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12,868 spoken contributions under 12 words (interjections such as “Will the hon. Member give way?”) are hidden. Show them
As I alluded to earlier, the impact on the cost of living in this country from the events in the strait of Hormuz is obvious and pronounced, but it is even more acute across the region—for example, in Yemen, where people already face severe and acute malnutrition. The economic pressure caused by these continued closures will plunge some of the most vulnerable people in the world even deeper into hunger and poverty, and we are raising that point in all our engagements.
It is important that we maintain relations with the regime in Tehran. It is important, for many of the reasons that have been alluded to this morning, that we continue to make our point of view understood forcefully and directly to Iranian representatives. The hon. Gentleman asks about concrete steps. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard), alluded to one that was voted through just last night—one that was not put in place over the period of the previous Government. We are taking the steps required to ensure that Britain has the armoury necessary to take action against state threats, including those that emanate from Iran, as we heard from the judge in the case on Friday.
The reason I am not often keen to be drawn in this Chamber on specific cases is that I have to make a judgment, as the whole Government do, about what we can do in the best interests of British nationals detained overseas. The hon. Lady references arbitrary detention—a concept that does not exist in UK law. She also mentions the ICJ—I think she is referring to a previous case, which was withdrawn—and the view held by some that that would be a helpful thing to do in other cases. Unfortunately, the responsibilities that fall to me mean that I need to be careful publicly what I say about particular cases, particularly when they are about two named individuals who are under the jurisdiction of the Iranians. All the responsibilities for the welfare of Craig and Lindsay Foreman fall, for now, on the authorities in Tehran. Until they are released, which they should be immediately, Iran must take full care of our nationals under its control.
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for the opportunity to comment on the role that the United Nations has played in recent weeks, particularly the role of the IMO. We support the IMO’s efforts, because there are many seafarers whose welfare depends on being able to get out of the strait of Hormuz safely. We have been in regular contact with the IMO, and we support its efforts; it is absolutely vital that it can make them. For diplomatic reasons, I will decline to comment on age versus youth as a superior skill in diplomacy.
That is a very important question. I was involved in foreign affairs before I came to this House, and I recognise that, perhaps more so than in practically any period in recent history, foreign affairs determines the cost of living for every one of our constituents, and sets the circumstances in which every business in every constituency is now operating. The Foreign Office is seeking to play its full role across Government in helping British businesses and Britons to navigate what are difficult times.
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s focus on Yemen. I reassure the House that I do remain focused on Yemen, as do other Ministers—it is vital that we see the release of the detained humanitarian workers, access to humanitarian supplies for the Yemenis, and peace and security for a country that is much benighted. I can also reassure the right hon. Gentleman that we do have contingency plans in place, and I encourage Members of this House to encourage their constituents to look at travel advice. We have relaxed the travel advice in recent weeks, particularly in the Gulf region. We do our best to make sure our advice is as up to date as possible, and people should look at it before they travel. We try not to be over-cautious; we will do all the contingency planning we can, but British nationals also have a responsibility to take sensible precautions.
As I hope was clear in my response to the shadow Foreign Secretary, there are international principles in play here that go beyond simply Iran, the United States, or even the region—principles of the freedom of navigation and the global commons. That is why I sought to focus so much on those issues in my response. The hon. Lady asks what we are doing to ensure that the talks succeed. We are in close contact with all involved, which includes making points directly and forcefully to Tehran and, of course, talking to our friends in Washington. We want diplomacy to succeed, but we also must see those international principles—those linchpins of international law—sustained and maintained, both in the strait of Hormuz and globally.
I am sure a Minister from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will give the hon. Gentleman such an assurance—I do not think there is any concern in that area—but let me be direct. We get a lot of energy via the strait of Hormuz. The strait of Hormuz is clearly not open, so if the hon. Gentleman is asking me, “What do the supply chains for British energy look like?”, the answer is that they look like global energy supply chains: under very considerable pressure, and under more pressure because of what Iran has done this week.
The arrangements that govern UK-US military co-operation and the use of our bases have been set out in some detail by Defence Ministers. They remain in place and they include provisions that the Secretary of State for Defence has discussed on the Floor of the House a number of times before. I agree with the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) that we want to get back to a ceasefire. Pakistan has played a vital role, as have Qatar and other mediators. I have been in regular contact with mediators from a range of countries, and I was glad to discuss these issues during my recent visit to Islamabad.
I reassure the House that the Foreign Office keeps contingency plans for the region under close review. We were incredibly grateful for the co-operation of our partners and, indeed, the support of British nationals themselves in the very speedy departure from the Gulf during the outbreak of this conflict. It is clear that should there be any difficulty—although there is no suggestion that there is—in the region for travelling British nationals, we will need the co-operation of British nationals and those in the region. It is very unlikely, and it is quite a distant prospect, that a further evacuation will be required.
The hon. Gentleman is right to point to the threats that the IRGC has posed in the region and internationally. As I said in an earlier answer, domestic measures are being introduced in relation to state threats, and I imagine that we will have more to say about the employment of that new tool shortly. On the international position, we have made a series of interventions, both internationally and in the region, to try to reduce Iran’s malign role in the region. We have spent most of this urgent question discussing what is happening in the strait of Hormuz, but there are clearly Iranian militias right across the region continuing to threaten civilians, stability and the security of the region.
Order. The hon. Member should not take my views for granted in this sort of debate—he can speak for himself, I am sure.
We now move to the Front-Bench spokespeople. They are entitled to speak for at least 10 minutes each, but given that we are not particularly time-constrained, I will leave it with them to make a judgment on that.
I call Jim Shannon, who has a couple of minutes to wind up.
I apologise for the fact that—as I have explained to you, Madam Deputy Speaker—I will have to leave straight after my question to chair Westminster Hall. I thank my right hon. Friend for doing this very challenging piece of work. I think that the theme of fairness, for the people who need benefits and for taxpayers, is right. I have spoken to him briefly about the complaints from the Link Community Hub in Stradbroke in my constituency about the fact that people there with mental health conditions who are claiming PIP have drug abuse and alcohol abuse conditions, and are using PIP to fund those conditions. I have also complained about the young lads in their 20s driving around in Motability cars in Darnall; someone in the community has been paid to fill in the forms for them. On the other hand, so many constituents with really serious conditions get turned down for PIP, and can get it only if they struggle through the appeal system, sometimes without any help at all. So the system is not fair to anyone at present. I commend him for his suggestions, but is he going to have a real look at the different reasons people give for applying for PIP, and at how to respond to them properly?
I rise to speak in support of a UK ban on trade in goods and services from illegal Israeli settlements. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) for securing the debate and for all her work on the issue. Last month I organised a letter to the Foreign Secretary, which was co-signed by more than 140 Labour colleagues, to call for such a ban. The strength of feeling among Labour Members, and across the House, is clear. I hope that the Minister has heard that. The existence and expansion of Israeli settlements is an impediment to peace and to a two-state solution. Some Israeli Government Ministers are now helpfully clear that that is their purpose. In response, British Jewish organisation Yachad has a letter from British Jews in support of a settlement trade ban, with almost 1,000 signatures so far. As they know, Israeli settlements are not normal places, and we should not deal with them as if they were. Instead, we must follow through both on our historic recognition of the state of Palestine and on the ICJ advisory opinion. A trade ban would be one way of properly delineating between the state of Israel and the state of Palestine. Settlements are an affront not only to international law, but to human decency. In 2013, I had the life-changing experience of serving as a human rights observer in Hebron, in the west bank. In this Palestinian city, day after day, I witnessed the routine violence against and humiliation of Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers and soldiers alike. I do not have time to share with hon. Members all the events that I witnessed, day after day, but they included a man being harassed and held at a checkpoint for hours because he took some biscuits to a kindergarten; a family with a young child and a disabled son being attacked by settlers, who called on others to “come and attack the Arabs”; and Palestinians being barred from entering their home by neighbouring Israeli settlers while Israeli soldiers stood and watched, as we asked them to help, before attacking us—internationals who were observing the situation—and arresting one of the internationals, with settlers cheering as they took him away in a van. We also witnessed daily, on the school run, Palestinian children being tear-gassed and having stun grenades thrown at them by Israeli soldiers. The Palestinian children were terrified. And so it went on. Which other population would we expect to put up with that day after day? Every time I have returned since, the situation has worsened. Year after year, Governments issue statements about the situation. It is time we got on with a ban on settlement trade. It is no use the Government’s dragging their feet. We have had that on too many issues. Can we please just get on with it?
The shadow Minister has been talking about the views of our allies in the region. I wonder when he last met or spoke to our allies across the Arab world, because they have been crying out for many of the actions that our Government have taken. They have been calling on us to act in support of a two-state solution, and to avoid dithering and doing nothing, which is what he is suggesting his party supports.
From sea to plate, fisheries need the same long-term certainty as farmers in order to strengthen our food security, encourage healthy, high-protein diets and help to build jobs and skills pipelines that coastal communities need. Will the Minister consider committing to adopting the all-party parliamentary group on fisheries’ national action plan?
Last week I asked a question about a new café opening in my constituency, and it has caused a bit of a kerfuffle. I cannot mention every single fantastic café in my constituency, but I am going to list a few. I have got to name Rick’s café, and I apologise profusely for not mentioning it last week—it was obviously an oversight. We also have Suzie’s Cup of Joy, Elle’s and Darracotte’s—the list goes on. The Leader of the House is very welcome to visit me in my constituency to enjoy any or all of these fine establishments. On a serious note, when will be the next opportunity to come together to discuss the very important issue of hospitality venues and the support that the Government are giving them?
I thank my hon. Friend, while he is still in post. Very briefly, he will be aware of the mockery that is the situation with dual-use goods between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Surely we can have some sort of ban on the products we are supplying that are essentially enabling civilisational erasure in Palestine?
My hon. Friend and other colleagues are making some very powerful points today. Is she going to come on to the important issue of medical training and education for doctors and other medical professionals, and the possible benefits of greater public awareness? The Department of Health and Social Care has historically done very important work leading on public awareness campaigns on illnesses and other issues in the health world. I hope that my hon. Friend will be able to highlight that as well.
Since publishing the waste crime action plan in March, we have started clearing illegal waste at Kidlington, and we are investigating clearing up sites in Wigan, Sheffield and Hyndburn. We have arrested 18 waste criminals, launched the digital waste tracking scheme, so that we can see where the waste goes in near real time, and this week we approved legislation for tougher powers to tackle rogue criminals. We have 300,000 people registered to transport waste in this country, but not all of them are legit.
My hon. Friend is right that, under the previous Government, there was a large amount of illegally dumped waste—about 30,000 tonnes between 2018 and 2022. Enforcement action is being taken by Medway council through a planning enforcement notice, using planning powers to remove the existing illegal businesses, and the EA will be serving an enforcement notice on the landowner to remove the waste. The difference between this Government and the last is that we are taking action. If people spot waste crime taking place, they should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The hon. Member is absolutely right that fly-tippers are despoiling our countryside, and I pay tribute to his local group for taking such great action to keep the beaches and countryside clean. We have introduced a penalty of up to nine points on fly-tippers’ driving licences. Often these people are just doing a job for mates at the weekend, and if they could lose their driving licence, it will certainly make them think twice about doing such jobs. However, fly-tippers are often part of a much wider serious and organised crime group. We should not think of them as little criminals, because they can often be part of quite a big criminal gang.
I was pleased to meet the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) to talk about the activities at these waste sites. Unpicking the work happening there is a long and complex legal process involving multi-agency and cross-agency working. We now have a properly funded waste crime enforcement unit. The funding for that unit was a mere £10 million in 2023-24, but it has had an extra £5 million this year to take it up to £15 million, and then we are doubling it to £30 million. That is the way we take these people down.
Our waste collection systems are completely different from those in Germany and France, where they have a wide network of bring banks for glass. We have the privilege of having glass collected in our household waste collection schemes. I am conscious of the dual burden that is falling on pubs, and I have tasked my officials with working at pace on the issue to find a solution for the pubs that we are all enjoying in this hot weather, with the great football. I wish England the best for their match at the weekend.
As we push the waste criminals out of the sector, there will be more business for legitimate operators. That also means that the carrier registration number has to be carried on the Facebook ads, leaflets and vans of waste transporters, so that householders have confidence that the people we are giving our waste to will dispose of it correctly. We are not going to have a system where dead dogs and cows can be registered. We are going to introduce criminal record and identity checks and ensure that everyone knows what they are doing when they are transporting hazardous waste.
My hon. Friend is right about our tree cover, which is why I am delighted to tell him that tree planting is at its highest rate for 20 years. As we endure our second heatwave this summer, we know that we need to do more. That is why we are doubling the funding for tree planting through our trees outside woodland fund, which is £2.5 million this year, up from £1 million last year.
We have been around the houses on this. The document that has been released talks about coral collapse by 2030 and mangrove collapse by 2050. I would say that there is enough to worry about in the document that has been released without worrying about what versions 1, 2 and 3 said.
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and I welcome the review’s direction of travel. As we know, the PIP system is not fit for purpose. Indeed, it has created much mistrust, stress and worry. More importantly, it has created a hostile environment for disabled people. At a recent meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on disability, which the Minister attended along with representatives of the steering group, we heard from disabled people about their experiences, and from organisations including Mencap and the Royal National Institute of Blind People that the assessment and PIP do not truly reflect or recognise the lived experience of many disabled people. As we move forward into the second phase of the review, can my right hon. Friend assure me that he will continue to have co-production at the heart of this process? The Minister should be commended for the work he is doing in co-producing the review. It is the first time the Department has taken that step, so we really cannot take lessons from the Conservative party. Can he reassure me that co-production will remain at the heart of this work?
I had the pleasure of watching England versus DR Congo with some of the good folks at the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting. Thankfully, the England men’s team have not taken the title of the campaign too literally, and are still on the hunt to bring at least one trophy home this summer. There should be only one trophy, though, because this party has pledged to end the import of trophies acquired through hunting. Will the Leader of the House arrange for a statement from the relevant Minister to update us on progress in this area, so that we can finally end this barbaric practice?
Some excellent points have been made about corridor care; I know that all of us want to see that improved. It is a serious issue for all of our residents, and the Minister and others will be working hard to do all they can to address it. May I gently point out the irony of colleagues on the official Opposition side raising all these issues now as if they have had a Damascene conversion, when they had 14 years to try and address them? I remember raising these issues in the House when my party was in Opposition. We are not undermining in any way the concerns about corridor care, because we all care deeply about it. [Interruption.]
I want to touch on the point made by the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East in his intervention. We absolutely agree that the public are concerned with what we do for the future. We are talking about a specific Bill here. There is a huge concentration of effort in getting those figures down. We absolutely agree that people want to look to the future and whether this is the way to do it.
Does my hon. Friend agree that, as well as the physical aspects of health and extending life expectancy, we need to look at preventive measures for mental health? That will ensure that people live as good and full a life as they can, and receive the treatment they need. Does my hon. Friend see that as integral to any public health strategy?
I would point to examples such as in the north-east of England, where the work on smoking has been incredibly effective and still continues, and makes that real shift and change. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is those practical examples that we need to see, and to support along the way?
I want to emphasise a point that has already been made, which is the positive impact of the agreement for people with rare and undiagnosed conditions. As the Minister will know, I have worked with a number of those organisations, and this is certainly an opportunity for innovative treatments to be funded, as they might not have been before. I thank the Minister for that.
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I listened with great interest to the hon. Member for Winchester talking about the new clauses; they have a great deal of similarity to new clause 89, in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon). We all know that it is absolutely vital to look after our carers. They do a huge amount of work to support us and make sure that people are kept at home and cared for. New clause 89 covers a number of issues, and would create a duty on health bodies to provide information and advice to unpaid carers and task the Secretary of State with providing that service. It would ask first for information about medicine and medicine records, which we talked about a few days ago. Beyond that, it asks for information about services and support available from the NHS to help in their role as carers, and about support for their own needs and health, which are hugely important. It also asks for information about the support available to them and how to get more advice in their role. I will not go over all the arguments again, but we heard about Carers UK’s “State of Caring” survey in 2025. Some 29% of carers say that they need more information and advice about caring, such as support with clinical tasks or managing someone’s condition. Many of them provide support with medication and administering it. Many also monitor blood pressure or sugar level, dress wounds and use equipment. In all these new clauses about carers, the discussion is about how we can best support carers in that role. They have a vital role, and I know that the Government recognise the important contribution they make to healthcare, so it is important that we consider the issue here.
As the Minister says, many people in this room have had experience of being a carer for a family member. She said that there is already a legal framework, but carers are clearly saying that they need a bit more. How will the Government ensure that we provide not just words and legal documents, but help on the ground?
I recently held consultation meetings on the proposed SEND reforms in Blaydon and Consett. The message from parents was clear in both places: they wanted greater integration of health into EHCPs. I welcome the Government’s commitment to asking ICBs to work more closely with local authorities to develop SEND reform plans and tackle this issue. Does the Minister agree that it is important for ICBs to take that on board?
6. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for crimes involving violence against women and girls.