Speeches by West.

“Economic growth is a key driver for all our constituents. What is the Government’s estimate of the number of jobs that will be created in the UK by 2030? Is it true to say that it will be triple the number in the old economy?”

“I thank the hon. Lady for raising this important matter on behalf of her constituents. I can reassure her that the UK Government have called on Beijing numerous times to repeal the national security law, which provides for the autocratic treatment of people abroad, such as her constituents. We continue to work closely …”

“In June, the Minister for Security, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley North (Dan Jarvis), and I met the UK activists targeted by the Hong Kong arrest warrants and bounties. We have raised concerns regarding the arrest warrants and bounties directly with the Chinese ambassador here in London, reaffirming that the s…”

“It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Dr Huq; I acknowledge your interest in matters relating to human rights, humanitarian aid and Africa. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) for securing this debate; I am sure that many of her diaspora in Huddersfield are …”

“I apologise, but I only have three minutes. We also want Sudan to be free of FGM—a priority that I know the hon. Member for Romford would be in agreement with—supporting the work of protection and prevention and providing care services in response to increasing rates of gender-based violence across Sudan. Of course, th…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship in this important debate, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing this debate and for his dedicated work, both before he entered this place and now as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or…”

“I certainly will. My hon. Friend has now put that on record, so I am pleased that he was able to get that into this important debate. I am also pleased that we were able to lobby the Government of Laos to guarantee that everyone, including minorities, can exercise their rights without facing reprisals. We also work clo…”

“My hon. Friend raises the most important point. It is not just about money; it is about access, our diplomatic heft and knocking heads together so we can get that aid through to the people most in need. He mentions the £120 million for this financial year. A portion of that uplift provides support to local responders, …”

“I thank the right hon. Member for his question. The UK funds support for the protection, prevention and care services responding to gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan, and they provide emergency support to survivors. Longer-term UK programmes also work to tackle female genital mutilatio…”

“My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner on behalf of her constituents in Westminster and the City. I encourage her and her staff to use the MP hotline, because that is the best way of getting through in order to get consular advice and to reassure our communities in the diaspora of Sudan.”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her leadership role in the previous Parliament as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Sudan and South Sudan and as International Development Minister. There are a number of partners; she has mentioned some of them. The participants at the London Sudan conference included Egypt, t…”

“My hon. Friend knows of what she speaks, with her role before she came to this place. I shall take that as an action from today’s dialogue.”

“The UN Security Council is not just about military intervention, in terms of the security; as the right hon. Gentleman is aware, it is also about the impact of the diplomatic solutions. As the penholder, the UK has the most important role to try to bring everybody together around the table, which is why we had the Lond…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for all the work he did before coming to Parliament and his important support for so many countries; I have been in debates with him on Myanmar and others. It is important that we lay on the record that £120 million is a lot of money, and that we have to follow that money. As I explained befo…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her work as the chair of the APPG for Sudan and South Sudan. We have now heard from both the former chair, the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Dame Harriett Baldwin), and the current chair. I know that my hon. Friend has a Sudanese diaspora in her locality, too. May I just emphasise that…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his relentless work in this House on freedom of religion or belief. Of course, the region used to be so much more diverse, but the space for religious freedom has really narrowed. He is quite right to challenge that. With his permission, I will share his thoughts with our freedom of relig…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his extensive work in civil society on these sorts of issues. The current position is for us to engage extensively through diplomatic means to encourage all parties to come to the table. We are very aware of the complexity of this particular conflict and the fact that it is not just two sides…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his long-standing interest in development. I know that he will be pleased to hear that the participants with whom we worked at the London conference continue to be our partners in this endeavour. They include Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, South Sudan, Chad, Kenya, Ethio…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2023, the UK has frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the parties involved in the conflict. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the UK has also sanctioned two generals of Sudan’s Rapid S…”

“Just last month, we joined the UN-EU consultative group on Sudan for the first time, alongside our partners from the US, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the League of Arab States. That was at the top of the agenda. Our role at the moment is very much focused on being the penholder at the UN, but all …”