Imran Hussain MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Sept 2026 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  Of course I agree with the hon. Member. The genocide is unfolding right before our eyes. I would gently say to him that the Foreign Secretary’s language in this House has to be within certain scope. However, he did list off genocides, which to me suggested that he accepts that there is a genocide. Enough scholars, legal minds and other people across the globe have confirmed that this is a genocide unfolding right before our eyes. I will be very brief, Madam Deputy Speaker. I welcome the announcement regarding the west bank; the Foreign Secretary was right to call out the settler terrorists in the west bank. That matters, because Palestinian communities know exactly what that violence is designed to do: frighten them, isolate them and drive them from their home. The powers announced recently are the right powers; now, they must be used. Sanctions on all settler terrorists, as well as the whole settlement enterprise—those who finance it, profit from it, build it, advertise it and politically sustain it—must come as soon as possible. I will make some final submissions regarding the ICJ and ICC. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s comment that we will stand with the ICC and ICJ. Frankly, it is disgraceful that judges in those courts have come under pressure and faced sanctions. An international rules-based order counts for nothing if we abandon the institutions that uphold it the moment their rulings become inconvenient. We cannot cite the ICJ’s advisory opinion one week and say nothing when its judges are threatened the next week. We must continue to stand with the international rules-based order. In closing, the recent announcements are an important first step, but they are only the start. The war crimes, genocide and ethnic cleansing must end, and the international community must commit to ending them. Those responsible for genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing must be held to account, and we in this House have a moral, ethical and legal duty not to stop until that happens.

• 14 Sept 2026 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises a much broader point. Let us pay tribute to not just the fantastic community groups in all our constituencies, but the millions of people who rightly marched on our streets when our Government got it so wrong. I pay tribute to each and every one of them for their peaceful protest. They were right, and those making the decisions in this place were wrong. I will concentrate my remarks not on the direction of the recent announcements, but on the pace at which this Government should now travel. As always, my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald) made a powerful contribution. He is absolutely right; while I, like him, welcome the Government’s announcement of a double lock on arms licences, this House still needs clarity today. I very much hope that the Minister will clarify whether that double lock applies to existing licences. My sincere request of this Government is that we must go further. We must now end all remaining arms sales to Israel and, in particular, close the F-35 loophole. We must ensure that no equipment of UK origin directly or indirectly supports genocide in Gaza, or war crimes anywhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The scale of death and suffering caused by the right-wing Netanyahu Government’s genocide in Gaza demands urgent and further immediate action. With more than 70,000 Palestinians killed in recent years, including over 21,000 children, the scale of this horror should shame the entire international community. The blockade, the denial of aid, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the forced confinement of Palestinians while Israel illegally occupies most of their land have created the most serious humanitarian crisis. This is a product of the machinery of genocide and war crimes that Israel continues to operate. Children continue to be denied food, water and medicines, and families continue to be pushed into impossible conditions. If we are serious about international law, we must go further. We must press for the full and immediate lifting of the blockade, unimpeded humanitarian access and the protection of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s mandate, staff, premises and operations. We should also be clear that although aid funding is, of course, welcome—the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), was right that there is a different debate to be had about our contribution to international aid and how, disappointingly, it has dropped down the agenda—it cannot be a substitute for the political action needed to stop the war crimes and the conditions of genocide that make that aid necessary in the first place.

• 10 Sept 2026 · Social Housing Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  The Minister starts strongly by highlighting the real reason behind the Bill. He is absolutely right: for many families, social housing is the only option to achieve dignity, security and stability. In my community, 25,000 adults are waiting for social housing, so I welcome the Government’s ambition for £39 billion to be spent on social and affordable housing over the next 10 years. The Minister alluded to this in his earlier submissions, but will he make it clear that all resources and flexibility will be available to local councils to deliver on that pledge?

• 7 Jul 2026 · Human Rights in Kashmir · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree. While not all the reports have emerged in full because of the communications blackout, they continue to concern the whole House, as they should. My message to those who use inflammatory and divisive language is that they do not help anyone. Successive Pakistani high commissioners and Ministers have engaged constructively with the all-party parliamentary group in the past. I ask the Governments of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir what message they are sending on human rights to over a million British Kashmiris and the international community. I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer)—he could not be with us today, but he is no doubt well represented—for regularly meeting me and the all-party parliamentary group. He has visited Pakistan and continues to monitor the situation and raise the matter directly. Today, we in this House make an appeal to our Government to send a direct appeal to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Government of Azad Kashmir to ensure that this situation ends immediately. The lockdown and communications blackout must end. Any restrictions affecting the movement of food and medical supplies must end. Those acting as peaceful mediators must be allowed immediate access. Meaningful table talks with grassroots groups must resume immediately. At the heart of those negotiations must remain one principle above all others: respect for the human rights of Kashmiris. Our Government must play their role for the 1 million British Kashmiris impacted by this situation. They must continue to use every appropriate diplomatic channel to encourage restraint, de-escalation and dialogue. Ultimately, peace and dialogue must prevail. There is only one sustainable path forward: peaceful table talks. As chair of the APPG on Kashmir, I will continue to work constructively with all those prepared to pursue that objective. I will continue to stand up and be the voice for over 1 million British Kashmiris with family who continue to be directly affected by these events. We will continue to speak out whenever the human rights of Kashmiris are threatened, and I will continue to push for a peaceful resolution in which the voices, dignity and fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people are placed where they always should have been: at the very heart of any lasting settlement.