(Manchester Central)
(Lab/Co-op):...The agreement of a cessation in hostilities in
Gaza and Israel to release
hostages and tackle the urgent and unacceptable humanitarian
catastrophe, is welcome. Let us also hope that it could lead to a
longer-lasting resolution. Will the Government keep the House
updated as the situation develops? There really should have been
a statement this week, and we really should be hearing from the
Foreign Secretary, as we discussed last week. Members give
careful consideration to these matters, and want to raise their
constituents’ concerns...
The Leader of the House of Commons (): I thank the hon. Member
for Manchester Central () for, and join with, the
sentiments she expressed about Israel and Gaza. We all
hope that some of the hostages are able to be released in the
coming days, and our thoughts are with everyone affected by that.
It is incredibly important that this House is kept up to date.
She will know that the Procedure Committee is looking at that and
will shortly make some announcements on how it thinks the Foreign
Secretary can best come to answer questions from hon. Members.
(Bradford East) (Lab): Over
the last seven weeks, we have seen over 15,000 innocent men,
women and children killed; hospitals, churches, mosques, refugee
camps and homes attacked; numerous instances of war crimes; and
food, water, power and medicine cut off in an act of collective
punishment that is in violation of international law. Yet, even
as over 2 million people remain trapped in the never-ending
humanitarian nightmare in Gaza, we still have not had a
substantial debate in this Chamber on the conflict. This is one
of the most important issues to my constituents and to
constituents of many hon. Members, so will the Leader of House
finally allocate Government time for a substantial debate on this
critical issue?
: I thank the hon. Gentleman
for raising this. I know that the situation in Gaza, particularly
what we hope might happen over the coming days, is very much at
the forefront of people’s minds. He will know—and I have given
many examples—the complexity of the situation there and what the
Israel Defence Forces
are trying to do in very difficult circumstances, but of course
we all want to see a pause in hostilities to enable humanitarian
assistance to get to where it needs to be and we hope for
hostages to be returned home. There have been a number of
opportunities to discuss this on the Floor of the House, not
least with the usual Prime Minister’s questions and other
questions to Departments. I shall make sure that the Foreign
Secretary has heard what the hon. Gentleman has said, and he will
know that the doors of consular services, but also of Departments
that are closely monitoring what is happening on the ground, are
always open to Members who have particular concerns.
Sir (Northampton North) (Con):
May we have a debate on antisemitism at the
Football Association? The FA board, which for years lit up
Wembley for numerous causes and campaigns, has now said that it
will not light up Wembley ever again for any non-entertainment
reason. This is because it has been shamed by its
antisemitic decision not to light up the stadium
when 1,400 Jews were murdered in the pogrom of 7 October. Should
the national lottery even fund organisations that seem to regret
every death and injustice apart from the death of Jews?
: My right hon. and learned
Friend the Culture Secretary discussed the lighting of the arch
with the Football Association at the time and expressed her
disappointment about how it approached that situation. As was
announced in the autumn statement, we are making further funds
available to combat the rise in antisemitism. We are also
repeating the £3 million uplift to the Community Security Trust
to fund its critical work, to ensure that that work is able to
continue and to meet the unfortunate demand. However, my right
hon. and learned Friend makes a very good point. Whatever
businesses or organisations we are involved in, we can all make a
difference by calling things out, while also, critically, showing
support to particular communities. I think his point was well
made.
