Contributions
4,303 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDMiddle EastLet me assure my hon. Friend and the House that that is not the position. The use is for defensive action only. I am particularly concerned to make sure that we take every measure…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastI do not think it is counterproductive. Just to be clear, however, I will say that the most important thing for food security is ensuring de-escalation and getting the strait of…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastWe have taken action in relation to particularly energy-intensive businesses. I recognise that those that fall outside that protection are extremely concerned. The most important…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastI thank my hon. Friend for her question. That is why it is so important that we stay anchored in our principles and our values, foremost of which is that any action we take or…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastA close relationship with the EU and Europe was in our manifesto in 2024, which was a very successful manifesto, and we have been working to that end ever since, which is why we…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastI thank my hon. Friend and reiterate that we will not be dragged into the war. We are taking steps across a number of levels. What we can do together to de-escalate was central to…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastLet me be really clear about this: there must be a lawful basis for anything we do, and that includes what happens from our bases. That is why we have been very clear about the…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastThere is more we can do on defence and security, such as collaborating and co-operating about the particular capability, in addition to the amount of money that we are spending.…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastI thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this matter. I assure him that I have spoken to the President a number of times about the bases and about security in particular—which is,…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastWe work with the Americans on a daily basis on defence, security and intelligence—it is important that I reiterate that position to the House—and, of course, we are working with…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastThe bases are strictly for defensive purposes, and we monitor that in order to make sure that that is and remains the case.13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastThis matter came up in all the conversations that I had, and I assure my hon. Friend that there was absolute clarity among all the leaders with whom I spoke that there must not be…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastCan I remind the hon. Member that every day we work with the US on defence, security and intelligence sharing—13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastThe immediate focus must be on ensuring that the ceasefire extends to Lebanon. That is crucial. Obviously, there is some diplomacy going on at the moment, but we need to keep that…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastI am conscious of the impact that this situation is having on fuel, and therefore on people in my hon. Friend’s constituency and across the country. We are working on a number of…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastFood security is really important. It actually comes under energy security in a sense, because it is the energy costs that are pushing, or could have the effect of pushing, in…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastI can give my hon. Friend that assurance—that is what we have been doing particularly intensively in the past two or three weeks. We will continue to do so later this week when…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastAs I mentioned earlier, I spoke to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Friday ahead of the talks. We have been in touch again since the talks broke down about the very issue that…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastLet me underscore the point my hon. Friend makes about the wealth of that capability in Cornwall. We need to go further and faster on renewables, to make sure that we get energy…13 Apr 2026HANSARDMiddle EastThe hon. Member is right: the attacks are wrong, and it is important that we are clear on that. Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire, and we are clear on that. We need to…13 Apr 2026