Keir Starmer MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his question and his work on this case. Yes, I did raise it with Prime Minister Modi. UK officials regularly raise it, and the Foreign Secretary will be meeting Jagtar’s family in the coming weeks, and we will keep my hon. Friend updated.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I agree that there will be no lasting peace without a two-state outcome, and that is why we must continue to strive towards it. Of course there must be accountability for all those who have committed atrocities, including those who were involved on 7 October.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I certainly agree that is the only path, and we are of course talking to our allies about it, including our American allies, in the way that the hon. Member would expect: as trusted, respected partners trying to address one of the most intractable problems in recent history. We will continue to do so.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I can give my hon. Friend that important assurance, and I thank her for her question.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the content and tone of his response. On his questions, we are working with others on getting aid into Gaza. Until recently that had been mainly airdrops, but what we really need is trucks going in. That is what we focused on in the practical work we were doing yesterday in Egypt, and we will continue to do so. I will take up the right hon. Gentleman’s invitation to update the House on that. Personally, I think that in these early days it is probably one of the single most important things that we need to absolutely focus on. Yes, it was an historic day, but implementing the plan is really important. Any misstep—any step backwards—would have the potential to undermine what happened yesterday. I absolutely agree that the bodies must be released. Those poor families need to be able to grieve properly and they cannot do so. It is cruel that the bodies have been held for so long and they must be immediately released. The two-state solution is necessarily and rightly the long-term objective. I do not believe there will be lasting peace without a two-state solution—a safe and secure Israel, which we do not have; and a viable Palestinian state, which we do not have—so that must be the end goal, and we are working with others to ensure that remains the goal. Along the way there has to be the work on the governance, security and reconstruction in Gaza. I have to say that once the media are fully into Gaza, I think we will be having quite some debate in this House, when the full horror of what has happened there and the devastation is finally seen. On illegal settlements, yes, I absolutely have made it clear, in relation to the west bank, what must happen—or not happen, I should say—in relation to the illegal settlements. It is important that we ensure that this process leads to a lasting peace for Israel, for Gaza and, of course, for the west bank as well.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  First, I acknowledge the role that the right hon. Gentleman played in office just before the election, what he personally brought to the table in relation to this issue, and the cross-party way in which he worked to ensure that the House as a whole could bring to bear pressure to bring about change. He is right about the goal that we need to achieve and the way we want to achieve it, so I wholeheartedly agree with him.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the wider picture. The settlement across the wider middle east forms an important backdrop and is part of the backbone of what has happened and what needs to happen in the future. We are talking to all parties about the immediate steps for the Abraham accords, and also about the wider settlement, if that is possible, because that will play an important part in stabilising the region, which is what most decent and reasonable people want.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I agree that accountability and justice are important in the middle east. We are strong supporters of international law and the role that that needs to play in relation to justice in the region.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for championing and raising these important issues. It is important that, as we move on from the agreement and rebuild, there is accountability. That is why it is important that the media and others are allowed access as soon as possible, and that those charged with holding others to account have what they need in order to do so.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  We have made a significant contribution. As we go forward, we are looking at public and private commitments to the reconstruction project that needs to take place—not just the aid, but the rebuilding. That is a huge challenge that faces us all, and we will rise to that challenge with others.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for touching on this point. One of the great tragedies of what happened on 7 October was that that cross-community work—particularly involving the next generation in Israel and Palestine, trying to ensure that they would have a better future and could take things forward—fell away, as did some of the interfaith work in this country, which we all thought was stronger and more robust than it turned out to be. We must do all we can to restore that work and build on it, because it is essential as we go forward.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for raising that individual case. I offer to provide her with further information on it as soon as we can.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  The board is an important part of the architecture. It is for others to decide what its membership will be, but I can give the commitment that we will report to the House on any developments in that regard.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  We need it to go in today, tomorrow and in the coming days—we cannot delay on that front. That is among the most essential tasks that lie ahead, particularly in relation to the man-made famine.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I can give my hon. Friend our assurance on both those issues.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. It is important that we rise to that challenge and ensure that our Jewish communities feel safe, secure and part of who we are in this country. That requires concrete steps in relation to security and safety measures. We need to go further on education, particularly but not only in our universities. Although he did not mention it, I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows that we need to ensure that we drive out any instances of antisemitism in the NHS. I look forward to working with Members from across the House on all those initiatives, because we also need to ensure that our Jewish communities see that this House is united in ensuring that they have the safety and security that they deserve.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I first acknowledge the impact that this has had on the hon. Member, her family and her extended family. That is evidence of the despair that she rightly describes, and we must, from the depths of that despair, build a better future. I do believe that that will be lasting only if we have a two-state outcome. We have seen too often in the past what appears to be a step forward and what is rightly seen as a point of relief, only for things to fall back. I give my personal commitment that we will work tirelessly to ensure that this time we build on the signing of the agreement yesterday, through all the work that is going to have to be done along the way, until we get to that final lasting solution, which will have to be a two-state solution.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. Children in Gaza have not been to school for the best part of two years—that has had a huge impact. We are already working at pace with others to see how quickly that could be one of the first issues addressed in the rebuilding process, because it is so essential for those children to ensure that they have a better future.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  That sounds like the old Tory party I used to know, and I am really pleased to hear it. In a sense, it is only by uniting across this House in the face of a conflict that has gone on for far too long, and by being clear-eyed about the only way there can be peace that is lasting, that we will be able to play a full part as a country in bringing that about. I welcome the old tone and the old content that I just heard.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  May I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her words about the hostages a moment ago? I know how heartfelt they are. I was surprised and saddened that she spent more time attacking what we actually did to help the process than even mentioning the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, without setting out in terms the number of people who have been killed, who are starving and who have been subjected to denial of aid. When the immediate task for any serious Government is to work with allies to get that aid in at speed, I would have expected at least an acknowledgment of that terrible situation. It shows, yet again, just how far her party has slid from a serious statesperson’s approach to diplomacy. This is not the time for a fight about what role any individual played. I am proud of what Steve Witkoff said about our National Security Adviser. He was negotiating this, he knows the role that we played, and this House should be proud of that. We were able to play that role only because of the relationship that this Government have with the Trump Administration: we are a trusted partner, working both before this peace deal and afterwards. And yes, I did discuss recognition of Palestine with President Trump when he was over here, because that is what grown-up, responsible partners do—unlike the discussion here. I stand by my words that in New York that was the first time that other countries in the region were clear in their condemnation of Hamas. That was a key aspect of what has now happened. On her other questions, the Leader of the Opposition will know, from the reforms that have already been committed to, that the Palestinian Authority will not tolerate any election of individuals or parties that are not committed to a peaceful process. That is an absolute red line, it is part of the agreement and it is what we have been talking to other allies about for a very long time. On healthcare cases, as I reported, we have had such cases coming to the United Kingdom, as well as students. We are extremely careful in the checks that we carry out on everybody who comes to this country. I return to the fact that this is a historic deal. It is important for the region and it is important for the world. It is to be celebrated across this House because of the relief it brings to the hostages and their families in particular, and to the many thousands of people in Gaza. As I said, I was surprised and saddened that the Leader of the Opposition has overlooked a really important part of the resolution of the conflict.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question. It is important that I am clear that this Government are committed to international law and to the accountability that that brings.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  It is important to involve Israelis and Palestinians across the board, from all communities, in the physical rebuilding as well as the rebuilding of the relationships that were in place just over two years ago, which held at least the prospect of a better future for the next generation. We need to rebuild that on all fronts.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Can I just be clear on the 20-point plan? It was widely and warmly received by so many countries yesterday. My hon. Friend will have seen the representation at the summit in Egypt yesterday including the Palestinian Authority. It is really important that when we get an achievement like this, we now focus on implementing it rather than trying to unpick it. I think across this House, by and large, there is agreement that there will not be lasting peace without a two-state solution. We must therefore act to implement the 20-point plan, but we must also—as the plan itself envisages—work towards a two-state solution and not lose sight of that goal.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Member on the spirit and intent behind his question. Hamas is a terrorist organisation that has inflicted violence and destruction on far too many individuals, and they can play absolutely no part in the future. Our recognition of Palestine was expressly on that basis. We will continue to work with other countries to ensure that that is the situation, because it is vital that that is part of a peaceful and lasting settlement in the region.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. I genuinely think that that is the position that most Members across the House would want the Government to take and that they would support it.