Rupa Huq MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Jun 2025 · Iran-Israel Conflict · Hansard source

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  Ealing has long had a big Iranian diaspora. In 1978, when England did not qualify in the world cup and Iran did, a lot of my classmates were supporting the latter; now, they are my adult constituents, and they have been caught up in all this. Could my right hon. Friend tell me what steps he is taking to ensure the safe passage of our constituents back home, including one of my constituents, who needs to resume her cancer treatment and wants urgently to come back to England?

• 14 May 2025 · Gaza: UK Assessment · Hansard source

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  The Minister, who is a good man, recognises that the 70-day aid blockade has made starvation widespread in Gaza. During the recess, I was on a delegation with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). We were nearby in Egypt, and we heard real fears that annexation of both Gaza and the west bank is near-inevitable. The Minister has told us what steps he has taken up until now, but there has been a clear escalation, so can he please give us some hope that there are further levers that can be pulled? We do not want to be on the wrong side of history.

• 1 May 2025 · Prisoners of Conscience · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman, who always speaks with such compassion and conviction, is making a powerful case. One of the worst examples is the detention of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan. They have not broken any criminal code, as he says; they are public servants held for political purposes, with no clear legal redress or access, or even clear grounds as to why they are being held. Does he agree that international law should dictate here, not domestic politics, with Governments marking their own homework? I praise my constituent Annette Moskofian, who represents Armenians in the UK. The Minister can be assured that I will write to her with some of Annette’s demands after the debate.

• 8 Apr 2025 · Persecution of Christians · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Was it not one of the most heartbreaking things that all of us in the House have seen when Christmas was cancelled in Jesus’s birthplace last year? We have seen the persecution in Palestine, and in Gaza what has happened to some of the most sacred sites in Christianity, with the third-oldest church reduced to rubble. At times it is heartbreaking. My hon. Friend listed things such as Marxism and Islamism; does she agree that the situation in Palestine should draw our attention to Christians persecuted there, too?

• 2 Apr 2025 · Gaza: Israeli Military Operations · Hansard source

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  Since Hamas’s war crimes of 7 October, we have seen multiple flagrant breaches of the rules of the international order. This week, 15 Palestinian paramedic Red Crescent workers were found in a mass grave alongside their abandoned emergency vehicle. That comes on top of a four-week total aid blockade. What are our red lines about how this war without end, in which ceasefires and signed agreements can be tossed aside, is being conducted?

• 17 Mar 2025 · G7 · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s strong statement that blockading all aid into Gaza, including UK aid, is “appalling and unacceptable”. What discussions did he have with G7 colleagues about what can be done about this provocative action during Ramadan, and what consequences are there for what people are saying is a breach of international law?

• 4 Mar 2025 · Gaza · Hansard source

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  Instituting an aid blockade, while getting on for 50,000 Gazans have been killed and there is a polio epidemic, surely looks as if civilian deprivation is being used as a weapon of war. What are the Government doing about that, and to ensure that the entire fragile ceasefire does not fall apart and the hostages can come home?

• 25 Feb 2025 · Defence and Security · Hansard source

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  The Prime Minister’s statement hits the nail on the head, unlike the rantings of J. D. Vance on European freedom of speech at the Munich security conference. I know the statement will be particularly welcome at the Ealing ex-servicemen’s club, so will the Prime Minister recommit to our veterans, to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and to organisations like the Army cadet centre in Acton and the Territorial Army reservists in Wood Lane, either of which would welcome a visit, for those who have served our nation and those who will do so in the future?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  More than half of EU nation states recognise Palestine, and the UK recognises it at the International Criminal Court and in UN agencies. Does the hon. Lady agree that it seems a bit inconsistent for His Majesty’s Government—of both parties—to have a long-standing policy of pursuing a two-state solution if they recognise only one of those states?

• 10 Oct 2024 · Gaza and Humanitarian Aid · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman mentioned aid workers. Does he not agree that it is not just aid workers but those in the media, teachers, doctors and medical staff where we are seeing a discrediting and delegitimisation of the UN? He mentioned buildings, even the oldest church in Christendom. It feels like even within the rules of war, something has gone wrong here.

• 7 Oct 2024 · Anniversary of 7 October Attacks: Middle East · Hansard source

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  Among those killed in the horrors of 7 October were children, with a number still held hostage to this day. In Gaza since then, there is a grisly new acronym—WCNSF: wounded child, no surviving family—to add to the child death toll, which is now rising in Lebanon as well. Will my right hon. and learned Friend press for the protection of children in advocating for a ceasefire and in his humanitarian efforts, and does he agree that no parent should ever have to bury their child?

• 7 Oct 2024 · Benefit Sanctions · Hansard source

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  According to recent research by Gingerbread, a high percentage of sanctions have been misapplied to single parents, not because they have not met the job search requirements but because of missed meetings for reasons connected with childcare. Max, a bereaved single dad of two, had his sanction overturned, which involved a fairly challenging process. Will my hon. Friend please look into the possibility of overhauling the mess of a system that was left behind by that lot over there?

• 7 Oct 2024 · Benefit Sanctions · Hansard source

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  17. What assessment she has made of trends in the number of benefit sanctions in the last five years.

• 11 Sept 2024 · Democracy in Bangladesh · Hansard source

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  I will give way to the new Chair of the Defence Committee.

• 22 Jul 2024 · NATO and European Political Community Meetings · Hansard source

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  It was incredibly pleasing to see the Prime Minister both at NATO and welcoming leaders from across our continent to Blenheim palace, at a historic moment for a reset with Europe after the disastrous legacy that the departing Government left behind. Did the subject of youth mobility for students and suchlike arise, and could his Government look into repairing it for its soft power, cultural exchange and growth-boosting properties that have been so valued, as we are now in a post-Erasmus era?