Written questions by Barker.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on allowing medical aid into Gaza.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is intolerable, and we remain deeply concerned by the impact of the conflict on access to medical facilities and healthcare. We are clear that Israel can and must do more to get aid into Gaza. The Prime Minister stressed this in a call with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on 19 October; the Foreign Secretary reiterated this in his call with Foreign Minister Katz on 27 October. The UK is committed to alleviating the suffering in Gaza and we provide significant funding to partners, including support to UK-Med to run field hospitals in Gaza. On 17 October we announced the UK will match up to £10 million of public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee's Middle East humanitarian appeal.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help promote LGBT rights across the Commonwealth.

The UK is strongly committed to championing LGBT+ human rights and activists across the Commonwealth. This work is enabled by our £40 million LGBT+ Rights Programme, which supports the vital work of organisations such as The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) to end violence and discrimination, reform discriminatory legislation, and uphold the human rights and freedoms of all LGBT+ people. Lord Collins, Minister responsible for the Commonwealth, will be meeting TCEN and other Civil Society organisations at CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in Samoa next week.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote civic reconciliation in Bangladesh.

The UK Government is supporting the Interim Government in Bangladesh as it works to restore peace and order, ensure accountability and create a peaceful pathway to an inclusive democratic future. We support the work of the United Nations as it works to conduct an impartial and independent fact-finding to identify human rights violations. The UK Government is providing up to £27 million over five years (March 2023 to February 2028) under the Bangladesh Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme for protecting civic and political space, fostering collaboration, reducing corruption, and mitigating tensions that lead to violence.