Speeches by Cooper.

“The UK Government continue to follow and to be guided by international law—that is an important part of our principles and values. On RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia, there are operational arrangements in place for our military, and an agreement was reached to use them for defensive purposes.”

“It is because regional instability increased in the early part of this year that, since January, we have been pre-deploying additional jets to Cyprus—to the sovereign base—exactly to provide additional protection for Cyprus, including additional air defence and radar capabilities. We took that issue very seriously and …”

“The case that my hon. Friend describes is deeply disturbing. It is essential that all Governments follow international law and maintain international standards around human rights and civilian protection. The case is extremely distressing and obviously needs full investigation.”

“My hon. Friend is right to raise real concerns about the escalation in the west bank. This is a critical issue—both for the west bank and the rights of Palestinian people in the west bank, and when it comes to addressing concerns around illegal settlements and settler violence—and it is fundamentally part of the wider …”

“The UK did provide support for negotiations and diplomatic processes around the nuclear discussions; we thought that was an important track and wanted it to continue—that was one of the reasons for our position on the initial US strikes. Also, as we look forward, we need to ensure that the approach covers not just the …”

“My hon. Friend is right that at every stage we have been urging the protection of civilians. That is immensely important as part of this and is also why we need to work so immensely hard to prevent further escalation. It is one of the issues we have been raising particularly around Lebanon, where I am concerned that we…”

“My hon. Friend is right that the humanitarian consequences of the Israeli operations are extremely serious already. It is estimated that over 800,000 Lebanese civilians have been displaced from their homes, which is already causing emergency problems with shelter. I have discussed this with the UN High Commissioner for…”

“Because of the immense scale of risks and the already horrendous humanitarian consequences in Lebanon, I have spoken directly to both the Lebanese Prime Minister and the Israeli Foreign Minister in recent days about exactly that. That is also why we have identified the interest shown, and the steps that the Lebanese Go…”

“I heard part of that deeply distressing interview this morning. Not only does there have to be compliance with international standards, humanitarian law, international law and full investigations of any violations, but we have to ensure that there is a peace process, which is desperately needed, for Gaza and the west b…”

“I said in my statement that we were having discussions about the strait with our European partners, our Gulf partners, the United States and other countries who also have a strong interest in supporting freedom of navigation. This is complex. The nature of technology, including new drones—sea drones and air drones—the …”

“On Lebanon, as I made it clear in my statement, the threat from Lebanese Hezbollah is serious. This is a terrorist organisation that is doing the bidding of the Iranian regime, not standing up for the Lebanese people. The Israeli and Lebanese Governments have a shared interest in tackling Hezbollah, and there is an opp…”

“This Government take decisions according to UK values and the UK’s interests. I know that there are different perspectives on foreign policy. There are some who believe that we should agree to and join in with everything that the US does. There are some who believe that we should always criticise and oppose everything …”

“We have been monitoring and assessing the impacts, particularly of the restrictions on the strait of Hormuz and the restrictions around oil and fertiliser. We have been looking at the impacts that that can have, not just on the UK but on some of the most fragile and vulnerable countries across the world. We are monitor…”

“Our relationship with the US on security and the economy is deep and long-standing. I was first briefed on our security co-operation as a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee more than 25 years ago, and it has strengthened and deepened since then. Our focus needs to be on the substance of that relationship…”

“As I set out in our concerns on Lebanon, we are urging the Israeli Government not to pursue further ground operations but instead to pursue the opportunity of talks and a shared interest with the Lebanese Government, who we continue to support. We have raised our deep concerns and condemned some of the decisions made b…”

“We have long been clear that, ultimately, we need a swift resolution to this conflict. We are providing the basing support for the US to be able to take defensive action against the military launches and the weapons that are being pointed at the Gulf, and we are also providing broader defensive support, but as the Prim…”

“I agree about the importance of maritime law, freedom of navigation and the law of the sea. Those are fundamental international principles and that is why the UK, as an international trading nation, has long supported them. It is also one reason why we have supported Bahrain’s UN Security Council resolution—we were a c…”

“On the strait of Hormuz, I should be clear that the discussions that are under way are separate from the conflict, as the US itself has made clear. One thing that is being looked at is what is possible as the conflict ends or subsides. On the wider issue of Israeli operations in the west bank, I have myself raised thes…”

“The right hon. Member will know that we are already taking defensive military action in support of our partners, against threats to them, and we take immensely seriously any threats to UK bases or military assets. He would not expect me to comment on operational issues, but he knows how seriously we take the UK’s milit…”

“When I met the Gulf Co-operation Council, our partners welcomed our support and our long-standing commitment to their security, stability and territorial integrity. At the moment, they face challenges from the ballistic missiles threat, so we are providing basing in support of the US defensive operations. They also fac…”