David Lammy MP: speeches

Speeches

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I associate myself with what the hon. Lady has said, and I assure her, not just on my behalf but on behalf of everyone in this Chamber, that there will be no complicity among any of us in acts where there could be a clear risk of a breach of international humanitarian law.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Notwithstanding the huge humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place in Gaza, I am proud of the work of UK-Med, the funding we have been able to give it and the extra money that I have announced today, and that medical aid is getting through to relieve some suffering. However, the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We will continue to do more, and I reassure him that I am working with my Jordanian counterparts, in particular, to see what more we can do to alleviate that suffering.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  What the hon. Gentleman mentions falls into the category of the assessment that I made back in September last year that there was a clear risk of a breach of international humanitarian law. It was on that legal advice, and the quasi-legal position that I took, that I made sure that nothing we did in this country could be complicit in such action. I want to give him that reassurance. He paints a vivid picture. It is unimaginable that the suffering has gone on for as long as it has.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I reassure my hon. Friend that British taxpayers are funding NGOs that work across communities. We are supporting that work on the west bank and in Gaza. We are supporting accountability, because that is No. 1 when we look at some of the injustice being wrought. We will continue to do that work, including with the international humanitarian fund.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  All action is under review at this time. We are pressing for a ceasefire, and our assessment is that we could see one shortly after the Knesset rises. My hon. Friend will understand that a ceasefire is our priority, as it is the single act that would stop the suffering that we are seeing in Gaza. She lists some of the actions she would expect to be under consideration with international partners. Of course, we must act internationally alongside our partners if we are to have any effect.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the issue of aid workers. The widespread loss of life among aid workers is a travesty. It is unprecedented. I remind colleagues of chapter 2 of “The Conduct of Hostilities”, the handbook for legal practitioners in international humanitarian law, which says that distinctions lie at the heart of international humanitarian law and requires parties to armed conflict to distinguish at all times between civilians—including, of course, aid workers —and combatants. It is a travesty what we have seen take place over the last two and a half years.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Yes, 100%.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend that the Palestinian cause is a just cause, and I would ask the Israeli Government to reflect again on international humanitarian law. I have in front of me “A Practitioner’s Legal Handbook”, and I am hugely concerned, as I read through it, that it feels that there are breaches.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  We have actually been able to get in some further aid with the World Food Programme, and of course that is important. It is also right to say that, with our funding of UK-Med, we have been able to save lives. Of course, we must endeavour every single day to make the humanitarian situation better.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I am grateful for the way in which the hon. Gentleman has put his remarks. He knows that in the occupied territories, Israel controls who gets in and who gets out. He knows that the last time we saw a ceasefire, we saw a rapid escalation of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. That is far from the situation today. We were able, working with the UN system, to get some WFP trucks in—an increase over the last few weeks—and our EU colleagues have been doing a considerable amount with the Israeli Government to increase the amount of trucks. Is it sufficient? No, it is not, and we therefore remain deeply worried about malnourished children, notwithstanding the statements that have been made in this Chamber about children whose life has been taken away from them as they have waited for aid because of the system that has been put in place.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I reassure my hon. Friend that, as he would expect, I raise these issues with Israel on a regular basis, and I raised that issue with Israel this morning.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I will speak to my South African counterpart about that issue. However, I say to the right hon. Gentleman that we in the UK support the ICC—indeed, it receives funding from British taxpayers—and the ICJ, and we also stand against what we are seeing in the west bank and in Gaza, so I would say that much of what he has said is consistent with UK policy.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for naming the Druze, who have seen awful atrocities visited on them in the last few days, and the positions of minorities in Syria. I saw that the Pope commented—unusually, in the strongest terms—on what he has seen. I reassure the hon. Gentleman that I raised these issues with the Syrian leader myself, urged him to act and said that there must be accountability as he grips the entirety of his country. Of course, these incidents were also taking place under the Assad regime, and in some ways have been going on for a long time, but the suffering that is being wrought on minorities in Syria at this time is totally unacceptable.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  We are doing everything we can in supporting our Qatari, Egyptian and US friends to get a ceasefire. The hon. Member will understand that, in looking closely at these issues, even if we are contemplating further measures, they work more effectively if we can co-ordinate allies.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Yes to that last bit. I want to see a ceasefire in the coming days, but of course we continue to consider what further steps we can take with allies to bring the war to an end, as the hon. Member would expect.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  We are working particularly with Arab partners on this issue. Hamas have to exit—they have to step away from the governance of Gaza. My hon. Friend is right: we cannot have a pause for 60 days; we need an enduring, permanent ceasefire.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the statement I made back in September and the addendum to that statement, which set out the basis on which I have judged that there was a clear risk to international humanitarian law. He knows that the long-established position is that it is for the international courts to make any determination of genocide. Our assessment is there is a clear risk of a breach of international humanitarian law.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to the extent that the challenge faced on the ceasefire has been principally that Hamas do not want a pause and the Israeli Government have said that they do want a pause. There has also been discussion within Israel of what withdrawal we would see of the IDF and, of course, changing the humanitarian aid system. That is why a ceasefire has remained stuck, but it is my hope that once the Knesset rises on the 22nd, we will move to a ceasefire.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the shadow Foreign Secretary for the tone of her remarks, and I am grateful for the cross-party consensus in the House that this war must come to an end. I note the huge concern that we all feel, not just in the House but in the international community, about the humanitarian suffering that we continue to see. The right hon. Lady asked what more could be done and prayed in aid the work of the former Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron. She will recognise that Lord Cameron and, before him, the right hon. Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly) raised the humanitarian situation with the Israelis. It has become steadily worse. The number of aid points is now down to four, and, while the new foundation is offering aid, people are dying as they scramble for that aid. I note that the right hon. Lady did not say we should return to the 400 aid points that we had in the past, and she will note that her Government did not refund funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, but we believe that the UN and its system are best placed to deliver aid to Gaza, and that is the position that we continue to maintain. Against that backdrop, the right hon. Lady asked what we were doing on a multilateral basis and what we were doing in working with others to bring this to an end. I ask her to read the statement that has landed, which 31 countries have now signed up to. Of course we are pressing and working with colleagues. I spoke to Minister Sa’ar once again today, urging him to do the right thing—to secure a ceasefire, but also to look at the aid system that is not working. As for governance, the right hon. Lady will know that in a couple of weeks’ time we will participate in the two-state conference that has been organised by France, and she will also know that that conference is now dedicated to looking closely at the governance arrangements that must be put in place. When Hamas leave—and they must go; they cannot govern Gaza—how do we ensure that it is not a 60-day pause, but that we bring an end to this and move to the two-state solution? The right hon. Lady knows our commitment to recognition, as set out in our manifesto, and the conversation about recognition that is going on internationally. The right hon. Lady rightly pressed the case on Syria. When I met al-Sharaa, I made it absolutely clear that his Government had to be inclusive. I pressed him on his background as a terrorist, and on our concerns—the concerns that exist in this Chamber—but we must work with him to ensure that the Government are inclusive, and to ensure that security is fundamental. As the right hon. Lady will understand, there is much that we need to do to support them on counter-terrorism at this time, and, in a country where 90% of people are living in poverty, to ensure that people receive the aid and support that they need—and, indeed, that that aid and support go to the areas affected by the murders we have seen over the last few days.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I reassure the right hon. Gentleman that I have made representations to Secretary of State Rubio about my concerns with the aid system. I have done that alongside many European Foreign Ministers and members of the G7.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend will have heard the statement that I made today on the extra steps that we are taking in terms of humanitarian aid. He will have seen the statement, made by 31 international partners, on the fact that this war must come to an end and that aid must get in. He is right to condemn the aid system. We warned Israel about reducing the aid points to four, and now we are seeing the horrors in front of our eyes. I remind Israel again about its obligations to international humanitarian law and my worry that they are being breached.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  As my hon. Friend has heard, what we are seeing is inhumane, it is deadly and it is depriving Gazans of human dignity. As she would expect, the Government, working with our partners, keep everything under further consideration.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member has heard what I have said about my commitment to two states. He knows that we have not yet got a ceasefire, and he knows that we are working with international partners to ensure that we get an enduring ceasefire. He knows the debate around recognition, because I have talked about it not just in Select Committees but at this Dispatch Box on many occasions.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  In some senses, that is in the hands of those who continue to prosecute this conflict. My hon. Friend is absolutely right when she says that each life is of incalculable value. I think I have made more statements on this subject than any other Minister has made statements in this House over the past year—of course, the Minister for the Middle East, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), has also made his fair share of statements. The strength of feeling is well known, and it is reflected not just here, but across the globe. The current course of the Government of Israel is bringing that country into ill repute. That is what is happening.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Most licences are not for military use. Most do not go to Israeli authorities. Many are for civilian use, such as product testing or body armour for journalists and NGOs. I am quite sure that the hon. Member would not want us not to support those organisations. Some are for components going to Israeli companies that are then re-exported to third countries, including NATO allies.