Contributions
1,015 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD COP29 and International Climate FinanceIt is a real pleasure to serve in this Chamber with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I am grateful to the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Ellie Chowns) for securing this debate…30 Oct 2024HANSARD COP29 and International Climate FinanceAs ever, I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend on every point. With your permission, Sir Roger, I will come back to the subject of private finance in a moment, as well as to the…30 Oct 2024HANSARD COP29 and International Climate FinanceI am glad to hear that. It appears that we are making strong headway in protecting and restoring the wonders of the natural world, both land and sea, including at that COP…30 Oct 2024HANSARD COP29 and International Climate FinanceOf course, that collective quantified goal needs to be agreed. From the UK’s point of view, we are determined to exercise leadership. I am delighted that the Secretary of State…30 Oct 2024HANSARD COP29 and International Climate FinanceAs the hon. Member rightly mentioned previously, the UK has traditionally been a funder in this area, focusing particularly on the quality of climate finance and ensuring that…30 Oct 2024HANSARD COP29 and International Climate FinanceI am grateful to the hon. Lady for making that point. She may have heard the Chancellor state today that this new Government will ensure that what was described as a windfall tax…30 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanI have discussed these issues directly with Commissioner-General Lazzarini and other members of the UNRWA leadership, as my hon. Friend would expect. I agree that we all need to…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanI am grateful to my hon. Friend for taking a long-term perspective on these critical questions. Given the humanitarian catastrophe, we agree that this decision, if implemented,…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanI appreciate the considered question that my hon. Friend has just asked. The Colonna report itself, and the work that has been undertaken since, has focused on how we can ensure…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanI am grateful to the hon. Member for his questions and, as ever, for his sincerity in discussing these issues. The UK Government will continue to work with charitable foundations…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanAs has been discussed this afternoon, the UK and our partners have made it clear that the Israeli Government cannot continue to restrict aid—nor, indeed, should that be done by…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanWe will continue working with our international partners and through the UN to press Israel to ensure that UNRWA can continue its vital operations; we know how important its role…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanWe have been very clear about UNRWA’s role. As I have mentioned, UNRWA has a critical role, which is provided for via the UN, in relation to not just Gaza but many refugees in the…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanThe UK Government have actually stated time and again that we expect robust processes to continue to be followed by UNRWA. Not only did we state that, as the Opposition did…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanThe new UK Government have been absolutely clear that the kind of comments that we have seen from some Israeli Government Ministers are totally unacceptable. The views that have…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanI refer my hon. Friend to the comment that I made earlier: this was a decision of a Parliament—the Knesset—rather than of the Israeli Government. The UK Government have been very…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanThe UK Government have been very clear that we are extremely concerned about the situation in northern Gaza that my hon. Friend referred to. It is unacceptable that this month…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanThe UK Government have been crystal clear that we expect robust processes to continue to be followed. UNRWA must meet the highest standards of neutrality, as is laid out in…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanThe UK Government’s position is very clear. We have advocated—in the Foreign Secretary’s case, since the first hours that he was in office—for the ceasefire that is so desperately…29 Oct 2024HANSARD Israel: UNRWA BanI most definitely share the deep concern at, and the rejection of, the truly appalling comments to which my hon. Friend has just referred. We are very clear that they were…29 Oct 2024