents who are in the region. Foreign Office travel advice will be the first and best place for constituents across the country to be looking.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for conveying the concerns of her constituents so effectively. Regional stability is in the interests of India and Pakistan, and indeed the UK, and it will be to those ends that our diplomacy will be focused. As she acknowledges, my focus this afternoon is on de-escalation, but of course we will engage with both Governments on the full range of the interests engaged.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I recognise my hon. Friend’s long advocacy on these questions. Today we are calling for de-escalation, and our position on Kashmir remains unchanged. I am sure I will return to this House to discuss the longer-term issues between India and Pakistan in the fullness of time.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  The agenda of the UN Security Council is agreed in New York, and when we are in a position to update the House on what that agenda looks like, we will of course do so.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for the sensitive and personal tone that he brings to his remarks. I, too, have seen the Commonwealth war graves in Pakistan and India, which are a tribute to the service of many from the British Indian forces that fought in world war two. I can assure him and his constituents that we will do everything we can to play our full diplomatic role.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend that de-escalation is vital, and it is to that end that our efforts are dedicated.

• 7 May 2025 · India-Pakistan: Escalation · Hansard source

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  Our focus from the Dispatch Box is on de-escalation and regional stability. My hon. Friend, who has a long-standing commitment to these issues, is right to focus on the damage that the scourge of terrorism has caused Pakistanis, as well as others, and that has been the subject of many discussions between me and my Pakistani equivalent. Pakistan herself would most benefit from the eradication of the scourge of terrorism within her borders.