Speeches by Mohamed.

“A number of resolutions relating to Sudan have been put forward by the UK, but there are some who say that the UK is not in the inner circle when it comes to Sudan, and that again, discussions are happening externally. To what extent do you think that we have been successful there, and what are your reflections on what…”

“What are your reflections on the fact that it might seem paralysed, and that the UK has done very little?”

“The words of the former UK ambassador to the UN were very different from yours. He said that the pen was actually “paralysed” in the UK’s hands and that very little has taken place. As a result of this, Oman is now working very closely with Saudi Arabia to develop a road map for peace, and the UK is not present there. …”

“On the point of expansion, Netanyahu and Trump are meeting this week. We know, in their own words, that they want to “redraw” the lines of the Middle East and last month it was reported that the US is considering recognising limited Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank. There seems to be a pattern to these a…”

“So the UK will not recognise any Palestinian land that is given to Israel, even if the US decides to do that?”

“Thank you, Foreign Secretary. Moving on to a different angle, you will have seen from the recent court judgment on the F-35 carve-outs that sensitive and political issues are a matter for the Executive, not the courts. I asked the permanent secretary this morning about the UK National Committee on International Humanit…”

“Has there been a recent assessment in relation to the indiscriminate killings that we have seen of people queuing up for aid? Has there been a recent assessment in relation to those incidents that we have seen? Does that qualify as a material change?”

“Have any assessments been given in the last three months in relation to—”

“Foreign Secretary, if I may take us back to the question of recognition. You said that no country has the right to veto recognition, including Israel, but it voted in the Knesset against recognition, and we have heard from Israeli representatives; the Leader of the Opposition said it would take several election cycles …”

“But no other recent assessments into why the international law—”

“Is it just in relation to licensing, or is it a holistic—”

“But have you had any assessments more recently, Foreign Secretary?”

“Does the people queuing up for aid qualify as being in the nature of incidents that you would look at holistically, as part of your assessments?”

“Okay, but not enough for you to act on those assessments.”

“The courts in the recent F-35 carve-out case said that any decisions in relation to sensitive and political issues are a matter for the Executive, not the court.”

“Okay. So how many assessments have been given to the Foreign Secretary recently?”

“On international humanitarian law, what is the current function of the IHL committee within the Foreign Office, and how often does it refer advice to the Foreign Secretary?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Does that apply to ambassador level as well? We have seen a turn in the numbers, where we have more male ambassadors in some of the most senior important areas; we have done a U-turn in that particular area. The gender representation there is not where it needs to be.”

“So it depends on the gravity of the incident whether an assessment would be given to the Foreign Secretary.”