Lord Callanan (Con)

My Lords, I thank the Minister for granting us the opportunity to ask questions on this important Statement. These measures amount to a major change in the UK’s approach to the region, so it is right that we are scrutinising them in your Lordships’ House today. In the other place, the Foreign Secretary and my right honourable friend the shadow Foreign Secretary rightly noted the consensus across both our parties on the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. We agree that the settlements are illegal. We are both firm in our resolve that Israel has a right to defend itself. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s explicit statement that he is unwavering in his support for the State of Israel. We also agree that His Majesty’s Government were right to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, although I remind the Minister that the Government consistently resisted our amendments to prescribe the IRGC and had to be dragged to this position by noble Lords on all sides of this House. The question that we must ask ourselves today is whether the Government’s actions have moved us closer to a two-state solution or whether this is a backward step. The Foreign Secretary said a number of times that the UK must not be a bystander. Today we have learned that Israel has ordered the closure of the British consulate. Can the Minister say whether the news will undermine the UK’s ability to influence the future of the region? Have the Government now made the UK a bystander and a weaker influence on Israel as a result of these announcements? Can he also say what the FCDO advice was on the risk of the UK’s influence in the region being weakened as a result of yesterday’s announcement? Then there is the matter of the timing. Only a matter of weeks ago, Ministers in the previous Government, some of whom now serve in this Government also, were saying in writing that any trade ban targeting settlements would be practically very difficult to enforce. Can the Minister confirm that this ban will in fact need primary legislation that will not be enacted for many months? The Foreign Secretary indicated nine months, but even seems optimistic to me. Can the Minister indicate when we can expect to see this draft legislation? It has also been said by many that the Government have made a serious mistake by announcing this dramatic change in policy just weeks before an Israeli election. Bloomberg reported yesterday that British Foreign Office officials were quietly reassuring the Trump Administration that these trade sanctions were “largely symbolic”, which perhaps explains the somewhat muted US reaction. It seems clearer by the day that this announcement has nothing to do with peace in the Middle East but everything to do with peace in the Labour Party. Can the Minister say whether Ministers even considered the risk that these measures would in fact strengthen the hand of extremist politicians in Israel who oppose the two-state solution? Yesterday, my honourable friend the Shadow Foreign Secretary asked him to say what instructions had been given to the Foreign Office on the accreditation of diplomats to the so-called Palestinian Embassy should Hamas win the elections in November and send their envoys here; he did not receive an answer. The Foreign Secretary also refused to answer the same question on Radio 4 this morning. Let me give the Minister another opportunity to do so now. I have deliberately left the most important issue until last. Whatever His Majesty’s Government’s approach may be to issues across the world, their first duty should be to the British people. We must always stand up for British Jews. Antisemitism has no place in this country. The Chief Rabbi yesterday accused the Government of “mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric” that would put Jewish people in danger. Can the Minister please reassure the House that the Government will do everything in its power to keep British Jews safe? They are our fellow countrymen and women, and no conflict in another part of the world should be allowed to feed hate in this country. It is not just security measures for synagogues, schools and community centres that we need; although these measures are essential in this time of rising antisemitism, we need a much wider approach across our politics and in communities across the country to stamp out antisemitism. May I ask the Minister one final question before I sit down? What more are the Government going to do to end the scourge of antisemitism in the UK?