Speeches by Falconer.

“I am seriously concerned by the expansion of Israel’s operations in the west bank, and 40,000 Palestinians have reportedly been displaced. Palestinians must be allowed home, civilians must be protected, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure minimised. Stability is essential at this crucial time. We recognise I…”

“Settler violence is unacceptable. On 15 October the UK sanctioned three outposts and four entities linked to violence in the west bank under the global human rights regime. Those measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights. The Government do no…”

“I am not going to comment further on how we are going to respond to the advisory opinion. It is in process and I hope to be able to update the House soon. Recognising that time is running away from me, I am not going to take any more interventions, but I will very quickly run through some of the other issues that were …”

“My right hon. Friend will understand that I do not want to comment too much on an individual case, but the diplomat in question was not engaged in this issue specifically since our Government have been in power, so I am not sure that there is a question for us to answer there. The hon. Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (…”

“I will make a little bit more progress, if I may. As the Foreign Secretary and others have made clear, we continue to consider the opinion carefully. My hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith and Chiswick (Andy Slaughter) rightly identified the complexity and the novel elements of that advisory opinion, and we are taki…”

“I am not going to be drawn on precise timings.”

“I will in a minute. We demonstrated our commitment to international law in September, when the Foreign Secretary announced to Parliament the decision to suspend relevant export licences to Israel. I reassure hon. Members that that is not a partial suspension; it is a full suspension. I will not rehearse the F-35 argume…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) for securing this debate. I will try to make some progress. I imagine that many colleagues will want to intervene, but I am keen to give my hon. Friend a chance to respond, so I …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Allin-Khan, and I am grateful to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) for securing the debate. I send my condolences to Cathy and to the whole family for the tragic loss of Hudson in Ecuador. I know how difficult it must be, and my thoughts are with them.…”

“I think the right hon. Gentleman’s proposal is that we include the risks from carbon monoxide everywhere in the world. I am happy to take away that proposal and to come back with a more detailed answer, particularly in relation to the letter from the hon. Member for Surrey Heath, in which he set out some further reques…”

“As the House would expect, we follow reports of such incidents in Syria very closely. I was discussing some of those incidents with members of Syrian civil society just last night, and the Foreign Secretary has raised those questions directly with the interim Foreign Minister of the Syrian authorities. We will continue…”

“We have set out our position on the designation of genocide, so I will not enter into that discussion again, but I will respond to my hon. Friend on the questions of aid access, on which a ministerial colleague has spoken already and on which we have been consistent. We are clear that not enough aid is getting into Gaz…”

“We continue to consider the advisory opinion of the ICJ carefully. It is a far-reaching opinion that took months in the production, and we hope to be able to report back soon.”

“The UK Government consistently urge Pakistani authorities to act in line with their international obligations and respect fundamental freedoms and human rights. I raised these issues during my visit to Pakistan in November and in my statement to the House on 28 November. We issued a further statement on 23 December abo…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for the question and for his long-standing work on Syria issues. I was very glad to join him and so many inspiring members of Syrian civil society who are keen to make a contribution. We will do what we can to enable the new Syria to be a success and to enable Syrian civil society here and across…”

“It is vital that the new Syria includes representation of all its people and that all Syrians can see themselves represented in the Government that will follow. We are supporting an inclusive political process that must respect the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, and we will continue in our efforts.”

“I welcome the appointment of my hon. Friend as the new UK special envoy for freedom of religion or belief. As part of our intensive diplomatic engagement with international partners, and indeed with the interim Syrian authorities, we have consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition and underlined the i…”

“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his long-held commitment on these issues. Soft power is an issue of the most vital importance, particularly in this contested world. I am very pleased to confirm, as the Foreign Secretary already has, that we are establishing a soft power council in the coming days. That is an import…”

“Ministers are aware of the issues in relation to the £200 million. As the hon. Member said, the loan was made on commercial terms in order to be compliant with the UK subsidy control regime. On 6 January, my ministerial colleagues the Foreign Secretary and Baroness Chapman met the chief executive officer of the British…”

“We unequivocally condemn Iran’s attacks on Israel in April and October 2024. These attacks, and Iran’s ongoing support for its proxies and partners, have destabilised the region and fuelled escalation. Alongside our allies and partners, we will continue to hold Iran to account for this behaviour, including through sanc…”