Speeches by Falconer.

“I welcome and commend the hon. Member’s efforts on freedom of religious belief, not just in Hong Kong but across the world. We have raised the circumstances of Mr Lai’s detention and will continue to do so. The UK will not stop pressing for consular access in that case, and indeed in all other cases where consular acce…”

“In each case, different things are likely to make progress. I am very conscious of my own experience—I negotiated the release of British nationals with the Taliban over a long period. I am sure that in that case publicity would have made the release more complex. It will vary case by case, and I am sure the Minister re…”

“I understand that the hon. Member does not like the answers that she has been provided with, but they have remained consistent, because our position is consistent. I can assure her that, armed with the full legal advice of the Government, I am confident that the Government are complying with the genocide convention. Sh…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I am grateful to the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Ellie Chowns) for securing the debate. As she alluded to, we have had many exchanges on events in Israel and Palestine. Let me start by setting out a little of the legal position in relation to the 1…”

“I will make a little progress, and then of course I will. More than 75 years after it was created, we remain fully committed to the responsibilities set out in the genocide convention. As the hon. Member knows, the long-standing policy of the UK Government is that any formal determination as to whether genocide has occ…”

“I will not give way again. The hon. Member’s question—“Surely, we must not wait for a formal determination?”—is incredibly important. I want to reassure hon. Members that we do not wait. Where there have been provisional measures issued in the ICJ case, we have both abided by those measures ourselves and called on thos…”

“I understand the complexities of these questions. I recognise that the judge has not yet opined in the judicial proceedings to which the hon. Member refers. Once the judge has done so, we will all be in a position to consider his findings. I have set out the Government’s position, as I think the hon. Member said, at so…”

“I was not at the event and I cannot speak to who was invited or why, but obviously I speak to Dr Zomlot on a regular basis. He is personally affected by the crisis in Gaza and across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. There is no doubt in the Government about the depth of human suffering that is being experienced ea…”

“I am of course very happy to consider the recommendations of the Committee. We do have extrajudicial—I will be careful on the legalities of it, but as I understand it, British courts can look into crimes of genocide outside the UK where a UK national is involved. If the recommendation of the Committee is that that shou…”

“I want to clarify about the advisory opinion, which we are still considering—it was long in the making and has broad implications—that the UK agrees with the central position that the hon. Member describes, which is that settlements are illegal and should cease. That is not a novel element of the advisory opinion for t…”

“Let me make a little progress, and then I will be happy to. Let me set out what the Government are doing. We have called on the Government of Israel repeatedly to comply fully with their international obligations. We do so in private, with Ministers, and in public, through co-ordinated public statements with partners. …”

“Ms Jardine has reminded me that I have one minute left, so I will answer the question and then conclude. Goods from illegally occupied settlements come under different trading provisions than those from green-line Israel. That is a question for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs that we keep under regular review. As the…”

“I am about to hand over to the hon. Member. Our commitment to international law is firm. It applies everywhere without exception, and our record reflects that.”

“Regrettably, in incidents of this scale, identification tends to take some time. Through family liaison officers in the UK and consular staff, we are trying to support British nationals and those affected in India and here in the UK to enable the contribution of DNA. If any right hon. or hon. Member wants to ensure tha…”

“I spoke to some of my hon. Friend’s constituents earlier in the day, and they were full of gratitude for his work on behalf of his city and constituency over the weekend. I also pay tribute to that. As I said earlier, I am happy to talk to any Member about the particular circumstances of their constituents, and see wha…”

“I agree with the hon. Gentleman—they are not alone. In relation to any questions about the experience of our consular support, I invite right hon. and hon. Members to ensure that I am aware, both in relation to the tragic incident in India, but also in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Iran. As the Minis…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his kind words about me and the officials, and I join him in sending my truly heartfelt condolences to his constituents for the loss of life.”

“The UK has a proud record of playing its full part in global aviation standards. As I said, our Air Accidents Investigation Branch will be assisting the investigation into this incident fully, and taking full note of its findings.”

“My hon. Friend asks an important question. Family liaison officers, often known as FLOs, support families in the UK and are part of UK policing. They are always able to talk to my officials—the consular officials who take care of British nationals overseas—and we always try to ensure that the relationship between consu…”

“I confirm that we will provide British families with all the support they require during this horrific incident.”