Innovation Minister Alyn Smith has confirmed £10 million investment to develop two Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (DTECs) for Scotland.
Plans are underway to allocate sites in the east and west of the country to support the development of skills for well-paid careers in areas such as defence engineering, advanced manufacturing and maritime technology.
Along with Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn, Mr Smith has today written to Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard and Secretary of State for Scotland Douglas Alexander, to confirm the Scottish Government will match UK Government funding needed to underpin future industrial growth and competitiveness.
Mr Smith said: “Scotland is well placed to seize the opportunities arising out of the defence industry – with a highly skilled workforce, world-class colleges and universities and internationally recognised manufacturing.
“DTECs will allow workers to upskill and connect the next generation to opportunities in sectors where demand for a highly-skilled workforce is rising rapidly.
“I am pleased to confirm we will partner with the UK Government to develop plans for DTECs in Scotland and build on the £3.7 billion to Scotland’s economy provided by the defence sector.
“Our Programme for Government committed to establishing a responsible defence industrial growth programme to maximise the economic opportunities arising from increased defence spending. We will work with partners to ensure our workers are equipped with the right skills for emerging jobs in this vital sector.”
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “In March we announced a £10 million commitment to develop two Defence Technical Excellence Colleges in Scotland.
“I’m pleased that the Scottish Government has now agreed to match fund these colleges to give our young people the skills they need to secure high-skilled, well-paid careers in Scotland’s defence sector in the years to come.
“Scotland is a defence industrial powerhouse and is already benefiting from increased UK Government investment as we deliver a defence dividend for Scotland, creating new skilled jobs, new training places and new opportunities for communities while keeping us and our allies secure.
“It is crucial that we continue to develop the skilled workforce needed to support this growing sector.”
BUT IS MORE ‘REGIONAL EMPOWERMENT’ ENOUGH FOR SCOTS?
In a speech today, the Prime Minister will invite Scotland’s First Minister to work with him on the common good of pushing more power out of both Westminster and Holyrood, unlocking jobs and opportunity in every region.
Delivering his remarks after speaking with young people today in Lanarkshire, Andy Burnham will emphasise the Scottish Government is one of the most centralised devolved administrations in Europe, with Holyrood not giving people who know their areas best enough of a say, despite significant devolution from Westminster over the last 27 years.
Because power was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament, the Prime Minister will argue the next stage of devolution should place more decision-making in the hands of Scotland’s regions and cities to drive reindustrialisation.
As part of that offer, he will call on the Scottish Government to work with the UK Government through No10 North and the Scotland Office to develop a new model of regional empowerment for Scotland, ensuring communities with their own strengths, identity and ambitions can seize new economic opportunities and unlock their potential.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “During my first week in office, I told the First Minister that I wanted to work with him to spread opportunities to communities across Scotland’s regions and cities.
“Through No10 North, we are rewiring the state and I want to make sure regions in Scotland are fully part of this.
“This is me making an offer to the Scottish Government. With us working together, there is no limit to what we can achieve for the Scottish people.”
The Scottish Secretary, Douglas Alexander said: “Devolution has done a great deal, but power was never supposed to stop at the doors of the Scottish Parliament. People in North Lanarkshire, in Fife or in the Highlands know what their communities need better than any minister, whether they sit in London or Edinburgh.
“The Prime Minister’s offer to the Scottish Government is a genuine one, and the Scotland Office is ready to roll up its sleeves alongside them to make it happen. Two governments, one goal – good jobs and real opportunity in every corner of Scotland”.
Latest poll suggest more Scots would vote for independence if another referendum was called today.
WESTMINSTER’S Science and Technology Committee has launched an inquiry examining how digital technologies can be used to facilitate harms such as stalking, harassment, coercive control and non-consensual intimate image abuse.
Domestic abuse is, as we know, far too prevalent in the real world but it is also expanding into digital spaces and creating new ways that abuse can occur, with smart devices like Ring doorbells, speakers and fitness trackers being used to track and abuse victims.
The issue sits within the wider context of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls and continues to grow. For example, referrals to the domestic abuse charity Refuge’s specialist Technology Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment team rose by more than 62% in 2025 alone.
The government has taken steps to tackle some forms of technology-facilitated abuse through its violence against women and girls’ strategy and the Online Safety Act 2023. However, recent cases have raised questions about whether existing legal and regulatory frameworks remain fit for purpose.
This inquiry will explore the scale and impact of technology-facilitated harm and assess how technology companies and the government are responding to this. It may also look at the gender divide in technological spaces, and whether this is exacerbating or limiting abuse. The committee will focus primarily on digital abuse and online platforms.
The deadline for submitting evidence is 4 November.
Dame Chi Onwurah, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, said:“Technology can empower and protect its users, but it also has the potential to create new ways for people – particularly women and girls – to be abused.
“Our inquiry, my committee will examine how digital technologies are being used to facilitate harm, whether current legislation is keeping pace and the responsibilities technology companies and online platforms have to prevent it.
“I encourage anyone with expertise in this area to submit evidence to our inquiry and inform our work.”
The Prime Minister announced a new settlement for older people yesterday: a state pension ‘that rises every year’, no personal care charges and a high-quality National Care Service to give peace of mind in later life
A National Care Service will be established in the next Parliament, providing free personal care for older people, based on need rather than ability to pay.
The current State Pension Triple Lock will be maintained – but only until April 2030. From then, it will be adjusted so the State Pension rises by at least inflation or 2.5% each year with a new link built in to keep pace with earnings over time.
Savings under the adjusted Triple Lock will be used for a new National Care Service, with Baroness Casey to recommend how and when it is built up.
The Prime Minister announced a ‘new settlement’ for older people: a state pension that rises every year, no personal care charges and a high-quality National Care Service to give peace of mind in later life.
The vision set out today draws a line under decades of drift with a clear plan to fix the system so that people can receive the dignity and security they need.
The Prime Minister warned today that if we don’t fix our broken social care system, it will eventually break the NHS too. There are huge costs to the NHS both through pressures on A&Es and an inability to discharge patients home because of a lack of adequate social care.
The new National Care Service will be introduced in phases, so its scope can grow as the savings increase from adjusting the Triple Lock, and as workforce and provider capacity are built up. It will be fully funded – and not through borrowing.
Baroness Casey will recommend how this could be done through the work of her independent Commission, which is being informed by public deliberation and ongoing cross-party talks. Her report is due in summer 2027.
The current Triple Lock will be maintained throughout this Parliament, increasing the State Pension by over £2,000. But from April 2030, the adjusted Triple Lock will mean the State Pension continues to rise by 2.5% or inflation – whichever is higher – and by even more if that is required to maintain its value relative to earnings.
This will ensure the living standards of pensioners keep up with the rest of the population. For example, if the value of the State Pension is around a third of average earnings by 2030/31, as average earnings rise, the State Pension will rise in line with that too.
This adjusted Triple Lock will mean that if inflation spikes, pensioners will be protected. If wages rise, pensioners will share in that, with the State Pension tracking earnings over time. Nobody’s pension will ever go down. And State Pensions will be put on a sustainable footing for decades to come.
The Government will legislate for the change during this Parliament.
Adjusting the Triple Lock is estimated to reduce state pension spending by £15 billion a year by the end of the 2030s, rising to £50 billion a year by 2050.
The UK will continue to have one of most generous approaches to increasing the State Pension in the world, according to the government – but British pensioners have the LOWEST STATE PENSIONS IN EUROPE.
The plans provide a credible pathway to delivering a National Care Service that will put an end to years of neglect where vulnerable people have been left at risk as a result of Westminster’s failure to face up to the difficult issues. The new system will include personal care, helping with things like eating, bathing and using the toilet.
Following the Prime Minister’s vision for the core principles of the service, Baroness Casey’s independent Commission will continue its work to develop recommendations on how to deliver it in practice, and will soon begin the next phase of its ‘Big Conversation on Care’ to make sure everyone gets the chance to feed in their views.
Around three in four adults over 65 are expected to need care and support during later life, with one in seven facing costs of more than £100,000. Currently, whether someone pays for care varies significantly by condition.
Two people with the same need for help with everyday tasks may face different rules if one needs support linked primarily to a health condition and the other to social care. The result is a broken system where the most vulnerable in society are at risk of losing everything just to access basic care.
The service will not cover bed and board, for which existing means-tested council contributions will remain. Councils will continue to exclude the value of a home from financial assessments where a partner or dependent relative lives there, and deferred payment agreements will remain available to help eligible people avoid having to sell their home during their lifetime to meet care costs.
Tackling the broken social care system is part of the Prime Minister’s pledge to take on the most difficult issues facing the country that have been left ignored by politicians for too long. ‘By facing up to the challenges that others have said are intractable, like fixing the youth unemployment crisis and ending rough sleeping, this government is working to bring back hope’.
REACTION:
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney commented: “In Scotland, we provide free personal care for older people without punishing pensioners. Andy Burnham removing the triple lock would simply repeat the mistakes of Keir Starmer.
“The blame for the UK’s financial mess lies with successive Westminster governments, not pensioners.”
Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK said: “We applaud the Prime Minister for his absolute commitment to fundamentally reform our broken social care system and to build a National Care Service.
“It is a critical issue that affects us all. Almost everyone will give or receive care at some point in our lives. Yet 16 years since the last White Paper set out the fundamentals of what a National Care Service might look like, the complexity and problems with social care have grown far worse. Change has never been more urgent, and the Prime Minister has grasped this.
“Recent Carers UK research has found a staggering 1.1 million people have left employment to care within the last two years, the equivalent of 1500 people a day. One in five employees (20%) now has a caring responsibility.
“Great social care has the ability to transform lives, help people to stay in work and also create valued jobs. As Baroness Casey’s work moves forward, we want to see the Prime Minister’s commitment today become a really ambitious settlement, with unpaid carers at its heart, that will truly deliver, providing people and families with the high-quality support they need.”
Responding to Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s speech at Labour Conference today and his commitment to the creation of a National Care Service, Kirsty McHugh, Chief Executive of Carers Trust, said:“The Prime Minister’s plan to build a National Care Service is bold, ambitious, and undoubtedly long overdue. For years, we have been calling for a sea change in social care, and it’s refreshing to finally hear those calls echoed back from the very top of Government.
“In the midst of planning for a National Care Service, we must ensure the needs of unpaid carers are heard and acted on. The demands of caring can have a devastating impact on people’s finances, wellbeing, and ability to live fulfilling lives.
Caring is an innate part of human life and to be celebrated, but many carers provide care for 100+ hours a week, with some delivering support around the clock – without pay or comprehensive support. We cannot forget the biggest providers of care – the millions of unpaid carers.
“We know from our 135+ strong network of local carer services that there are so many pockets of brilliant voluntary sector work taking place across the country. We want to see a National Care Service that builds on these foundations and places the needs of unpaid carers at its heart.
“Though the sector has heard commitments to reform time and again, never before has a Prime Minister placed social care so clearly at the front and centre.
“We are determined to work with the Government and other organisations across the system to ensure that a National Care Service goes beyond political promise and becomes a reality this time.”
Joanna Elson CBE, Chief Executive at Independent Age said:“It was extremely welcome to hear the Prime Minister talk about what older people living on a low income are going through.
“Too often they are left out of the conversation, yet 1.7 million people over State Pension age are currently living in poverty, and another one million teeter dangerously on the edge.
“We were pleased, too, to hear the Prime Minister’s pledges to lower energy bills and improve housing standards – which will be welcomed by older people in financial hardship.
“Before a double lock is implemented, we need to know that the UK Government has fully considered, and put in place protection for, older people on low incomes. Any changes that are made to the State Pension must ensure no current or future pensioners on a low income lose out.
“It is important to see action to tackle pensioner poverty directly. For instance, we would love to see a public take-up strategy to drive up the numbers receiving vital entitlements like Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.
“In the spirit of the Prime Minister’s speech, everyone in this country needs to know they can rely on a strong social safety net if they reach older age without an adequate income.”
The Communications and Digital Committee has written to the Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, setting out its view on key proposals for the next BBC Charter ahead of publication of the Government’s White Paper.
The Committee says this is not a “routine” Charter review and that the 2028 Charter must equip the BBC to navigate dramatic changes in how public service media is distributed, discovered and consumed.
The BBC is already under significant financial pressure. Therefore, any new or expanded responsibilities in the next Charter—in areas such as promoting regional growth, technological innovation or media literacy—must be matched by adequate funding or a clear acknowledgement that the BBC will have to do less in other areas. The Committee says the Government should be “bold, confident and unapologetic” in ensuring the BBC has the financial sustainability it needs to deliver any obligations set out in the new Charter.
There is no obvious benefit in giving the BBC a broad new public purpose to drive economic growth across the UK, as the Government has proposed. The BBC already contributes £6.7 billion to the UK economy and there is a risk that such a change could distort commissioning priorities and distract the BBC from its core public service objectives. Instead, the Committee says the new Charter should retain the spirit of the BBC’s current fourth purpose, which puts public value first, while articulating more clearly the BBC’s vital contribution to developing the UK creative economy.
In 2015, broadcast television reached 92% of people in the UK each week on average, compared to just 54% last year. To uphold the principle of universality in a changing market, the BBC will increasingly need to distribute content through third-party platforms such as YouTube. However, this comes at the expense of control over how content is presented, access to audience data and the BBC’s direct relationship with audiences. The new Charter should support both strong BBC-owned services and flexible third-party distribution.
Simply making content available on a platform does not guarantee that audiences will find it, and evidence to the Committee highlighted the need for stronger safeguards on prominence, data access, platform accountability and fair value. The Committee says the Government should set clear minimum expectations for agreements between public service media providers and video-sharing platforms, backed by new legislation if voluntary agreements prove insufficient.
Greater collaboration will become increasingly important if public service media providers are to overcome shared challenges and compete with global platforms at sufficient scale. The Committee welcomes discussions between the BBC and Channel 4 about an expanded iPlayer, but says any arrangement must be a genuine, mutually beneficial partnership that respects the different brands and funding models of participating organisations, while maintaining plurality and competition. If the Government also decides to give the BBC a new or strengthened duty for technology and R&D in the next Charter, this should be framed around innovation in the public interest and clearly linked to the broadcaster’s mission and public purposes.
Baroness Keeley, Chair of the Communications and Digital Committee, said: “The upcoming BBC Charter Review is fundamental for the future of public service media in the UK.
“It comes as national public broadcasters face ever greater competition for viewers from streaming platforms and international technology giants, and so cannot be designed in isolation from the Government’s wider digital and media policy.
“The Government should use the BBC Charter Review White Paper to set out a coherent and ambitious strategy for public service media over the next decade. It must also be realistic about what can be asked of the BBC as it grapples with significant financial pressures.
“We can see no obvious benefit in a specific requirement for the BBC to drive economic growth across the UK. It already makes a massive contribution to the UK’s creative economy. Including an explicit economic growth public purpose in the new Charter risks both mission drift and skewing commissioning towards more generic, more exportable content.”
WESTMINSTER’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has called for a new AI Bill to address the scale and seriousness of threats posed to human rights by artificial intelligence systems.
In a report published today, the Committee sets out a range of human rights risks that the existing regulatory and legal framework are ill-equipped to prevent or respond to. It calls for a new regime of safeguards that can address the complexity of AI supply chains and speed at which new systems develop.
Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Alex Sobel MP said: “AI is heralded as an unprecedented era of technological development with the potential to transform our lives for better or for worse.
“It is moving with such speed and complexity that its impact is hard to accurately predict. What is clear is that at present we are unprepared to deal with its consequences however potentially dire they may be.
“Nowhere in the world, including the UK, has a current legislative and regulatory approach to AI that is fit for purpose. New legislation is needed to establish a comprehensive set of protections that deal with the entire AI supply chain and its lifecycle. A single AI regulator should be established to set policy, monitor performance and with the teeth to ensure enforcement.
“We also recognise that AI has the potential to provide great benefits to society, including improving how human rights are protected. That is why it will be important to ensure that regulation is proportionate and targets the areas of AI development and usage that pose the greatest risks.
“Fundamentally, this is about making sure that you, as an individual, know when AI is being used in the decisions that affect you. We also want to make sure that if something does go wrong then avenues of redress will be available. We need these protections in now, it cannot wait until fear human rights risks become reality.”
Existing laws and regulation
UK laws that could apply to AI do so primarily at the point of deployment, leaving the responsibility on its users rather than its designers. Regulators lack the power to test and evaluate AI systems before they are released or to prevent their release if they are considered to pose unacceptable risks. Model developers engage with the AI Security Institute on a voluntary basis and it has no statutory power.
The current legal framework that applies to AI is fragmented and difficult to navigate. It relies on harm-specific and sector-specific legislation leaving gaps in protection which fails to address preventable human rights risks.
The right of an individual to seek effective remedy against decisions made against them is endangered by the use of AI. Insufficient transparency concerning how AI systems are used in decision making and a lack of effective mechanisms to challenge those decisions threatens the rights of people in the UK.
The risks of AI harms are particularly acute for already minoritised communities, including Black and Minority Ethnic people. As well, the right to privacy is under serious threat.
To address the global nature of AI harms, governments need to collaborate to identify risks and promote consistent standards. The UK should continue to play a leading role in international AI summits and seek to be party to international declarations and agreements on AI safety.
New AI Bill
A new Bill should take a risk-based approach to addressing AI harms. Low risk AI systems should be subject to fewer and less demanding legal requirements. Legislation should not place unjustified burdens on businesses, to enable UK companies to innovate and take advantage of the benefits AI can offer.
The AI Bill should establish a regulatory regime that classifies different risk levels and mandate more demanding obligations for higher risk AI systems and models. Obligations should be placed on all stages of the AI lifecycle, ensuring those responsible in the supply chain for designing, amending and utilising AI systems are aware of their obligations and they are effectively addressed.
Some uses of AI should be prohibited outright because they are incompatible with human rights. Potential areas for action include subliminal techniques, and inappropriate use of profiling or biometric data.
There should be a public consultation over the detail of what is prohibited. Other AI systems posing a high risk of causing human rights harms should require prior approval.
Legislation should place requirements on actors at all stages of the supply chain to undertake due diligence necessary to prevent an unacceptable risk to human rights when designing, developing or deploying AI systems. The requirements should be graded based on their role in the supply chain and the gravity of the risk posed.
Mandatory transparency requirements should be in force across the AI lifecycle. AI systems that can have significant impacts on individuals, groups and communities should include an obligation to state when AI systems are being used and how.
Data protection law provides specific safeguards for when automated decision making is used. The needs to be greater clarity in the law to ensure these safeguards operate effectively in practice. UK GDPR rules should be strengthened to ensure there are robust protections against the mis-use of automated decision making.
The mere presence of a ‘human in the loop’ is not sufficient to constitute meaningful human involvement or intervention.
Urgent action is needed to close gaps in the regulatory framework which is currently fragmented and difficult to navigate. A single, independent AI oversight body should be established on a statutory basis.
The body would act as the central point of contact for raising concerns about the use of AI and carry out oversight and monitoring of AI harms and risks. It should have strong powers to hold AI providers to account including setting codes of practice, transparency requirements and the power to sanction wrongdoing.
PRIME Minister Andy Burnham has responded to John Swinney’s request for a meeting to discuss comments he made at Westminster this week.
In a letter to Scotland’s First Minister, Burnham explained: ‘I was simply highlighting that there is no consensus for an independence referendum in Scotland’ and goes on ‘As I made clear to you personally when we met recently in Glasgow, independence and a referendum are off limits as it would take our focus away from growing the economy and helping families with the cost of living.’
The Scottish Government has not formally responded but Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay said on X: “We have already endured far too many years of obstruction, hurdles and political games from UK governments.
“It has gone on for far too long.
“The Scottish Parliament should have the power to trigger that referendum!”
Foreign Secretary’s oral statement to the House of Commons on Israel-Palestine
Madame Deputy Speaker, with permission, I would like to make a statement on Israel and Palestine:
I do so as a proud British Jew, someone with the deepest gratitude to the State of Israel for giving a home to my grandmother after she lost her husband, my grandfather, and 60 other family members at the hands of the Nazis.
I remember visiting her in the 1970s in Tel Aviv and seeing the life and the sanctuary Israel had provided. Indeed, some of my most joyful childhood memories were picking oranges as a kid on the kibbutz where my cousins lived.
Madame Deputy Speaker, my personal story and that of thousands of British Jews is one of the many reasons why I say to anyone here or around the world who questions Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people: you are wrong and we will call you out whenever you engage in this attempt at the erasure of Israel.
Madame Deputy Speaker, I know what the trauma of Hamas’s terrorist atrocity of October 7th meant and still means to people across Israel and to Jews across the world. It was a murderous act by a murderous terrorist organisation designed to massacre and instil fear across a whole population.
October 7th makes plain the grave threats that Israel faces. And it has every right to defend itself. We should not only condemn those threats but act against those who carry them out.
Iran continues to threaten Israel and Jews across the world.
We have already designated Iran’s IRGC and we will do more today on Iran’s proxy groups. So today I can also announce we are sanctioning Lebanese Hezbollah’s financing arm, Al-Qard Al-Hassan.
Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. So we are also acting this week to report Iran to the UN Security Council for its nuclear violations, alongside our allies. And I can announce today that we are also reimposing major economic sanctions on Iran in line with the European Union and the United States.
Madame Deputy Speaker, tackling these threats is just one of the important, shared national security interests we have with Israel, on which we will continue to co-operate.
I know too that so many members of the Jewish community now live in fear in the face of rising antisemitism, including here in the UK.
Last week we commemorated the anniversary of the Heaton Park attack—Jews murdered at their place of worship simply for their religion.
An outrage that was followed by antisemitic attacks in Golders Green, including on the Hatzola ambulances.
And the everyday life of Jews in Britain is deeply affected by the climate that such hate creates.
When I went to school in the 1980s, I did so without fear.
Today we need to face the truth: that is not the case for thousands of Jewish children across the UK, children who have to go to school with security guards outside their school.
Mr Speaker, no child should have to go to school facing this. And no teacher should face antisemitism either.
Whether it happens in our schools, universities or workplaces or online or on our streets, antisemitism is a scourge and an evil.
We are rightly putting in place an additional investment of £250 million for community security. But we all have a responsibility to do more.
As part of this, I will in October host representatives of the J7, the countries with the largest Jewish populations from across the world.
We will meet in the UK to discuss the different ways we can work across borders to tackle antisemitism, including tackling online hate.
So Madame Deputy Speaker, I am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the State of Israel.
And there is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the State of Palestine. Indeed quite the opposite.
The two state solution is based on an explicit belief that the only route to security for both peoples is to live side by side in peaceful co-existence with freedom, security and self-determination.
Securing the two-state solution in its fullest form is the North Star of this government’s policy, and indeed of successive British governments over decades.
And it is precisely this belief in the rights and freedoms of the Israeli and Palestinian people that leads many, including me, to a deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community.
In Gaza, the most unimaginable trauma and suffering in the last three years – death, destruction and dehumanisation on an appalling scale.
A stain on the conscience of the world and of this country too.
And in the West Bank, the clear attempt to – in the words of Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich – and I quote – “bury the idea of a Palestinian State”.
So Madame Deputy Speaker, there is a deeply painful contrast between our professed commitment to a two state solution, and the reality on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank.
I pay tribute to my predecessors, the current Health Secretary and the Right Honourable Member for Tottenham, for their tireless efforts on this issue as well as my Right Honourable Friend the Member for Lincoln.
We should always be proud that it was a Labour government that took the historic step of recognising the State of Palestine.
But the Prime Minister is right to say that the Labour government has not done enough in the face of what is happening.
So today marks the beginning of a new approach.
An approach that not only calls out injustice and suffering but acts.
And in taking this stance, I make a very clear distinction – which is crucial for all of us in this debate:
Our argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the UK has unshakeable bonds. Our argument is with the conduct of its government.
And I also want to say emphatically to people in Britain and across the world:
Holding British Jews responsible for the actions of the Israeli Government is antisemitism, plain and simple.
What we seek today is to salvage the only course for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians – the two state solution.
Let me start with the situation in the West Bank.
Madame Deputy Speaker, at the time of the Oslo peace accords in 1993, around 270,000 settlers lived in the occupied Palestinian territories. Today it is some 770,000.
More settlements have been approved under the four years of this Israeli government than in the previous twenty years.
Let us spell out what this has meant for Palestinian communities.
Houses bulldozed. Roads and public infrastructure destroyed. Families displaced from their homes.
Community by community.
Family by family.
Person by person.
Madame Deputy Speaker, sixty-five Palestinian communities completely expelled since 2023 – a total of over 4,000 Palestinians evicted from their homes due to settler violence and state actions.
And in August, the crossing of a long-standing red line: the issuing of E1 tenders for over 1,200 homes.
I visited a community in the area covered by E1 in 2014. The Bedouin communities I met in Khan Al Ahmar had lived on that land for generations.
E1 proposals would evict them and place settlements directly between East Jerusalem and the West Bank cutting through the heart of Palestine.
Let’s be clear what this means: the creation of a set of facts on the ground to make the two state solution unviable.
And on top of official state policy, settler terrorism is rampant.
The UN reports an average of six violent settler attacks against Palestinians per day this year, the highest on record.
Take one example
In Al Mughayir, twenty miles north of Jerusalem, settlers have encircled the village and mounted a campaign of intimidation, largely under the protection of the Israeli military.
Families in the village are increasingly cut off from accessing their land, squeezed into ever smaller areas and have olive trees uprooted and livestock stolen.
In the same community, just last week, two teenagers were shot when settlers entered the village under police and military escort. Both died before reaching hospital. Madame Deputy Speaker five teenagers have now been killed from their school this year.
Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli Prime Minister, has described what is happening as – I quote – “a violent and criminal effort to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank’.
The former Minister of Health and retired Brigadier General from the IDF, Ephraim Sneh has said – and I quote again – “this is ethnic cleansing to put it simply”.
Ethnic cleansing is defined by the UN as ‘a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.’
The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists.
And all too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.
Now Madame Deputy Speaker, I recognise the gravity of saying this but the truth is, it is the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice.
Now for a long time, the British government has rightly said settlements are illegal.
But we have remained silent on the question of the legality of the occupation as a whole, which in 2024 the International Court of Justice concluded was unlawful.
Today I announce that the official view of the British Government is that the occupation is unlawful.
Because of Israel’s entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty, and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements.
Madame Deputy Speaker, our position is not just an overdue statement of reality.
The government believes the unlawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationships we choose to have with the occupied territories.
I do not believe that the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets.
So I can announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
To do so, we will introduce a new comprehensive sanctions regime working with my Right Honourable Friend the Business Secretary, with appropriate religious exemptions.
And as part of this regime, we will go further.
We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion.
So to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of UK sanctions.
Settlements are illegal. They should not be promoted in our country.
Earlier this year, shamefully, just a few miles from here, we saw an expo advertising illegal settlement land.
We must and we will ensure this never happens again, so we will ban the advertising in the UK of illegal settlements.
The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel.
We will continue to support important and valued trade with green line Israel precisely because we support the two state solution, including security and prosperity for Israel.
For this reason, I wholeheartedly oppose the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions or BDS campaign.
The legislation I have announced today will be in place within 6 to 9 months and we will also take more immediate steps.
Today we are sanctioning a further set of extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence against Palestinian communities.
And I can also announce that we are extending the existing global human rights regime such that it will enable swifter action to deter settlement expansion, including crucially seeking to present the development of E1.
I also want to address the question of arms sales. We have already suspended over 30 arms licences used by the IDF in Gaza. That suspension remains fully in place.
We will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation, in effect a double lock against arms sales. This means the ban on such exports will now remain as long as the occupation persists.
To advance the two state solution, we also need viable and effective Palestinian governance.
So I urge the Palestinian Authority to accelerate reform and I urge Israel to lift its withholding of revenues that is financially crippling the provision of essential services in the West Bank.
The set of measures I have announced represents a clear message to the government of Israel, to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and to the world that we will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two state solution.
I turn now to Gaza.
The horror of October 7th appalled the world and had terrible echoes of the centuries of persecution of the Jewish people.
Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by Hamas terrorists. People murdered whilst seeking to protect their families. Young people massacred at a music festival. People abducted from their homes.
As the 20 point peace plan for Gaza sets out, this is one of many reasons Hamas can play no role in the future governance of Gaza, it must decommission its weapons and must dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.
Israel has the right not to live in fear of vile terrorism, and the Israeli State has the right to protect its people and defend its territory.
But Madame Deputy Speaker that cannot justify what has happened in Gaza.
Over 70,000 people have been killed, at least 20,000 of them children. 20,000 children.
The vast majority of the population is now displaced – nearly two million people – who are now penned into just one third of the territory.
Life-saving humanitarian aid and access has been routinely blocked.
Hospitals and clinics have been destroyed.
Over 60% of homes are in ruins.
Mr Speaker, international humanitarian law imposes clear rules for states fighting wars – including to ensure access to food and medical supplies, to avoid mass displacement of civilians, and to avoid the targeting of civilians.
Serious and intentional violations of this law, if proven, amount to war crimes.
What has occurred, including the actions of the IDF, have been examined in depth by a number of organisations, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry.
The conclusions of these reports represent increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed.
And we support legal processes to determine this.
On the question of genocide, the UK has always supported full, robust and fair judicial processes to consider allegations, with final determinations made by competent courts before the British government reaches a conclusion.
This has been the case for all of the genocides since the 1948 Genocide Convention: Rwanda, Srebrenica, Cambodia, and acts against the Yazidi people.
This will remain our policy. It is right that this issue has been brought before the ICJ and I want to make it clear that we support the Court in coming to its determination.
So accountability for what has happened in Gaza matters.
But even more urgent is action to address the ongoing crisis.
Because today in Gaza, the death and suffering continue.
Nearly a year ago, Madame Deputy Speaker, a ceasefire was declared. Yet over 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since.
And the people of Gaza are experiencing a totally avoidable humanitarian catastrophe, I am afraid, driven by decisions of the Israeli government.
Last week I talked to courageous doctors and humanitarian aid workers who have served in Gaza. It was a heartbreaking conversation.
They recounted:
Children dying waiting for medical treatment.
People forced to live next to open sewage and without shelter.
And food insecurity rampant.
I’m sure the whole House agrees, this is unconscionable.
So I pledge we will continue to do everything we can to provide all the humanitarian support possible to help the people of Gaza.
UK-supported hospitals in Gaza will enable around 800,000 medical consultations this year and essential health services for patients.
UK expertise will deliver care to over a thousand child amputees.
And we recently welcomed another wave of students from Gaza coming to study in Britain and we will welcome more.
But in truth, unless Israel changes course, the situation will remain dire.
So we are taking further steps – both ourselves and with others.
Our extension of the global human rights sanctions regime will enable us to target those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, whether in Gaza or anywhere else in the world.
And we will at the UN General Assembly in New York later this month shine the clearest and harshest spotlight on what is happening and what must change.
And with Jordan, we will convene countries across the world to lead a call for action on health and humanitarian access.
We will also lend the UK’s voice to the growing global alliance of countries – led by Arab partners in the region – calling for the full implementation of the US-led 20 point plan, the rejection of extremism, and for a lasting end to the cycles of violence.
As we implement the policy measures I have announced today, we will continue to assess the government of Israel by its actions. We want to see a new approach – in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Madame Deputy Speaker, today we refuse to be bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two state solution.
We call out what is unlawful.
We act on the import of goods from illegal settlements.
We ban advertising of illegal settlements
We act on services to prevent new settlement expansion.
We act on settler violence.
We support accountability for what has happened in Gaza.
And we pledge to galvanise the international community to confront the ongoing and urgent humanitarian crisis.
Above all, we say: Britain is not silent in the face of deep injustice and nor is it powerless.
And today we act in concert with others in a broad international coalition.
I can tell the House that today France and Canada are announcing, alongside Britain, that they will also ban the import of goods from illegal settlements.
Joining the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway – which have either banned goods or are in the process of doing so.
With many other countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden – pledging today they will support further action.
Madame Deputy Speaker, this is what Britain can achieve leading with others.
And this is in our fundamental national interest because if there is one lesson of recent decades, it is that we will never have stability in the Middle East without a two state solution.
And it is also the case that if we fail to stand up for the values that this country has long held and fought for, we lose credibility and influence in the world.
Madame Deputy Speaker, my parents came here as Jewish refugees and found sanctuary and a country that stood up for the rule of law, freedom and self-determination.
Those are the values this government is standing up for today.
And I truly believe that the vast majority of the British people, including in our communities with ties to the region, are united in their desire to see humanitarian suffering end, and all sides commit to a durable peace process.
And just as we want Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side, so we have to live out those values in Britain.
Jews in Britain, Muslims in Britain, people of all faiths and none have a right to live without prejudice or fear.
Madame Deputy Speaker, a Britain that upholds its values at home and around the world.
A Britain that fights against oppression and suffering wherever it occurs.
A Britain that stands up for what is right.
And I commend this statement to the House.
JEREMY CORBYN: Britain must end all support for Israel’s system of apartheid, occupation and genocide.
Chris Murray MP has welcomed the official opening of the Edinburgh Innovation Hub at Queen Margaret University, a major new centre for innovative businesses which has received £28.6 million in UK Government funding.
Chris Murray MP attended the launch of the new Hub, opened by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland Melanie Ward and Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport Stephen Flynn.
The £40 million Edinburgh Innovation Hub is a joint venture between East Lothian Council and Queen Margaret University (QMU), and forms the first phase of the planned Edinburgh Innovation Park.
It is part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. It is supported by £28.6 million from the UK Government,£1.4 million from the Scottish Government and £10 million from East Lothian Council.
The new facility provides specialist laboratory, office, meeting and conference space for innovative businesses, with a particular focus on life sciences, food and drink, technology, start-ups and related sectors.
The Hub has already welcomed companies including Forge Minerals, Aurora Avionics and Riverwood Ecology, with a further life sciences company recently signing a lease to move around 40 employees into the facility.
The opening represents a significant investment in Edinburgh and the region’s innovation economy and is intended to support the growth of high-value businesses and create highly skilled employment.
Chris Murray MP said:“It was fantastic to be at the opening of the Edinburgh Innovation Hub and to see the businesses already making use of this impressive new facility.
“This part of Scotland has been short-changed for too long, with not enough Government support to create the jobs of the future.
“So as the local MP, I am delighted to see such significant UK Government investment, driven by our brilliant Scottish Labour Ministers. This money will help to create opportunities for innovative businesses to scale up and deliver high-skilled jobs right here in Edinburgh and East Lothian.
“Andy Burnham and the Labour Government are determined to deliver growth and invest in good jobs in the industries of the future, and the Edinburgh Innovation Hub is a great example of what that ambition looks like in practice.
“We have an enormous amount of talent and potential across Edinburgh and Musselburgh, across life sciences, technology, aerospace, environmental innovation and more. This Hub will allow this talent to build the businesses of the future right here in Musselburgh.
“I look forward to working with the Hub, Queen Margaret University, the Scottish Government, East Lothian Council and the UK Government to make sure that potential is realised.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland Melanie Ward MP said:“The opening of the Edinburgh Innovation Hub is a vital step in backing Scottish innovation and building a modern, resilient economy.
“Significant UK Government investment of over £28 million is giving start-ups the specialised lab space they need to accelerate breakthroughs, scale up quickly, and create high-skilled jobs across the region.
“This project shows the tangible impact of targeted UK Government support. While the Hub acts as a flagship engine for the regional economy, its impact links directly into communities right across Scotland.
“By connecting cutting-edge innovation with national supply chains – from Scotland’s space sector to freshwater ecology – we are using targeted regional investments to bring growth, high-skilled jobs, and economic opportunities to every postcode across Scotland.”
Action to be taken on cost of living, local regeneration and essential services to drive down costs and support families.
Taskforces will tackle the immediate priorities of the public, building on action already taken including cutting bus fares and cracking down on subscription traps.
First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh to drive forward work across government to develop local solutions for local communities.
Three new cross-government taskforces are being launched in the new Office for the Prime Minister & Cabinet, tackling systemic issues like the cost of living and public control of essentials and supporting local communities.
The three taskforces will coordinate departments and ministers, focusing on the priorities set out by the Prime Minister to Cabinet yesterday.
The priorities will be driven forward by First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh, who will work across central and local government – including with regional Mayors as the government continues to pass powers from Westminster.
Immediate action will focus on challenging everyday rip-offs, the visible decline of local town centres and the failure of many privatised utilities to deliver basic services at a fair price.
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said: “The Prime Minister has been clear that the government’s priorities are the public’s priorities.
“This is about putting people back in control of the things that matter most to them and ensuring that the everyday essentials are more affordable and more accountable.”
Based in the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the taskforces will be fully integrated with No10 and across government to deliver the change the public rightly expect to see.
Details on the three priorities and taskforces:
Cost of Living
On the cost of living, earning back public trust begins with understanding the pressures facing families at the kitchen table. Action has already been taken in this area, including cuts to bus fares, support with energy bills and cracking down on subscription traps, but we must go further.
The taskforce will look to address the long term issues facing families, many of which have too often fallen through the cracks.
Public Control
For decades, the essential services that underpin daily life – housing, water, energy and transport – have suffered from over-privatisation, leading to high costs for the public. The Government is clear that the public has a right to expect these services to be affordable and accountable.
The public control taskforce will rewire the state, examining how public control across those four sectors can be utilised to return them to public service, and bring down costs for families. Looking at areas including market reform that could support these aims.
Community Renewal
Our communities have been left behind, high streets falling into disrepair, rubbish piling up at the sides of our streets – we will reverse that, improving people’s everyday experience of where they live.
Working with local leaders, we will create a genuine plan to rebuild Britain, not just replicating high street strategies that have gone before, ensuring communities are supported to drive through solutions, and deliver growth in every postcode.
