Tag: Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

David Lammy is visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to progress diplomatic efforts for long-term peace and security in the region

  • Foreign Secretary calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a rapid increase of humanitarian aid into Gaza on first Middle East visit.
  • In meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas, David Lammy makes the urgent case for a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.
  • The Foreign Secretary announces £5.5m to UK-Med to support their ongoing work to provide humanitarian assistance and medical treatment to those in Gaza.

David Lammy visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories yesterday [Sunday, 14 July] on his first trip to the Middle East since becoming Foreign Secretary.   

He focused on the UK’s diplomatic role in helping to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end and making progress towards long-term peace and security in the Middle East.     

He raised the urgent need for a ceasefire agreed by both sides, which includes the release of all hostages and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza.     

The Foreign Secretary also announced that the UK will provide another £5.5m this year to UK-Med to fund their life-saving work in Gaza.

UK-Med is a frontline medical aid charity who send experienced humanitarian medics, including those working in the NHS, to crisis-hit regions to deliver life and limb-saving health care.  

This funding will be used to support the ongoing work of their field hospitals and the emergency department at Nasser Hospital. It will allow medics, including those from the UK, to continue carrying out vital work to treat thousands more patients suffering from acute respiratory illnesses, infections, and explosive fragmentation trauma cases.

Foreign Secretary, David Lammy said: “The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. This war must end now, with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides. The fighting has got to stop, the hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists need to be released immediately and aid must be allowed in to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions.

“I am meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stress the UK’s ambition and commitment to play its full diplomatic role in securing a ceasefire deal and creating the space for a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.

“The world needs a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. 

“Central to this is to see an end to expanding illegal Israeli settlements and rising settler violence in the West Bank. Here, in what should be a crucial part of a Palestinian state, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem, we need to see a reformed and empowered Palestinian Authority.”

In Israel, the Foreign Secretary held high-level talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog to reiterate the need to end the conflict in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.

Mr Lammy met with hostage families with links to the UK whose loved ones have been murdered or taken by Hamas.   

Highlighting more than 680 tonnes of UK aid in the region and waiting to enter Gaza, including medicines, shelters and hygiene kits, the Foreign Secretary pushed the desperate need to rapidly increase aid into Gaza.    

In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Foreign Secretary welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to delivering reform and reiterate the UK’s support to PM Mustafa and his government.  

The UK has provided £10 million in aid to support the Palestinian Authority this financial year through the World Bank. The funding will provide vital support for key services, for example through the payment of salaries for 8,200 doctors, nurses and other health workers over two months.   

In meetings with President Abbas and Prime Minister Mustafa, he highlighted his commitment to recognising a Palestinian state as an undeniable right of the Palestinian people, and as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

He also called out settlements in the West Bank as illegal and harmful to a two-state solution on visit to a Palestinian community.

David Lammy: It’s time to reset Britain’s relations with Europe

Writing in The Local Europe yesterday ahead of his trip to Germany, Poland and Sweden, the Foreign Secretary looks forward to Britain reconnecting with European neighbours

I am a man of multiple identities. Londoner. English. Patriotic Brit. Proud of my Caribbean heritage. A transatlanticist. And, throughout my political career, absolutely committed to a close partnership with our European neighbours.

As the new British Foreign Secretary, with our Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this government will reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour.

That is why I am travelling immediately to some of our key European partners. Sitting down with Annalena Baerbock, Radek Sikorski and Tobias Billström, my message will be simple: let us seize the opportunity for a reset, working even more closely together to tackle shared challenges.

The most immediate of these challenges, of course, is Ukraine. We will stand by the brave people of Ukraine, as they defend their freedom against Vladimir Putin’s new form of fascism. British military, economic, political and diplomatic support for Ukraine will remain ironclad.

But we are always stronger when we work with others. Germany, Poland and Sweden are all also staunch supporters of Ukraine. European security will be this government’s foreign and defence priority.

Russia’s barbaric invasion has made clear the need for us to do more to strengthen our own defences. Next week, the Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary and I will all travel to Washington for the NATO Summit.

Seventy five years ago, my political hero and former Labour Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, was pivotal to forming the Alliance. He would have been delighted to see NATO grow larger over the years, with Germany, Poland and now Sweden all joining the most successful defensive alliance in history.

This government’s commitment to the Alliance is unshakeable, just as it was in Bevin’s time. I will be discussing this weekend how NATO allies can go further in investing in our tightly connected defence industries and providing Ukraine with its own clear path to joining our alliance.

Alongside security, we want to do more together to bring prosperity to our continent. None of us can address the urgency of the climate emergency alone – we need coordinated global action. This is particularly important in Europe, whose energy networks are so closely connected – together, we must invest in the industries of the future and deliver sustained economic growth for all.

And finally, we must do more to champion the ties between our people and our culture. Holidays, family ties, school and student exchanges, the arts, and sport (I will of course be cheering on England in the Euros…). Thanks to this, our citizens benefit from the rich diversity of our continent.

We can deliver more cooperation in many areas bilaterally, via NATO and in groupings like the G7, the Joint Expeditionary Force or the European Political Community who will gather at Blenheim Palace on 18 July.

But if we are to fulfil our ambitions for a reset, we must also improve Britain’s relationship with the European Union. I will be explaining to my new fellow foreign ministers how our new government’s proposal for an ambitious and broad-ranging UK-EU Security Pact would underpin closer cooperation between us, enshrining a new geopolitical partnership. I also look forward to hearing their ideas for how we can rebuild trust and reset the relationship between the UK and the EU.

Over centuries, our individual and national stories have come together to tell a wider story of shared progress. Today, we all share a commitment to democracy, human rights and international law. Tragic experiences in our continent’s shared past have helped us to understand how our shared security and prosperity depend on these shared values.

And I believe these values also offer a foundation for closer partnership in the future. My visit this weekend is just the beginning. I look forward to seeing Britain reconnect with our European neighbours in the years ahead.

Foreign Secretary to bolster support for Ukraine in visit to Washington DC

The Foreign Secretary will travel to Washington DC to urge US partners to unlock additional funding for Ukraine

  • David Cameron visits Washington DC to reaffirm the joint UK-US commitment to support Ukraine, which remains vital for US and European security.   
  • In discussions with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders, he will call for urgent further support for Ukraine.   
  • He will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior US Government figures, reinforcing our steadfast partnership to defend freedom and democracy around the world as NATO allies.   

The Foreign Secretary will travel to Washington DC today (Tuesday 9th April) to urge US partners to unlock additional funding for Ukraine, giving them the tools they need to win its war with Russia.    

He will hold talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the UK’s continued support for Ukraine against Russian aggression which aims to redraw European borders by force. He will engage with key figures across Congress to call for them to change the narrative on Ukraine this year and provide the extra $60bn (over £47.5bn) in supplementary funding that’s going through Congress.

Over $184bn (over £145bn) has already been committed to Ukraine by European nations including over $15bn (nearly £12bn) from the UK, in addition to the nearly $74bn (nearly £59bn) already committed by the US – which is making a huge difference on the battlefields of Ukraine and the waters of the Black Sea. Ukraine has proven time and time again that with the right tools it can succeed.

The Foreign Secretary will reassert the importance of stepping up economic pressure on Russia now and continuing to give Ukraine the military and humanitarian support it needs to hold the line this year and go on the offensive in 2025.  

David Cameron will highlight how Europe and the US are united in their support for Ukraine, with European countries providing more than half of the total support. He will emphasise that nothing can match the pace and scale of US support which remains “the key stone in the arch” in the fight for freedom, democracy and the right of free countries to choose their own future.  

The Foreign Secretary, David Cameron said: “Success for Ukraine and failure for Putin are vital for American and European security.

“This will show that borders matter, that aggression doesn’t pay and that countries like Ukraine are free to choose their own future.

“The alternative would only encourage Putin in further attempts to re-draw European borders by force, and would be heard clearly in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.

“US support for Ukraine has massively degraded the military capacity of a common adversary, Russia has lost half of its pre-invasion land combat power, and a quarter of its original Black Sea fleet, while creating jobs at home and strengthening the Western alliance and NATO.”

Two years on from Russia’s illegal invasion, it’s more important than ever that as NATO allies, the UK and US continue to defend its shared values, including by upholding Euro-Atlantic security. The visit will build on the strong ties between the US and the UK and our shared commitment to defending freedom and democracy around the world.    

While Ukraine continues to make gains against Russia, they are increasingly being overmatched by Russian artillery on the battlefield, underlining the importance of agreeing further US support.   

Talks will also focus on the Middle East, including the path to a sustainable ceasefire and the delivery of greater quantities of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Six months on from the 7 October attacks, the UK and US have stood united in their support for Israel who suffered the worst terror attack in its history at the hands of Hamas and have been clear in Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law.  

The Foreign Secretary will continue to push for a full, urgent, and transparent investigation into the terrible events in Gaza last week, which saw three British aid workers lose their lives.

He will underline that the deaths of World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers are completely unacceptable and that major changes need to be made to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground.  

Alongside the US, the UK and other partners recently announced plans for the opening of a maritime route, which will see aid delivered by sea to a new temporary US military pier in Gaza, through a maritime corridor from Cyprus. Partners including the United Nations, Cyprus, European Commission, the UAE, Qatar, Germany, Greece, Italy and The Netherlands, have joined the UK and the US in the creation of the route.  

The Foreign Secretary also will reinforce UK support for the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti by announcing a £5m contribution to its deployment.

The MSS, working with the Haitian National Police, will help to tackle gang-related violence which is destabilising the country, worsening the humanitarian situation and causing daily pain and suffering to the people of Haiti.

He will emphasise that a Haitian-led political solution is the only way to tackle this insecurity head on and long-term.