Extracts from
PMQs
: I am so glad that the Prime
Minister agrees that this is a changed Labour party. While he was
wasting his time on this gimmick, the asylum backlog has swollen
to 175,000 people. Taxpayers are paying £8 million a day on hotel
bills, and 615 people arrived by small boat last Sunday alone.
Plan A has failed. After this session, whether he likes it or
not, he will have to go back to his office, back to the drawing
board and start from scratch. Can he assure the British public
that he will drop what his former Home Secretary calls his
“magical thinking” and start treating small boat crossings with
the seriousness they deserve?
The Prime Minister: The right hon. and learned Gentleman talks
about a changed Labour party—perhaps we will see that this
evening. He cannot even make his party do the right thing when it
comes to standing by Israel in
the vote later today. He talks about taking small boat crossings
seriously. He has opposed every single measure that we have
taken. Let me update him on what we have done this year. The
number of illegal Albanian arrivals is down by 90%. Some 20,000
people have been returned this year. The number of crossings is
down by a third. He mentioned hotels. We are closing 50 of them,
with money being saved for taxpayers. All those measures, by the
way, were opposed by the Opposition. What is his plan? Ah, yes,
there we have it: a cosy deal with the European Union that would
see the UK accept 100,000 illegal migrants. He does not want to
stop the boats; he wants to welcome more of them.
(Aberdeen South) (SNP): In
2010, the then Prime Minister and now Foreign Secretary, , said:
“People in Gaza are living under constant attacks and pressure in
an open-air prison.”
Does the current Prime Minister not agree that if there is not an
immediate ceasefire, we all in this Chamber will be watching on
as that open-air prison is turned into a graveyard?
The Prime Minister: No one can deny the suffering that the people
in Gaza are undergoing at the moment. I spoke about this on
Monday, and I spoke about it consistently with Mahmoud Abbas, the
President of the Palestinian Authority. We are doing everything
we can to get aid into the region and we have repeatedly and
consistently called for humanitarian pauses, to get aid in and
get hostages and foreign nationals out as quickly as possible. We
will continue, as will the Foreign Secretary, to make sure that
happens.
: How much worse does it need
to get? In Gaza, 4,609 children are already dead. Babies in the
neonatal intensive care unit are dying because they do not have
access to oxygen. For Members across the House, this is a
question of values and of conscience. Does the Prime Minister not
agree that should there be a vote on an immediate ceasefire,
Members across the House should be afforded a free vote?
The Prime Minister: Our position as a Government is clear: it is
right that Israel is able to
defend itself. That is a principle that we support. It has
suffered an appalling terrorist attack—Hamas is a terrorist
organisation—and it is not just Israel’s right but its duty to
protect its citizens. At the same time, at the United Nations and
bilaterally with all our partners we have consistently called for
humanitarian pauses to ensure that more aid can get in, and
hostages and foreign nationals can get out. That is the right
thing to do. We will continue to do everything we can to
alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. I am confident
that our efforts are already making a big difference on the
ground.
(Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
(Alba): Last week, Members from across the House heard testimony
from a young Israeli man who lost both his peace-campaigning
parents in the 7 October attack. This morning, we heard from
Palestinians who have lost generations of families in the south
of Gaza because of the military attacks there. This is a question
of humanity and morality. The Prime Minister has an opportunity
to lead the calls for peace, or to endorse death, violence and
destruction. Which will he choose?
The Prime Minister: I think that is an extremely naive and
simplistic way of looking at the problem. The hon. Member failed
to mention the fact that a proscribed terrorist organisation
perpetrated an awful attack on over 1,000 individuals. Israel has every right
to defend itself in those circumstances. People in that country
would expect nothing less than for it to provide security for its
citizens. Of course, alongside that, it must abide by
international law. We will do everything we can, as I have said,
to ensure that aid flows in and alleviates the suffering of the
people in Gaza.
(New Forest West) (Con): If
a two-state solution is to have a chance, Hamas must be defeated,
but there will also first have to be a more enlightened policy of
administration in the occupied west bank, mustn’t there?
The Prime Minister: I thank my right hon. Friend for his
question. The UK’s long-standing position on the middle east
peace process is very clear: we support a negotiated settlement,
leading to a safe and secure Israel alongside a
viable and sovereign Palestinian state in Gaza and the west bank.
I spoke about this on Monday. Both Israelis and Palestinians have
a right to live in peace and security. The longer-term governance
of Gaza and security needs to be looked at in the round. It is
something that I have discussed repeatedly with President Abbas.
We agree with the United States that Gaza should ultimately be
under the control of the Palestinian Authority. We will continue
to support President Abbas and his people to get to that outcome.
(Brent Central) (Lab): I thank
the Prime Minister for meeting my constituent Noam. It has been
40 days since his mum, Ada Sagi, was kidnapped by Hamas on 7
October. We all condemn Hamas’s actions and fight for the return
of all hostages. Noam wants the language of love to be louder
than the language of hate. Some 11,000 Palestinians have been
killed, more than 4,000 of them children. International law is
important. Does the Prime Minister agree that we can support
Israel but also call out
breaches of international law?
The Prime Minister: I have been consistent from the start that
while Israel has a right to
defend itself, it is important that it complies with
international law. It is a point I have made in every meeting or
phone conversation I have had with Prime Minister Netanyahu. It
was a privilege to meet the hon. Lady’s constituents and to hear
of the pain they are going through, which I have enormous
sympathy for. That is why we are doing everything we can to bring
hostages home. We are engaged intensively in diplomatic activity
in the region and working to get foreign nationals and British
nationals home, and I am pleased to say that well over 200 have
now left Gaza. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure
that everyone can safely leave who needs to.
King's Speech debate
(Commons) (day 6): Violence Reduction, Policing and Criminal
Justice
Debate
Labour Amendment
(Normanton, Pontefract and
Castleford) (Lab)
I beg to move amendment (r), at the end of the Question to
add:
“and submit to Your Majesty that this House wishes to see an end
to the violence in Israel and Palestine;
unequivocally condemn the horrific terrorist attack and murder of
civilians by Hamas, call for the immediate release of all
hostages and reaffirm Israel’s right to defend its citizens from
terrorism; believe all human life is equal and that there has
been too much suffering, including far too many deaths of
innocent civilians and children, over the past month in Gaza;
reaffirm the UK’s commitment to the rules-based international
order, international humanitarian law and the jurisdiction of the
ICC to address the conduct of all parties in Gaza and Hamas’s
attacks in Israel call
on Israel to protect
hospitals and lift the siege conditions allowing food, water,
electricity, medicine and fuel into Gaza; request the Government
continue to work with the international community to prevent a
wider escalation of the conflict in the region, guarantee that
people in Gaza who are forced to flee during this conflict can
return to their homes and seek an end to the expansion of illegal
settlements and settler violence in the West Bank; and, while
acknowledging the daily humanitarian pauses to allow in aid and
the movement of civilians, believe they must be longer to deliver
humanitarian assistance on a scale that begins to meet the
desperate needs of the people of Gaza, which is a necessary step
to an enduring cessation of fighting as soon as possible and a
credible, diplomatic and political process to deliver the lasting
peace of a two-state solution.”
Question put, That the amendment be made.
[Division 2
The House divided:
Ayes
183
Noes
290
Question accordingly negatived.
Held on 15 November 2023 at
6.59pm](/Commons/2023-11-15/division/8473E875-4690-490B-8529-94C543D5BD9D/CommonsChamber?outputType=Names)
Amendment proposed: (h), at the end of the Question to add:
“but respectfully regret that the Gracious Speech fails to
include measures that would require the Government to uphold
international law and protect all civilians in Israel and Palestine;
unequivocally condemn the horrific killings by Hamas and the
taking of hostages; reaffirm that there must be an end to the
collective punishment of the Palestinian people; call for the
urgent release of all hostages and an end to the siege of Gaza to
allow vital supplies of food, fuel, medicine and water to reach
the civilian population; note the growing calls for an immediate
humanitarian ceasefire from the United Nations and its aid
agencies; and therefore call on the Government to join with the
international community in urgently pressing all parties to agree
to an immediate ceasefire.”—(.)
Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 33), That the
amendment be made.
[Division 3
The House divided:
Ayes
125
Noes
293
Question accordingly negatived.
Held on 15 November 2023 at
7.14pm](/Commons/2023-11-15/division/04086A18-C892-414D-BB9F-49CEA19BF588/CommonsChamber?outputType=Names)
Lords debate on the
King's Speech (day 6): Foreign Affairs and Defence
Lords debate
