Speeches by Falconer.

“It is not the first step in relation to sanctions either; this is the third set of sanctions we have announced in relation to settlements in the west bank. On the two-state solution conference next week, we are talking with our friends and allies. I am sure that—with your permission, Mr Speaker—I will be back in this H…”

“I feel that I need to take issue with the idea that this is the first step that this Government have taken in relation to these issues. I have been at this—”

“As I am afraid I say with regularity, I will not speculate on further sanctions on either side of the conflict from the Dispatch Box, but the hon. Gentleman is right that the thresholds and tests are the same. We condemn antisemitic rhetoric, we condemn incitement to violence, and we will keep all sanctions under revie…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her commitment to these issues. Clearly, recognition is right at the centre of any discussion of a two-state solution. The actions we have announced today are part of the UK’s efforts to ensure that the reality of a two-state solution remains in play. It is clear from the rhetoric of the two …”

“In this House, we have to be focused on what the real options are for getting aid at volume into Gaza. The truth is that it must be done via land routes, and even when aid gets into Gaza by land, that is still incredibly dangerous for aid workers. Ultimately, deconfliction mechanisms for aid workers in Gaza will be vit…”

“I thank my hon. Friend from the east midlands. He has long been committed to these issues, and particularly to the difficult but vital work of ensuring that civil society in Israel and Palestine works on peace-building projects. I know that he was in the region recently, and I commend him for his approach. We hope to s…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions. The two-state solution conference next week is an important moment. We are discussing with our friends and allies our approach to that conference, and no doubt I will return to this House next week—with your permission, Mr Speaker—to discuss that further. I will not specula…”

“I want to be really clear that the two men against whom we have announced sanctions today do not represent the majority of Israelis. There are so many connections between the UK and Israel, and we hear about the extent to which the decisions, rhetoric and language of those two Ministers cause concern in Israel as well.…”

“I thank the right hon. Lady for her questions. She raises important points about work with allies. Let me address what she said about Egypt, which is vital. The Egyptians have conducted important work, and I am pleased that I will be with them next week at the two-state solution conference to discuss the reconstruction…”

“With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The two-state solution is in peril. There is catastrophic conflict in Gaza and a shocking deterioration in the west bank. This is an affront to the rights of Palestinians, but it is also against the interests of Isr…”

“We have had discussions with other countries, but I would not wish at the Dispatch Box to speculate on what steps they may take following this.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for the effort she put in to travel to the area and to meet those in Israel and beyond. To be clear, the sanctions announced are not sanctions on the two Ministries that the men represent. They are sanctions on the men themselves and the extremist rhetoric that they are respo…”

“I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for the opportunity to clarify that the British Government are not providing information to enable the bombing campaign in Gaza. The decisions that we took in relation to arms suspension bind the whole Government—they are not just the decisions of the Foreign Office—and represe…”

“As my predecessor, the right hon. Gentleman can, of course, counsel me, and I am grateful for his support on the measures we have taken. As I said to another of my predecessors, the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne), I recognise that sanctions are not a remedy: this will feed no Palestinians. I…”

“I recognise that the right hon. Gentleman has made these points with some force for the past year, but I would caution him against being quite as cynical as he is. We are doing everything we can. We recognise that what we have announced today will not be a remedy to the situation we find ourselves in, as I have just sa…”

“As ever, my hon. Friend makes an important and powerful contribution. I will not repeat the position on recognition, but we recognise the force of what he says, which is that the situation has deteriorated, settlements have increased very significantly over the last year, as has settlement violence, and it is unaccepta…”

“I will not speculate too far on hypotheticals, but I am, of course, a British Minister; I take decisions on behalf of the British Government. We will act alone where we have to, but we act whenever we can with our friends and allies, as that is the way we have the greatest impact.”

“I reassure my hon. Friend’s constituents that she does indeed press me on these issues, as do so many Members on my own Government Benches and across the House. I am not sure I entirely agree with her characterisation that this is the beginning, but I assure her that it is not the end until progress is made.”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. We have delivered that message with our 26 partners on aid and we have been clear that, unless the situation changes, further actions with the leaders of France and Canada will flow. I will not repeat my answers about the conference next week, but I thank him for the importa…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for the question, and I recognise the strength of feeling in Pembrokeshire, Lincoln and so many other places. I will not repeat for him the manifesto commitment on which we were both elected. I am sure his interest, like that of so many in this House, will be on the conference next week, and we a…”