Meeting of the Parliament 21 November 2023
I thank front-bench members for the consensual tone that they have sought to strike on this important day. I offer the congratulations and thanks of the Liberal Democrats for the safe return of the First Minister’s family and express our relief at their reunification.
Having listened to the opening speeches of the First Minister and Anas Sarwar, I believe that their remarks speak to the points that I am about to make. They have captured the spirit of the Liberal Democrat amendment in every way. Where consensus can be found in the Parliament, we should protect it fiercely and allow the Parliament to speak a voice that is as simple, clear and unified as it can possibly be. For that reason, I am disinclined to move my amendment.
We all want to get to the same point. We may have different routes of getting there or different terminology, nuance or emphasis, but I fundamentally believe that we all want the violence to stop and a peaceful coexistence between the peoples who live side by side in that beleaguered corner of our world. This is about them, not us.
Some will question our locus on the matter, but we do important work here today. It is 45 days since the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October. I want to be crystal clear from the outset that Hamas are terrorists who degraded, kidnapped and murdered hundreds upon hundreds of Israelis, many of them women and children, as well as foreign nationals.
I will never forget the uncensored images that I was shown at a parliamentary briefing hosted by the Israeli embassy in London following those attacks. Scenes of murder and mutilation are now burned into my brain. The butchery and unimaginable cruelty of it must rank among the very worst crimes against humanity, and I recognise no faith or act of worship in the actions of Hamas.
Israel has the right to defend itself and its citizens within the confines of international law, and I am sure that nobody in this chamber could fail to have been moved by the testimony of those families who are still waiting for news of loved ones who have been held captive by Hamas—in particular, those mothers and fathers who are desperate to care for the children who have been taken from them.
I hope that steps towards some kind of deal and some kind of truce will see some hostages released in the coming days, but we should be in no doubt that there will always be a barrier to peace while hostages are detained in Hamas’s tunnels or the threat exists that more will be taken.
Hamas has brought a bloody reckoning on the very people in Gaza that it has chosen, in cowardice, to hide behind. Millions of innocent Palestinians living in Gaza now face a humanitarian catastrophe that has shocked the world. I have been struck by the increasing number of Palestinians fleeing the very worst areas of violence who are openly incandescent about what Hamas has done to Gaza and to their lives. It needs to stop—the death and destruction in Israel and in Gaza need to stop. It is essential that hostages are freed immediately and unconditionally, and aid must be allowed to reach those who need it, including fuel.
One can fervently believe in Israel’s right to defend itself within the bounds of international law and, at the same time, support the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in a country of their own. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. We have lost sight of how that might be possible, but it is not lost to us entirely.
The road to peace seems vanishingly far away right now, but it is a road that we can and must rejoin. Liberal Democrats are clear that a lasting peace and a two-state solution is the only way to guarantee the dignity and security that Palestinians and Israelis deserve and need.
We are also clear that efforts to guarantee the security of Israelis and the self-determination of Palestinians will forever be held back while Hamas rules in Gaza. However, as the death toll of innocent Palestinians continues to rise, it has become increasingly evident that a military solution to eliminate Hamas is not possible; nor is it tenable for Israel to re-occupy the Gaza strip.
The current strategy of the Israeli Government, backed by the US and the UK, is just not working. We need to try something different. We need to move towards a political solution as a matter of urgency. To that end, I urge—the Liberal Democrats urge—the UK Government to make space for one by leading calls for an immediate bilateral ceasefire.
To be clear, that does not mean simply freezing the conflict. That would leave Hamas in place, which would not allow for a future possibility of peace. A ceasefire is clearly needed now to stop the bloodshed and the continued trauma of both Palestinians and Israelis. It is, by definition, temporary and contingent on both parties adhering to it. It is a step towards peace.
However, a ceasefire cannot be a goal in and of itself. It needs to create a window of calm to allow a period of intensive, internationally brokered diplomacy and to pick up the threads of the Oslo peace accords. We are not naive about the difficulties involved in getting to that position, but we must call for it. A cessation in hostilities is required to create the basis for a ceasefire, and we welcome any progress, however small, towards that goal.
That has to be bilateral. Asking just Israel to put down its weapons will not give it assurance against the repetition of the 7 October attacks, which, as the Labour amendment notes, Hamas has actively said that it is keen to perpetrate again. It will not be easy to rid Gaza of Hamas. However, a one-sided ceasefire is not a ceasefire and does not advance us any further along the road to two states.
I reaffirm my party’s support for the innocent people at the heart of the conflict, who have been caught up on both sides of it—Israeli and Palestinian. Both peoples have the right to live free from fear. As we vote this afternoon, we must stand on the side of humanity and peace, not division and hate.
15:26