Topical Questions

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister updated the House on the conflict in the middle east and the Gulf. Overnight, we have continued to see Iranian strikes on Gulf nations.

The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, and I want to update the House on support for British citizens who are in the region. As of this morning, 130,000 British nationals have signed up to the “register your presence” programme, which is vital to the FCDO’s ability to know where people are and to provide updates and advice. As Members will be aware, the airspace is still closed in many of these countries, but I am in close contact with my counterparts across the region. Yesterday, I spoke again to the United Arab Emirates about the excellent support that it is providing, and the departures that it is now securing as they become viable.

We are also working with airlines on increasing capacity out of Muscat for British nationals, with priority being given to vulnerable nationals. A Government charter flight will leave Muscat in the coming days, prioritising those vulnerable nationals. However, British nationals in Oman must wait to be contacted by the Foreign Office about these options. We will continue to work 24/7 on supporting British nationals in the region. This is a very fast moving situation, and we have unprecedented numbers of British nationals in the region. I will continue to update Members and affected British nationals as the situation evolves.

We are all deeply concerned about the escalating situation in the Gulf. Following the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday, has the Secretary of State had any discussions with her counterparts in the US, Europe or Israel about measures to secure any nuclear or radiological material in Iran, in the light of the possibility of its trafficking as a result of current events?

My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. It is extremely important to ensure that Iran is not able to develop a nuclear weapon, and there are obviously concerns about the security of materials as well. Obviously, we continue to work closely with our operational partners on this issue.

I call the shadow Foreign Secretary.

The Government’s indecision on how to deal with Iran has left the UK weaker and has undermined our own security, but, as the House has already started to discuss, proscribing the IRGC will strengthen our position. I proscribed Hamas when I was Home Secretary, so I have dealt with state proscriptions.

Last year, in her role as Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary spoke about bringing forward the Hall review and recommendations, and about introducing a series of powers. Let me make a suggestion. When will the Foreign Secretary and her Government provide the parliamentary time that is essential if we are to have emergency legislation to proscribe the IRGC? If she desperately needs parliamentary time that has not been timetabled so far, will she scrap the Chagos surrender Bill so we can legislate to do that now?

Again, I point out that we have had a record number of former Home Office Ministers—both Conservatives and former Conservatives—coming forward to call for things that they failed to do while they were in government. I say to the right hon. Lady that this Government are determined to introduce legislation to take forward the Jonathan Hall review, but it is legislation that the Conservative Government could have delivered over their very many years in office. We will also strengthen the action on the Iranian threat on our streets and internationally.

Events in the middle east remind us how important to our collective defence and security the Diego Garcia base and the whole of the Chagos archipelago are, and nothing should be done to undermine that. Given the latest comments from the President of the United States on the importance of the base and on the folly of giving sovereignty away, will the Foreign Secretary finally do what is right for the defence of our country, British taxpayers and British Chagossians and tear up Labour’s terrible Chagos surrender treaty?

I say to the shadow Foreign Secretary that this Government believe that decisions should be made in the UK’s national interest and according to UK values, not according to any other Government’s national interest, whether in Europe, the US, the middle east or beyond. We will take decisions on the Chagos islands in the interests of our national security. She knows the national security issues that are at stake here. Instead of simply travelling round the world trying to undermine the UK’s national security and the decisions that we are taking, perhaps she should start standing up for the UK’s national interest.

T5.   My eight year old grandson Ronnie, along with his mum and dad, spent Sunday night on the bathroom floor at RAF Akrotiri until they got the all clear at 3 o’clock in the morning. Will the Foreign Secretary assure me that this country will not be dragged into another illegal war by the Americans, putting the lives of British servicemen and women, and millions of innocent civilians, in danger?

I want to praise the UK armed forces in Akrotiri for their huge professionalism, and for the work that they do to defend the UK’s national security. We have already increased the deployment, with additional defensive capabilities including radar, F-35 jets, and air defence and counter drone systems, and we work closely with the Cypriot Government on safety and security issues.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister argued that the Government were distinguishing between defensive and offensive operations by US bombers making use of UK bases. On issues of such gravity, clarity is essential to avoid mission creep. Can the Foreign Secretary confirm that the UK will agree the target, and monitor the outcome, of each of these US sorties? Will the Government report those to the Intelligence and Security Committee, and can she confirm that if one were found to have hit anything other than a missile battery or missile store, the UK would suspend its agreement for the use of its bases?

We have long standing operational arrangements for partners and allies with which we work closely, and we ensure that those are implemented. The principles that we follow are about ensuring that there is a lawful basis for action and that it is in the UK’s interest. At a time when we have seen strikes from the Iranian regime on countries that were not involved in this conflict and where 300,000 British citizens are currently resident, I think we would find it extremely difficult to justify not taking action to support and protect British citizens who might be threatened with attack.

T6. It was a pleasure to see the Foreign Secretary at last month’s Munich security conference, where, despite warm words on all sides, the trust gap between the European Union and the United States was absolutely palpable, impacting discussions on defence, procurement, technology, sovereignty, Greenland, the middle east and so on. Could she tell me how she sees the UK’s role: should we be trying to restore trust, because we have our own trust gap, should we pick a side—the European Union versus the United States—or do we forge an independent path dependent on neither?

The UK’s task must always be to act in the UK’s national interest according to UK values, but at the heart of that national interest and those values are things such as the NATO alliance—the transatlantic alliance—as well as our partnership with other European countries and other countries on our defence.

T2.   I am deeply concerned about the British service personnel being put at risk by attacks from Iran. With US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that the hardest hits are yet to come, can the Foreign Secretary confirm whether any British personnel are on any US ships being used to attack Iran?

What I can tell the hon. Member is that we take the safety of UK personnel immensely seriously, and I pay tribute to their service for our country. That is why we have already increased deployments to ensure that there is added radar and air protection in Cyprus, for example. We will always continue to take safety seriously and ensure that operational matters are dealt with in the normal way.

T7. At the Munich security conference, the Prime Minister rightly said that we must do more to work with our allies to build our collective European security. Given that moral imperative, is there an ambition for the UK and the EU to reopen negotiations on UK access to the EU SAFE—security action for Europe—defence mechanism?

My hon. Friend asks an important question. We are absolutely committed to strengthening our defence co operation with the EU and European partners, but with NATO of course as the bedrock. We negotiated in good faith on SAFE, but the terms were not in the UK’s national interest, but we will continue to engage constructively across a range of areas of co operation.

T3. The Foreign Secretary obviously faces real problems with the settlement she has received from the Chancellor, who is sitting next to her, but given that the last 20 years have led to the near eradication of polio and excellent work on malaria, will she prioritise those programmes to ensure we do not go backwards and once again release polio and malaria across the globe?

I assure the hon. Member and the House that we are prioritising those areas of continued support in the health sphere of development funding.

T8. As a member of the National Union of Journalists parliamentary group, I know it is vital to protect journalists. Sadly, hundreds of Palestinian journalists have been slaughtered during the Gazan genocide. As Britain is the co chair of the Media Freedom Coalition, will the Minister explain what steps the Government have taken to safeguard journalists on the ground in the middle east, and can he encourage international Governments, including Israel, to allow the global media to do their job and enable journalists to be protected, not pay the price of war?

We take this extremely seriously. Journalists on frontlines across the world are often how we find out where atrocities have taken place. Tomorrow I am hosting a Media Freedoms Coalition discussion, and I reassure my hon. Friend that this will always remain a priority for the UK Government.

T4. It has been 31 days since I wrote to the Secretary of State calling on her to reimburse the royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead for costs—some £350,000—incurred during three state visits last year. While this may be a rounding error to the Government, it is not to the ratepayers of Windsor. We are proud to host such visits, but these are properly national costs. Will the Secretary of State do the right thing and sort this, please?

I thank the hon. Member for his question. [Interruption.] Tomorrow is estimates day, and perhaps he would like to raise it then. On the wider point, he and I have been in correspondence, and discussions about these costs are ongoing.

T9.   The International Road Assessment Programme, based in Bracknell, has saved well over half a million lives from road crashes around the world, which is a significant contribution to the UN’s sustainable development goals and a real success story of British expertise on the global stage. What can this Government do to champion the work of iRAP more effectively?

Improving road safety is a global challenge. Every year, 1.2 million people die on the roads—it is the biggest killer of young people. I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this to the House’s attention. Through the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK contributes £12.5 million to the Global Road Safety Facility and is represented on its partnership council, and we continue to work on this truly important issue.

T10. Last week, the BBC reported the death of Palestinian child Jad Jadallah, shot in a west bank refugee camp while Israeli soldiers watched him bleed to death. Violence against children is increasing around the world, including in Ukraine, Sudan and now Iran. What diplomatic action is the Foreign Secretary taking to prevent child death and protect surviving children from the lifelong trauma of war?

We have spoken many times about the risks to children in the west bank and Gaza. It is a priority for this Government. We raise it regularly with our Israeli counterparts, and I am familiar with the report the hon. Lady references.