Mr Hamish Falconer
MP for Lincoln · Labour · United Kingdom
“I want to be really clear with the House, as the Prime Minister has been repeatedly: despite the anxious desire of Opposition Members, we are not rerunning the arguments of 2016 once again.”
“Let me start by paying tribute to my hon. Friend for his work on this issue. This Government are absolutely clear that nothing like the Hillsborough disaster must ever happen again.”
“My hon. Friend is right to highlight the shared challenges that we face with the European Union, including the very rapid developments in artificial intelligence. I am proud to sit next to my right hon.”
“This Government are committed to deepening our ties with the European Union. It is right at the centre of everything that we are trying to do on the cost of living and energy, as well as the security of our continent.”
“I can hear that there is outrage behind me. I have many responsibilities, but writing the next Labour party manifesto is not one of them. We are committed to the red lines. We were all elected on that manifesto. We want to go further and faster—we have inherited a poor deal with the European Union, and it is my job to improve it.”
“Obviously, we will need to agree timing with our friends in Europe and announce it in the usual way, but I want to be clear to the House that I am ambitious to move quickly and I would like to see progress within the coming months. There was much else upon which I could touch.”
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“To give one small note of optimism, we welcome the talks that the United States has been convening between Israel and Lebanon, including the talks today, and we want to see them progress.”
“We have talked about the F-35 programme at length before. I am usually happy to go back into that debate, but as my hon. Friend has given me the opportunity, I would prefer to comment further on the impact of displacement in Lebanon, which is different in some respects from the impact of displacement in Gaza. As many right hon. and hon. Members know, there is a complicated, multiconfessional balance within Lebanon, and displacing a quarter of the population, often over long distances, has a significant impact on the stability of the country. Exactly as my hon. Friend says, forced displacement is a war crime, but to displace so many people will also have a deleterious impact on the stability of Lebanon in the long term, so it is all the more important that the practice is reversed and that we return to a genuine and sustainable ceasefire.”
“Of course the Israeli Government will react with understandable total fury if their nationals are targeted from another state, but as the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) said, Israel has attempted before to occupy southern Lebanon for long periods of time, and it did not lead to safety among northern communities in Israel. We must all support the Lebanese Government to do what is necessary to disarm Hezbollah, but we must ensure that civilians in southern Lebanon are protected in doing so.”
“Perhaps the right hon. Member has been to southern Lebanon, as I have recently. I can assure him that it is not an arms dump; it is a place where people are living, where children are living, and where people are displaced. I saw for myself villages that had literally been flattened to the ground. There is no military operation that ends up flattening entire villages to less than the height of this Dispatch Box that does not prompt the question, “What on earth were you trying to do with that operation?” It is absolutely clear that Lebanese Hezbollah must be disarmed. It continues to strike northern Israeli communities, which is absolutely and completely unacceptable. The responsibility to prevent that must be with the Lebanese Government and armed forces, and we must see a genuine and sustainable ceasefire.”
“We have already covered sanctions in these exchanges. I slightly correct my hon. Friend: what will protect Lebanon is not Iran or its talks with the United States of America; it is the Lebanese Government and armed forces, the process that is happening in Washington today between the Governments of Lebanon and Israel, and the efforts of the United States, which I have welcomed, in seeking to ensure that there is no further violence. The President of the United States said earlier this week that the guns must fall silent, and I agree with him.”
“We are not—I have set out to the House on a number of occasions that the steps that we took were to ensure that no bombs and no bullets were being sold to Israel, or were being licensed to be sold to Israel by UK companies. That is because of concerns that we had about Israel’s conduct in Gaza. That applies to Gaza, it applies to the west bank and it applies to Lebanon. The right hon. Gentleman asked specifically about the F-35 programme, so let me reiterate this to the House: the UK does not permit licences for direct sales of F-35 parts to Israel, but we are part of the global F-35 supply chain. We do contribute to the global spares pool—from which Israel may indeed be able to buy parts produced in the UK—but as part of a global arrangement that is vital to our security and to that of our friends and allies, such as Ukraine.”
“I have seen those reports about the language used by the President of the United States in his call with the Prime Minister of Israel—I think the President confirmed that this morning. The language is unparliamentary, so I will not repeat it, but I very much sympathise with the frustration that the President feels with the Prime Minister of Israel and the conduct of the Israeli Government in Lebanon. I reiterate my support for the President’s call that the guns must fall silent, and we must have a genuine and sustainable ceasefire.”
“I regret to disagree with the courteous and hon. Gentleman on this question. I do not think that what Israel is doing is proportionate, for all the reasons that we have set out in this urgent question. He is absolutely right that it is the responsibility of the Government to protect their people. That applies to Lebanon as much as it does to Israel, and that is why the talks in Washington today are so important.”
“We keep all those questions under review, and we recognise the magnitude of events in the middle east. I will decline to enter into the hypothetical question, but obviously events in the middle east—whether in Iran or Lebanon—are of real concern to constituents right across the country, including in my constituency of Lincoln and in my hon. Friend’s constituency of Rushcliffe.”
“I sing the praises of many people in this Chamber, but Piers Morgan, I am afraid, is not one of them. We have to make difficult decisions in a serious way, and that is what we try to do day in, day out.”
“Words do matter. It has been a long-standing principle of this Government, and indeed previous Governments, that it is not for Ministers to say what crimes are—that is for courts to find. That is why we have not used the particular formulation that the hon. Gentleman would like to hear. I do not think anybody in the Chamber could have any doubt about the extent of criticism that other Ministers and I have delivered in relation to Israeli conduct, whether in Lebanon or Gaza. That has been criticism not just in words, but through concrete actions, including sanctions against Israeli Ministers, as I set out earlier in my question. We have a very delicate situation in the middle east, which we are seeking to navigate in the best interests of the region and of the United Kingdom.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for his commitment to the region and developments in the middle east. We are proud that we are now one of the largest humanitarian donors in Lebanon. Access to that aid has not been impeded within Lebanon. However, as some of my hon. Friends have already set out, there have been terrible incidents involving the death of aid workers—very committed young Lebanese who are doing their absolute best to help people in their own country—and that must stop.”
“I think we have to be a bit careful when we describe the Government of Israel. I do not think they have a thirst for the blood of innocent civilians. We have to be a bit more careful with our language in this Chamber, because that sounds to me like it echoes antisemitic tropes—so I want to take a little bit of issue with the question that I was asked. I have taken clear steps in relation to Lebanon, and indeed in relation to events in Palestine, and we will continue to do so, but I do think we have to be careful with our language in here.”
“I know that my hon. Friend has long been committed to these issues, and that he has constituents in the region who have strong views as well, and I am glad for his continued engagement. I will not provide further comments on sanctions from the Dispatch Box for reasons that people will understand, but we will keep all measures under review as the situation evolves.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words about the leadership we have shown on these issues. He is absolutely right. Let me just reiterate to the House our total opposition to the death penalty everywhere. What has happened in Iran, particularly since the protests in January, has been an absolutely awful cracking down on their own people. The Government have imposed very significant restrictions on communications, so some of the detail of that crackdown is not as accessible to us now as it once was. I have grave fears about how Iranians are being treated within Iran. We will continue to monitor this closely and raise it with the Iranian authorities with the force that my hon. Friend would expect.”
“It does. Of course, flags are much less important than the horrific loss of life that we have discussed over the course of this afternoon. However, it is hard to draw the conclusion that the Israeli Government are taking steps simply to deal with a terrorist organisation when they take one of the most historic sites in Lebanon, with a long history of occupation by the Israelis, and raise the Israeli flag in exactly the way my hon. Friend has described. I join him in his condemnation.”
“Together with our partners, the mission will complement ongoing diplomatic engagement and de-escalation efforts, which remain the primary focus, while demonstrating a tangible commitment to the security of international trade. The Government will do all we can to support regional stability in the middle east and an enduring end to the current crisis, including through further concerted international effort in the coming days and weeks. I commend this statement to the House.”
“On 12 May, we brought together 38 nations to announce their political support to an independent and strictly defensive mission, and we are now working with military planners from those nations to turn that commitment into reality. In consultation with relevant states and the maritime industry, the mission will support civilian shipping and provide reassurance to commercial shipping operators. We have been clear that operations will only commence in a permissive environment, and in full accordance with international law and national constitutions. The UK is leading the way on this mission and the Defence Secretary has already announced the UK’s contribution.”
“We are engaging closely with Oman, given its longstanding role supporting shipping through the strait. We are also supporting the vital work of the International Maritime Organisation, and its plan to ensure the safety of seafarers and vessels. We want to see the ceasefire hold, talks continue and a negotiated solution reached for a durable end to this conflict, one that protects the future of the strait and the principles of the law of the sea. We are working urgently to secure the unconditional, unrestricted and immediate reopening of the strait of Hormuz; not a partial reopening, but a full reopening without restrictions or tolls. On the military side, the multinational mission announced by the Prime Minister and President Macron is gathering momentum.”
“It is crucial that international law is respected and the strait reopened without the imposition of tolls or permissions by Iran, so that transit can return to pre-war levels. To do that, we need a lasting and workable settlement to the conflict. The Foreign Secretary and I, along with the rest of the ministerial team, have been working tirelessly to help that happen. We are in close contact with partners from across the globe to support negotiations, including Gulf partners, key regional players such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt, as well as G7 allies. We have been engaging closely with the US. President Trump’s recent remarks that serious negotiations are taking place, are welcome. We share in the President’s absolute conviction that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon.”
“On 17 April, the Prime Minister, alongside President Macron, convened 51 countries for an international summit on reopening the strait. We came together as an international community to support freedom of navigation and to protect global economic stability and energy security. But since then, the strait has remained closed and Iran has introduced new structures to exert control that deny vessels the right of transit passage—a breach of international law. The disruption that has caused to global energy security, supply chains, and economic and financial stability must end. As the Foreign Secretary said this week, we face a global food crisis. We cannot risk tens of millions of people going hungry because Iran has hijacked a vital international shipping lane.”
“We have a unique opportunity, through direct dialogue between Israel and Lebanon, to bring lasting peace to both countries, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in line with UN Security Council resolution 1701. I condemn the strikes by Lebanese Hezbollah on communities in northern Israel, which must stop. I saw for myself in Lebanon the impact that UK aid is having in supporting those displaced and those experiencing the consequences of violence. I made a further announcement of £20.5 million during that visit, which makes us one of Lebanon’s largest humanitarian donors. Our Prime Minister has himself set out to President Aoun of Lebanon our support for his Government, and I remain in regular touch with my counterparts. I turn now to Iran and the strait of Hormuz.”
“The Netanyahu Government are imposing a stranglehold on the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian economy. Yesterday I made a virtual visit to a school in Hebron. My conversations with teachers and pupils there brought into sharp focus the daily challenges facing children, teachers and families across Palestine. Movement restrictions, violence and disruption are barriers to education that no child should have to face. We have introduced sanctions and taken measures in response to the Israeli Government’s actions. I have been clear that we are prepared to take further action and will not hesitate to do so. Turning to Lebanon, we welcome the cessation of hostilities agreed by the Governments of Lebanon and Israel. We call on all parties to comply with it fully.”
“In Brussels, at the ad hoc liaison committee ministerial meeting, which intended to get more aid into Gaza, I spoke with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mustafa and Dr Ali Shaath, the head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. I was clear on British support for both of them in their urgent work. We continue to work with partners to meet immediate humanitarian needs and advance long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians through a two-state solution. That is why this Government took the step that we did to recognise the state of Palestine. In the west bank, as the House will know, settler violence and settlement expansion continue to drive Palestinians from their homes, including over the recess period.”
“The UN has reported that infestations are now affecting almost 1.5 million people. This suffering is man-made and preventable. As the Foreign Secretary said yesterday, the continued humanitarian restrictions by Israeli authorities are indefensible and they must end. We support the 20-point plan and the hugely welcome release of hostages that it delivered, but the full promise of the 20-point plan has yet to be fully realised. For Gazans, conditions are still dire. The parties must do much more to end the suffering and allow families to rebuild. That also means that Hamas must agree to disarm and decommission their weapons, and the Israel Defence Forces must withdraw from Gaza.”
“Our consular staff are in contact with the families who have asked for consular support, and with a number of Members of this House. Our staff in the region are now working to help British nationals get home. Let me also say that, while yesterday it was Europeans and others who were subjected to humiliating treatment, which has rightly caused international condemnation, we should be clear that Mr Ben-Gvir has been behaving outrageously towards Palestinians day in, day out ever since he became a Minister. That is a disgrace, and it is why the UK led an international group of our partners to impose sanctions on both Mr Ben-Gvir and Mr Smotrich in their personal capacities, as I announced from this Dispatch Box late last year. Turning to the situation in Palestine, children in Gaza are living amid sewage, parasites and disease.”
“Beyond the FTA, we are working closely with our Gulf partners, and the Foreign Secretary and I were delighted to welcome Foreign Ministers from the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and the GCC secretary-general, in recent days to discuss the situation in the region. I would also like to take this opportunity to address the shocking footage that many members will have seen yesterday of the treatment of those detained from the flotilla by Israeli Minister Mr Ben-Gvir. As the Foreign Secretary has said, we are appalled and have demanded an explanation from the Israeli Government. The Israeli chargé d’affaires was therefore summoned this morning to the Foreign Office. Our foremost responsibility is the safety and security of British nationals.”
“With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement to update the House on the situation in Iran, the strait of Hormuz and across the wider middle east. I would first like to use this opportunity to welcome the conclusion of negotiations on the UK-Gulf Co-operation Council free trade agreement yesterday. This is the first trade agreement that the GCC has reached with any G7 country. It is a major milestone for UK partnerships with the six countries of the GCC—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. As well as the clear economic benefits for all sides, the agreement is a strong signal of our solidarity with our Gulf partners and our long-term commitment to working together for regional security and prosperity.”
“Similarly, we remain in regular discussions about the importance of demonstrating real progress in Lebanon on the disarmament of Lebanese Hezbollah. I discussed that with the Lebanese Foreign Minister just this week. I am happy to say more about the sanctions that we have put in place already. I came to this House to announce some sanctions in October 2025. Those were precisely targeted on senior regime assets in the UK, which included significant restrictions on property ownership, which the right hon. Lady is aware of, up to a total value of £140 million. Given the serious nature of the topic, I will resist entering into discussion about Brexit. Whether or not the GCC FTA is long overdue, it was a negotiation started by Members now on the Opposition Benches, and it is a great pleasure for us to conclude it from the Government Benches.”
“I can reassure the shadow Foreign Secretary that we are heavily engaged in the efforts she describes in relation to Gaza, both on reconstruction and on ensuring that adequate aid gets into Gaza. As I was clear in the statement, the amount of aid getting in remains inadequate and the restrictions remain contrary to the 20-point plan. We are pushing those points with Israeli authorities, as she would expect, and with all those with an interest in Gaza. That includes COGAT and CMCC, which she mentioned, and some of the new institutions formed under the Board of Peace—I saw High Representative Mladenov in Brussels and am in regular contact with him. It also includes the important discussions about the disarmament of Hamas.”
“I am grateful to the shadow Foreign Secretary for the constructive tone of her questions. Let me turn to the important question of consular access, which she raised at the outset. To be clear to the House, and to all right hon. and hon. Members who have constituents involved, we are seeking from the Israeli authorities both consular access to our nationals, as they would expect, and assurances about their good treatment. We understand that British nationals are expected to be deported back to the UK imminently. We are obviously following that up rapidly. If colleagues across the House have concerns, they are very welcome to raise them with me. We are, of course, as I said in the statement, in direct contact with those families who have approached the Foreign Office directly.”
“I am grateful to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee for her question, which, as she says, she has put to me before. First, it is important to emphasise that we continue to take steps to ensure that international law is adhered to, and that those principles underline our response both to events in Isael-Palestine and across the wider middle east. I know the House is impatient for a fuller answer in relation to the advisory opinion, even though most of the substantive elements of policy I have addressed from the Dispatch Box. My right hon. Friend is a learned lawyer herself, so will know that there are some horizontal implications from the advisory opinion that go beyond simply the context in the middle east, which is one reason that we have been taking our time.”
“We need to make changes, but to be clear, no unit—not the Iran unit and not the IHL cell—is being targeted. It is my responsibility to ensure that I am properly advised on both of those questions, and I am. What has been referred to is an offer to all staff that they can take part redundancy or voluntary redundancy if they would like to. It was not specific to the Iran unit, which does incredibly important work. I was with it this morning, and I assure the House that the Foreign Secretary and I, and the rest of Government, continue to be excellently served by the officials of the Foreign Office.”
“It is important to set out that the world is changing very rapidly, and Foreign Office structures need to change too. Whether it is some of the reports today about the Iran unit, or reports in recent weeks about the international humanitarian law assessment cell, responsibility lies with Ministers to ensure that we are properly served on advice about both Iran and international humanitarian law. I still get that advice. It is true that there need to be some changes in the structure of the Foreign Office. Since I was in the Foreign Office in 2015, the headcount in the UK—counting both Departments—has increased by 40% over a decade. That is something that we need to address. I spent a great deal of my career overseas, and that is where I would like to see the majority of the diplomatic if possible.”
“I want to be clear about British leadership on those questions. As I said in the statement, before all of the events that the hon. Member describes with Mr Ben-Gvir, I had already sanctioned him from the Dispatch Box. We did so in advance of most of our key friends and allies. As I was walking to the Chamber today, I saw that some of our European friends are now considering doing what we did in August of last year. We have taken action both in company and alone, given the significance of events in the region, and we will continue to do so. Turning to the hon. Member’s important points about some of the Foreign Office structures, I am particularly sensitive to those questions, as a proud former member of the diplomatic service myself.”
“I know that my hon. Friend is deeply committed to these issues. He raises a number of important points about further steps that the British Government might take. I am not in a position to go beyond what I have said in my statement at the moment, other than to reassure him—particularly in relation to the village that he mentions, which has been visited by a large number of Members, not just on the Government Benches but right across the House—that he is absolutely right to say that further development of the E1 settlement would be hugely damaging to a two-state solution. We will treat any further moves in that direction with the seriousness that they deserve.”
“I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving me an opportunity to touch briefly on Yemen. Events there remain dire, and we continue to see famine right across the country. The behaviour of the Houthis is not in the interests of the Yemeni people. We have regular and fruitful discussions with all our partners on the GCC about Yemen, Sudan and a whole range of international crises facing us, and will continue to do so.”
“It is a great pleasure to answer a question from my hon. Friend, not least because he himself was a distinguished member of the diplomatic service. He is absolutely right.”
“They were, as they have been in every engagement with the Israeli Government since the signature of the 20-point plan. It is vital that aid gets in at the scale and in the manner envisaged under the 20-point plan.”
“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has long been committed to these issues, both during her time in this House and before, and is, I think, the only Member of this House who has been to Gaza since the conflict began. We have taken wave after wave of sanctions action. I want to reassure her that we treat these issues with the seriousness that they deserve, and I am sure I will be returning to the House in due course to update her.”
“I made that very point in my statement. Of course, we can expect that what Mr Ben-Gvir is willing to do on camera to Europeans and others is just a fraction of what is being done behind closed doors. That is why I made that exact comparison in my statement, and it is why we sanctioned him well before many of our friends and partners.”
“I thank my hon. Friend and former colleague in the Foreign Office for her question. We are pressing for full consular rights—we made that point this morning. We understand from the Israelis that all participants on the flotilla will be deported back to their place of origin. We are urgently following up with the Israeli Government on the detail and manner of that.”
“It is important to be clear that we are providing no bombs and no bullets to the Israeli Government that could be used against Palestinians. That is the decision that this Government took shortly after entry into government, and we continue to stand by it. We have put in place a range of sanctions—we have talked about Mr Ben-Gvir already this afternoon, but there is also Mr Smotrich. I think any reasonable observer would think that sanctions on both a Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Finance as quite far ranging.”
“I have sought to set out the action we are taking in relation to Israel and Palestine, both our publicly announced steps and the diplomatic work going on behind the scenes, and I have tried to do the same in relation to Iran. We are in no doubt about the seriousness of the situation, and we will continue to use our full diplomatic weight to try to improve it.”
“The right hon. Gentleman makes a powerful contribution, and I am sure he could hear the welcome that his comments received from many on the Labour Back Benches. It is a sign when those who have Israel’s long-term interests closest to their hearts make exactly some of those points. I was glad to see that he also saw the Egyptian Foreign Minister this week and was able to present to him directly the views that he just described, and which I share.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words, and I am glad for the opportunity to thank the excellent officials in the Foreign Office and the Department for Business and Trade. I am glad to see that the Minister for Trade has just come back into the Chamber; he played an essential role in ensuring that the free trade agreement was concluded, and we are very grateful to him. To my hon. Friend’s question about the gulf, we work incredibly closely with our gulf partners, and we were very glad to host the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister and the United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister this week. We have been working closely with them, as we will continue to do, to ensure that their countries can fully defend themselves against Iran’s reckless attacks.”
“I think the loophole the hon. Member is referring to is the global supply chain of the F-35. I would welcome a bit more clarity from the Liberal Democrats on how they think that loophole can be closed and the F-35 supply chain maintained. We have discussed these issues in the Chamber a number of times, and they have been pressed in the courts. We continue to stand by our position, and I am sure the Liberal Democrats have thought it through.”
“I think I addressed those questions earlier, but let me reassure my hon. Friend that we continue to treat the situation with the seriousness that it deserves. I am not going to trail further announcements from the Dispatch Box, but we obviously keep all these matters under close review.”
“It is very difficult to have one’s predecessor ask in Parliament for credit to be given to his predecessors. In the spirit of the bipartisanship we have shown this afternoon, I acknowledge that talks on the GCC FTA were indeed started under the previous Government—”
“But not finished, indeed. I am sure the Minister for Trade would be keen to emphasise how much heavy lifting has been required over recent months and years to get it over the line. I will not enter into a hypothetical discussion about the approach that has been taken since 2015 to try to ensure that Iran did not have the degree of highly enriched uranium that it now has, and how that could have been avoided, because that is the situation we now face. We must have a serious diplomatic process that involves a reduction of HEU, which is such a danger not just to the region but to the world, including the UK. We take that with the seriousness that the right hon. Gentleman would expect.”