Yesterday I updated the House on the unimaginably bleak situation in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I shared the latest on Iran’s dangerous nuclear programme, and my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary set out Britain’s unwavering support for Ukraine. May I also mention the tragic earthquake in Kunar province in Afghanistan? We have announced a package of support for those who have been killed.
The Foreign Secretary wants to pay a huge amount of taxpayers’ money to Mauritius to lease back a military base that we already own. Why is he afraid of holding a vote on this policy?
I know that the hon. Gentleman has not been in Parliament very long, but he will see that there is a Second Reading next week, and of course there will be a vote.
T2. For Palestinians, if suffering decades of oppression and apartheid, thousands being killed, and millions confined in an ever-reducing area as their homes are stolen and communities are destroyed was not bad enough, now the American President is devising a plan to carve up what is left of Palestinian territory for prime real estate. Will the Foreign Secretary categorically say at the Dispatch Box today that under no circumstances will the UK support this reprehensible plan to ethnically cleanse Palestine and create a “Gaza Riviera”, a “Trump Gaza” or whatever this grotesque plan is?
I say to my hon. Friend that we have been clear right throughout this crisis that Palestinian territory must not be reduced in the conduct of this war, and we do not support the forced displacement of people. Palestinian civilians must be permitted to return to their communities and rebuild their lives.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights’ recent report into transnational repression recommended that China be placed on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme, alongside Iran and Russia. Clearly, this follows concerns following the China audit and the national security strategy, so I have a very specific question for the Foreign Secretary: when will he recognise that China is a threat to our national security and put it on the enhanced tier of FIRS?
The right hon. Lady and I exchanged debate when we published the China audit. There was discussion at the national security strategy, and the Defence Secretary also set out his concerns about Chinese activity in the South China sea in the defence strategy. There have been a lot of debates and discussion in relation to China, and I have been very clear that there are areas where we will co-operate, but we will always challenge where we must.
On 7 August, I wrote to the Foreign Secretary about the deadly sectarian violence that we have witnessed in Syria, which threatens further destabilisation and fallout that we all know could come soon. While I have not received a response, I did specifically ask in that letter whether he would call for justice and accountability for those responsible for the recent killings—the reports are very shocking. Does he agree that there could be a role for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, which I understand the Minister for the Middle East met and praised in Damascus just last week?
I am very grateful to the right hon. Lady for raising this issue. It was important for me to look into the eyes of al-Sharaa when I was in Syria, and the Minister for the Middle East was also in Syria very recently. I have been concerned about the increase in terrorist activity and about the position of minorities, and of course we continue to discuss this with the Syrians. We are also worried about those in the neighbourhood, like Israel, as some of the activity is destabilising what is going on, and of course I will look at the issue that she raises.
T3. My constituents Lee and Joanna Woodcock’s daughter Holly was found deceased in France in August last year. They have raised significant concerns regarding the investigation by the French authorities, and some lesser concerns regarding the support they have received from the FCDO. Will the Minister meet Mr and Mrs Woodcock to hear directly about their experience?
First, I express my deep condolences over Holly’s death. I know this is a very distressing time for Mr and Mrs Woodcock and the whole family. My hon. Friend will know about the consular support that is being provided, as we have spoken about that. I would, of course, be very happy to meet him and the Woodcock family to discuss the matter further, although he will understand that I cannot get directly involved in overseas investigations by authorities in France.
The Business Secretary is due to travel to China next week to restart trade talks. His trip will fall 50 days after Beijing announced its latest round of extraterritorial bounties, targeting 19 pro-democracy Hongkongers, including several more UK-based activists. In an earlier answer, the Minister laid out the many steps to sanction the Georgian Government for their assault on democracy. Will the Foreign Secretary implore the Business Secretary to cancel his trip and press for a block on all UK ministerial visits to China until Beijing rescinds those bounties?
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 safety and security of Hongkongers in the UK is of the utmost importance to the Government. The matter is being raised at all levels—by Ministers and by the Foreign Secretary, and will indeed be raised, if there is such an occasion in the future, leader to leader.
T4. I share the anguish and profound distress of my constituents over the conflict in Gaza. Many of them have friends and family in the region; they are living with that torment every day. The Minister will have seen hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens marching for a release of the hostages and for a ceasefire. What are the UK Government doing to support those citizens and the Opposition parties in Israel, who are being so let down?
I thank my hon. Friend for her sustained engagement in these issues. As the Foreign Secretary has said, we talk regularly to hostage families in Israel and to participants in Israeli politics right across the spectrum, and we will continue to do so. We make our disagreements with the Israeli Government clear, both in private and in public, and we will continue to do that, too.
T5. On 23 July, my constituent Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, a naturalised British citizen who is undergoing cancer treatment, was denied boarding her flight home to the UK from the US, a journey she has made numerous times without trouble. She was told to contact the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for an emergency travel document, but it took three weeks —including interventions by me—to get her home for treatment. How can it have taken three weeks in an emergency to do so? Will the Department apologise to Dr Fitzharris and investigate the matter fully?