Hamish Falconer MP: speeches

Speeches

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

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  There is a domestic legal process through our independent courts, and we cannot prejudge that process. I note that the shadow Attorney General has written to the Attorney General about questions of detail in relation to some of the points to which the hon. Gentleman has alluded, and the Attorney General tells me that he will be writing back on the subject of those more detailed points.

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

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  In addition to the steps I have just outlined, we will be working closely with our partners and I hope to be able to update the House shortly on some of the measures we are taking, in company, to try to ensure that sufficient aid gets into Gaza, particularly over this vital winter period.

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

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  I recognise my hon. Friend’s long commitment to these issues. As you would expect, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will not comment further on the ICC process, which needs now to carry through in accordance with due process in the way you would expect. On sanctions, which have been discussed before in the Chamber, I am not, in the usual way, at liberty to provide any further commentary on who we might consider for them.

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

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  I welcome the questions from the right hon. Member across the Benches. Utmost in the Government’s mind is the need to bring an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza and to secure the release of the hostages, whose families I have met. She knows that I am familiar with these issues from my previous life. We also need to see more aid going into Gaza. The questions at issue with the ICC are separate from that. Diplomacy will continue regardless of the ICC process. But I had understood it to be the common position of the House that the international rule of law is an important commitment. The International Criminal Court is an important body—the primary body—in enforcing those norms, and the issues on jurisdiction and complementarity were heard by the pre-trial chamber. Its three judges issued their findings. I think we should respect those.

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

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  For the awareness of the House, the shadow Attorney General has written about the two different legal interpretations of immunity and has sought the Attorney General’s view on these matters. I think the shadow Attorney General acknowledges that this is a case on which the courts are the competent authority, but the Attorney General has undertaken to respond to that letter in due course.

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

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  For clarity, we have suspended arms licences where parts for the F-35 programme are sold directly to Israel. Where they are sold to the global spares pool, it is not possible to disentangle where they go in that pool and see their final destination. That is why we have made the exemption, and it is why we judge that doing so is vital for the security of the UK, for our allies and for NATO.

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

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  I am slightly stumped by the questions from the Opposition. We are signatories to the ICC Act. I think the whole House agrees with the importance of the rule of law. Representations were made to the ICC in the pre-trial chamber, and it has come to its decisions. I think we should respect its independence.

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

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  The Government are deeply concerned by the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification finding about food insecurity in Gaza. We are making efforts to try to ensure a more rapid and regular flow of aid, including items that have been barred, which often seem to be those that are most vital for winterisation—as the international humanitarian community call it—in Gaza. We will continue to press for more flexibility on these points, so that the necessary tents, sleeping bags and other equipment required to safeguard Palestinian life over the course of the winter can move in at the scale that is required.

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

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  Last Thursday, judges at the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the reportedly deceased Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, commonly known as Deif, commander-in-chief of the military wing of Hamas. The ICC is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern. It is actively investigating allegations of the gravest crimes in countries around the world, including Ukraine, Sudan and Libya. In line with this Government’s stated commitment to the rule of law, we respect the independence of the ICC. We will comply with our international obligations. There is a domestic legal process through our independent courts that determines whether to endorse an arrest warrant by the ICC in accordance with the International Criminal Court Act 2001. That process has never been tested, because the UK has never been visited by an ICC indictee. If there were such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process, and due process would be followed in relation to those issues. There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, two terrorist organisations. This Government have been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law. That right is not under question, and the Court’s approval of the warrants last week does not change that. Israel is of course a partner across UK priorities, including trade, investment, security and science and technology. We co-operate across a wide range of issues for our mutual benefit. This Government remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza. That is essential to protect civilians, ensure the release of hostages and increase humanitarian aid into Gaza. We have always said that diplomacy is what will see an end to this conflict, and that can only be achieved through dialogue. It is in the long-term interests of the Israelis, Palestinians and the wider region to agree to a ceasefire deal urgently and bring this devastating conflict to an end.

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

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  Do the Government accept that we have international obligations? Indeed we do. I have set out this afternoon how we would discharge them in relation to the ICC; I have also set out the view that we take on the ICJ process. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that there is proper international justice that all abide by. We are one of the ICC’s major funders: we commit £13.2 million a year to ensure that the ICC can function properly. In everything that this Government do, we are trying to ensure the international rule of law, and we will continue to do so.

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

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  I reassure the hon. Member and ask him to pass on to his constituents that this Government will indeed do the right thing and stand up for international law. I have set out the manner in which we would do that over the course of this afternoon.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Western Sahara · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) for securing the debate, and for his service in the Foreign Office and as trade envoy, and for his many years of advocating for a closer relationship between the UK and Morocco, which is an important goal. I regret that the drafting of my responses to the right hon. Member’s parliamentary questions were described as “anaemic” and “regurgitation”, and I will endeavour to provide a little more zest for him in future. I would, however, say in relation to Foreign Office officials, who got a rather extensive mention in the right hon. Member’s remarks, that they are excellent, hard-working servants of this country, who serve without fear or favour. They advise; Ministers decide. The speech I am about to deliver has, of course, been prepared by the excellent officials of King Charles Street, but it is me and my ministerial colleagues who have decided it, so in future I would hope that the right hon. Member might direct his criticisms of the policy at me rather than my officials. It is a timely moment to have this debate. The UN Security Council is set this week to adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO—United Nations mission for the referendum in Western Sahara—for another 12 months. I am also grateful for the contributions to this debate from other Members, many of whom have shown long-standing commitment to the issues. I will try to respond to their points as I go. I do not need to tell this Chamber of the complexity of the issues. The UN has maintained, through MINURSO, a presence in Western Sahara since 1991. Successive personal envoys and special representatives to the UN Secretary-General have steered both the activities of MINURSO and a UN-led process aimed at achieving a resolution to the disputed territory. The UK strongly supports MINURSO’s activities, and we welcome its ongoing de-mining and observer operations in Western Sahara. To that end, the UK has consistently supported UN Security Council resolutions concerning MINURSO, including most recently resolution 2703 in October 2023, which extended the mandate for 12 months. The UK position remains to support the UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. This is in line with the position taken by successive UK Governments and UN Security Council resolutions. A solution agreed by all parties would contribute significantly to regional security and prosperity, and have the potential to unlock wide economic possibilities and benefits for those communities directly affected by this long-standing dispute—and of course for the UK, as the right hon. Member alluded to. It is for the parties to agree resolution, but the UN needs our support in its efforts to find a pragmatic solution. This is why we encourage others to support the UN-led process, and I thank successive British ambassadors and officials who work in the region for their contributions to this effort. The UK’s position is in line with our status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a key contributor to other UN peacekeeping missions. This position also reflects our core national interests, and it is based on our political judgment of how best to protect them. The right hon. Member referred to a paper by a notable legal scholar, but he will understand that it is for Ministers of this Government to make a judgment about how to protect our core national interests and which political judgments lay behind them. We believe it is important that we support the principle of self-determination, which gives people the right to decide their own future, as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions on Western Sahara.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Western Sahara · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Member is right to refer to the humanitarian situation facing the Sahrawi refugees. I think other Members referred to the camps in the Tindouf wilayah. We consistently support both UN Security Council resolutions that highlight the Sahrawi people face, and we contribute through the UN to support the refugee camps. My officials last visited those camps in November 2023. I was pleased last month to meet Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy for Western Sahara, and our meeting was an opportunity to discuss both his mandate and that of MINURSO. I was able to reiterate the UK’s full support for the UN-led process. The situation in the Tindouf refugee camps, to which the right hon. Member just referred, remains challenging, and we are working with various UN agencies and bodies to provide vital humanitarian support. The circumstances have been made more dire by recent heavy flooding in the region, as colleagues will be aware. The situation remains of great concern to the UK, and we continue to closely monitor developments, including through visits by Foreign Office officials. Members have referred to the Moroccan autonomy plan, which was first announced in 2007. We have chosen not to comment publicly on the plan, which is not a judgment on its merits or otherwise. However, I assure the House that the UK would warmly welcome any solution to the dispute that is able to secure the support of all parties. While we enjoy constructive dialogue with our partners on a wide range of issues, including Western Sahara, I say to the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire that their foreign policy decisions are ultimately for them to make, in their own individual assessments and interests, as ours are for us. The UK strongly believes that the UN is the best way to solve this long-standing dispute by delivering a solution that is agreeable to all parties. We will continue to give the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy our support, encourage constructive engagement with the political process, and monitor progress. That remains the best way to deliver a sustainable, just, secure and prosperous future for the people of Western Sahara and the wider region. Question put and agreed to.

• 30 Oct 2024 · Western Sahara · Hansard source

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  We are studying the legal judgment to which my hon. Friend refers closely. Our position has not been to oppose economic activity in Western Sahara, but that it must benefit the Sahrawi people. We will continue to engage with our international partners, as the House would expect, including the European Union, our fellow Security Council members, regional stakeholders and indeed the UN itself in support of its efforts.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend asks an important question. Peace building at a civil society level has an important role to play in trying to resolve this conflict. I will write to him with details of our plans.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We provide £104 million to the BBC World Service. That is very good value indeed. I will not seek to get into budget negotiations in advance of the Budget—I know better than that—but I agree very much about the importance of the World Service and the vital function it provides internationally.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The Foreign Secretary has set out our views on the Israeli application of international humanitarian law at greatest length in relation to the decision to suspend arms licences. We keep those issues under regular review and will update the House if there is a change in our assessment.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I hope Members recognise that the words that we have been speaking at this Dispatch Box have not been hollow. Since coming into government, we have restored funding to UNRWA. We have also taken steps in the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and in relation to the arms suspension that I referred to a moment ago. As for the far-right settlers to whom I think my hon. Friend was referring, we introduced sanctions last Thursday. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made it clear during Prime Minister’s questions that we continue to review these issues, and we will return to the House.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I think that you, Mr Speaker, and other Members will understand that it is not appropriate to comment on that in the House.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I will write to my hon. Friend about the complex issue of trade with Israel and how we make that distinction, if that is okay.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I refer my hon. Friend to my previous answer. I will also write to him with further details of what we will do.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  That is a very fine question. The BBC World Service is a UK soft power asset. We give £104 million to the BBC World Service— [ Interruption. ]

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I referred to our actions against Iran in the region, and the importance of removing its influence in Lebanon as best we can. This week I will attend the Lebanon conference in Paris, where these matters will be discussed.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcome Laila to the House. I saw her in Cairo last week, and raised these issues with the Egyptian Foreign Minister. Alaa’s case is very much in our mind, and we will do everything we can to secure his release as quickly as we can.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I can assure the House that the safety and wellbeing of British children overseas, which appears to be relevant in this case, is of the utmost concern to the Government as a whole, and to me as the Minister responsible for consular affairs. I will write, and will meet the hon. Member, if that will be useful in helping us to understand the case and what we can best do to support those children.