Hamish Falconer MP: speeches

Speeches

• 26 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Since the Government took office in July, I hope it has been clear how important questions of international law are to us, how soberly we treat these issues and how we ensure that in all matters, including in relation to the ICC cases that my hon. Friend describes, we follow due process, which is what we intend to do in relation to the ICC.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Hostages in Gaza · Hansard source

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  Ensuring the safe release of all hostages, including British national Emily Damari and three other hostages with strong UK links, remains a top priority for this Government. We support the efforts of negotiators and call on the parties to return to negotiations. We continue to work alongside allies and partners in the region towards securing hostage releases. Negotiations remain the best chance to get hostages, cruelly detained by Hamas, home to their loved ones. I relayed these points to the Israeli deputy Foreign Minister yesterday.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Hostages in Gaza · Hansard source

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  I am sure that the whole House will join me in saying to those families that we, as a House and a Government, will do absolutely everything we can. The horrors of being a hostage family are unbearable, and we have them in our mind each and every day. We are disappointed that talks to secure hostage releases appear to have stalled for the moment. We are urging all parties to return to the table. A deal remains the best prospect and we hope to work with our allies to see that come through.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Hostages in Gaza · Hansard source

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  This Government will continue to do everything we can to press for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a reduction in violence in the middle east. The Foreign Secretary discussed these matters in the G7 and I discussed them with my Israeli counterpart yesterday, and we will continue to take all steps across a wide range of different conversations to try to advance the ceasefire that we so desperately need.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Hostages in Gaza · Hansard source

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  Regrettably, no organisation has had access to the hostages. We continue to call for access for the International Committee of the Red Cross and any other appropriate non-governmental organisation in the usual way. Let us be clear: Hamas hold these hostages, and they are behaving abominably and outwith any international norm. They are not abiding by any convention that we could think of. We will continue to press them to ensure that there is the required access to British nationals, but it is regrettable for the whole House that we are in this position.

• 26 Nov 2024 · UK Soft Power · Hansard source

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  We continue to engage heavily on those issues—the Foreign Secretary was in Moldova last week. We are committed to enhancing the UK’s soft power after a period of decline, and that is why the Foreign Secretary will be launching the soft power council with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in the coming weeks.

• 26 Nov 2024 · UK Soft Power · Hansard source

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  The Foreign Secretary has made it clear that the UK is committed to supporting Moldova’s democratic choice to pursue a path of freedom, independence and European integration. The FCDO provided £511 million in grant in aid funding for the 2022 to 2025 spending review period. In an increasingly digital age, the British Council’s impact should be judged by operational, rather than physical, presence. The council retains a physical presence in over 100 countries. Those in other countries still access cultural engagements and teaching activities online.

• 26 Nov 2024 · UK Soft Power · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to the right hon. Member’s long commitment to these issues. I returned last week from Pakistan where I was first deployed when he was the Secretary of State for International Development, so I know well his commitment to the issues over a long period. I agree with the sentiments of the right hon. Member’s question. The aid budget is incredibly important and makes a significant contribution to our national security right across the world. We continue to work hard to ensure that our aid budget is fit for purpose and does the job it needs to do on behalf of the UK right across the world.

• 26 Nov 2024 · UK Soft Power · Hansard source

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  As these are the first departmental questions since the appointment of the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), I welcome the shadow Front-Bench team to their place. Alongside the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy), the Foreign Secretary is establishing a new soft power council to advise Government and shape a new strategy to increase UK soft power and enhance it to deliver our foreign policy objectives. Promoting all our soft power assets, including the British Council, the BBC World Service, scholarships and values, is crucial if we are to generate growth, security and global impact for the UK.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I will not comment on what sanctions may be under review, for reasons that are well established, but I draw my hon. Friend’s attention to the sanctions that we took in October against Israeli settlers and organisations involved in both breaches of international law and violence in the west bank.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I will not rehearse our position on the recognition of the state of Palestine, other than to say that we believe that the Palestinians have an inalienable right to a state alongside a safe and secure Israel. The Government hope to take steps to advance that as part of a contribution to a two-state solution. The hon. Member suggests, I think, no contact at all with the Israeli Government as a consequence of the ICC ruling. It is only diplomacy that will bring an end to this conflict. We will continue to have direct contact, and in that direct contact we will continue to do all we can to secure an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, aid into Gaza and a more safe, secure and stable middle east.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  Let me deal with why we do not provide advance comment on sanctions, and then I will turn to the domestic legal process. I hear my right hon. Friend. The reason that we do not provide commentary on sanctions is that to do so in advance would reduce their effect. The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office—my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), who is sitting next to me—may correct me, but I think that we have probably issued upwards of 50 or maybe even 100 sanctions in the short time we have been in government. There has been no shortage of sanctions for this House to comment on. I recognise that the two on which I have most been pressed this afternoon are of intense political interest; however, despite that intense political interest, if we were to prejudge sanctions and trail them in this House before we made them, we would reduce their impact. The same is true of the hundreds of sanctions that we have placed on Russia over the years, and it would be the same in every forum. In relation to the domestic legal process, I hope that my right hon. Friend will forgive me for not entering too deeply into hypotheticals about how a court might discharge its findings on these matters.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  The UK is a state party to the Rome statute, and that brings with it obligations that put us in a different position from that of the US. We will continue to engage with both the current and incoming US Administrations in the shared interest of our two countries and across the full range of our priorities.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  Hostage cases are some of the most horrifying situations that a family can face. I know that many people in this House have met with Emily’s family, and have seen at first hand their bravery, but also the agony that they feel a year on. I regret deeply that the best chance of release for all of the hostages is through negotiated agreements, and I call on all parties to come back to the table to try to advance the agreement necessary to secure a release of hostages, an immediate ceasefire, and a reduction in the awful violence that scars us all.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I can confirm that the Department and the Government as a whole keep our international obligations under close review, including in relation to the theatres described.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I will return briefly to the Foreign Secretary’s statement on 2 September, in which he said that “suspending all licences for the F-35 programme would undermine the global F-35 supply chain that is vital for the security of the UK, our allies and NATO.” —[ Official Report , 2 September 2024; Vol. 753, c. 39.] He went on to set out how the suspension of arms licences would apply to the direct sale of F-35 components to Israel but would not apply to the global supply chain. That continues to be the position.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I can. I did this morning, and I will continue to do so.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Member alludes to, I have met those families, and many other families who have been so wounded by the conduct of this conflict, over the course of the last year—families on both sides, both the hostage families and the many, many Palestinians and Lebanese who have seen their lives so cruelly turned upside down. As I said earlier, in the end it is only diplomacy that will bring an end to the conflict. We will continue to have contact with all sides, including those indicted. We will continue to press all those with whom we engage to bring an early end to this war. On the ICJ, we have set out our position before. We are considering the judgment carefully. We have provided an explanation of our position so far in the United Nations. It is an important, far-reaching judgment and we hope to be able to say more in due course.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  As I think has been clear from our actions from July when we became the Government, the international rule of law is incredibly important to this Government. All our actions will be guided by it.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  This is described in international law as the question of complementarity, and it was considered by the pre-trial chamber. Given the independence of the ICC, I do not think it appropriate for me to offer further commentary. Arguments were made by various states on this matter, and the pre-trial chamber came to its findings.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member makes an impassioned and welcome commitment to due process and the independence of the law, and I will not demur from that by providing commentary on what domestic courts might do in a hypothetical situation.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I do agree. There is no alternative to UNRWA, and we will raise those points, both directly with Israel and in company. It is vital that UNRWA, underpinned by a succession of UN Security Council resolutions, is able to continue its vital work, both in the west bank and Gaza and across the wider region.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  As I hope I have made clear this afternoon, this Government are committed to the international rule of law and will continue to be so.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  I know that the right hon. Member has looked at these issues over a long period of time. Questions of complementarity are important, and I understand that they were considered by the pre-trial chamber.

• 25 Nov 2024 · Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants · Hansard source

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  The deliberations of the ICC on this matter have gone on for some time. I think it is clear for all to see the way in which it has proceeded, and I welcome it.