Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsty McNeill Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for International Development (Kirsty McNeill)]

Over three years, we have seen a devastating man-made humanitarian crisis unfold in Gaza. The UK is committed to improving humanitarian conditions in Palestine. We will provide £88 million in humanitarian and early recovery support this financial year to support the delivery of essential healthcare, clean water, sanitation and hygiene services. At the UN General Assembly last month, the UK, Jordan and Qatar co-hosted a meeting focused on driving action on humanitarian access and healthcare. We issued a call to action, urging the Government of Israel to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza.

[Warinder Juss]

Palestinian children are the only children in the world who are systematically prosecuted in military courts. Those courts do not meet juvenile justice standards, and Save the Children has found that at every stage of detention, from arrest to interrogation, transfer and incarceration, Israeli soldiers and officials have inflicted physical, mental and emotional abuse and torture on children. What action are this Government taking, with our international partners, to prevent the abuse of well over 300 Palestinian children who are currently being held in Israeli military detention?

[Kirsty McNeill]

First of all, I thank my hon. Friend for drawing attention to this incredibly important topic. Reports that hundreds of Palestinian children are being detained—as he says, many of them are being mistreated—in Israeli military detention are horrifying. Children’s rights must be upheld, in accordance with international law. Children must only be detained in line with internationally agreed juvenile justice standards, and we call for an end to military detention where it is incompatible with those principles. We continue to call on Israel to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross immediate unrestricted access to all detention facilities, and we raised this issue with Israeli authorities in September.

[David Williams]

Given the scale of civilian suffering in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, can the Minister please outline what discussions have taken place and will take place with international partners to ensure that international humanitarian law is upheld, and that humanitarian workers can work safely?

[Kirsty McNeill]

Gaza remains one of the deadliest places on earth to deliver aid. We have seen countless incidents involving humanitarian personnel over the past three years. The UK is a member of the Australia-led ministerial group that developed the declaration for the protection of humanitarian personnel, and lobbied other states to join. A total of 132 states have now signed the declaration, and just last month the Foreign Secretary met Australia and others at the UN General Assembly to maintain momentum and drive collective action to address this fundamental issue.

[Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)]

Three hundred and forty children in Gaza have died since the ceasefire of last year—an average of almost one per day—nearly half of them near the yellow line; aid workers call it the kill zone. UNICEF tells me that 100% of children are showing signs of stress because of trauma, hunger and the risk of attack from every side— from drones, which fire at them from above, and from unexploded ordinance below them. They face malnutrition, and have not had a formal education for three years. Whoever is elected today, what will the Foreign Secretary do to ensure that Palestinian children are protected, sustainable humanitarian aid gets in, the terms of the ceasefire are obeyed, education is provided, and Palestinians are given the chance to heal?

[Kirsty McNeill]

The hon. Lady speaks passionately and powerfully about the exact reasons why we have declared the situation a moral emergency. On average, four people have died every day since the ceasefire, over 300 of them children, as she rightly says. The civilians and children of Palestine will continue to be an enormous priority for our bilateral engagement with the Israeli Government, whoever the Israeli people pick, but the humanitarian situation could not be more severe. She can be assured that we will continue to press upon the Israeli Government, once elected, the need for unfettered access.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding) talked about the impact on children, but there is also a significant impact on reproductive facilities, which means that there are more miscarriages and more children dying at birth. Effectively, it is the erasing of the next generation in Gaza. That must surely constitute a war crime. How are the Government working with international partners to ensure the future of Gaza, given the threat of there being no children?

[Kirsty McNeill]

We held an event at UNGA on precisely this matter. Maternal, newborn and child health will continue to be a priority for the UK Government. As the hon. Lady will be aware, the UK has acted fast to try to get sick children to the UK for treatment; a cross-Government taskforce supported 50 critically ill and injured children and their immediate families in leaving Gaza and receiving specialist support in NHS hospitals. As I am sure she will agree, however, that action is no substitute for ensuring that people can access their healthcare rights in the country where they live and were born, and where we hope to provide them with safety and security through a two-state solution in the end.

[Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)]

11. What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of UNICEF UK’s “No Choice But Childhood” campaign.

[The Minister for International Development (Kirsty McNeill)]

I begin by thanking the hon. Gentleman for his advocacy for children; pressure for children’s rights will always be welcome to me. I share UNICEF UK’s commitment to advancing the rights of children globally, and am personally committed to putting children’s rights at the heart of all the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s development work. I am proud that the UK Government are investing in essential services for children, as well as maternal and newborn health and nutrition, childhood vaccinations, foundational learning, ending child marriage, and supporting children’s care reform. I will continue to prioritise children’s needs and rights across our development portfolio, and look forward to working with the hon. Gentleman on that.

[Seamus Logan]

A significant number of my constituents have written to me expressing support for UNICEF’s “No Choice But Childhood” campaign. When reductions are made to the UK’s aid budget, it is the most vulnerable children around the world who face the consequences of that decision first. Will the Secretary of State or the Minister commit to working with UNICEF to increase funding in the aid budget for children at this critical point? Conflict is increasing around the world, yet so many countries are decreasing their aid for those in conflicts.

[Kirsty McNeill]

As the hon. Member will appreciate, the money that we allocate for vaccination, and indeed the wider health portfolio, which was protected in our recent round of allocations, benefits children almost exclusively; the money that we spend on education also benefits children almost exclusively. There are other large parts of our portfolio, including humanitarian and climate action—I imagine that he shares our determination to achieve good outcomes in those areas—in which it is not possible or desirable to ringfence spending specifically for children, although children are outsized beneficiaries of that action. My job is to ensure that we get the maximum impact for every single pound of UK overseas development assistance. Some of it is specifically ringfenced for children, but much of it benefits their families and wider communities, too.

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

In Afghanistan, children, particularly girls, simply cannot enjoy their childhood. This summer marked a grim anniversary: it is five years since the Taliban began an assault on women and girls, banning girls from education. We have to stand with Afghan women and girls. Will we support calls from Afghan women to recognise gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, and will the Minister, or the relevant Minister, meet me, other MPs and, importantly, Afghan women to discuss what more can be done?

[Kirsty McNeill]

I would always be delighted to meet my hon. Friend. I commend her, other women and Members from across this House for all that they have done to draw attention to the horrifying, unspeakable situation facing Afghan women and girls. She will appreciate that there are sensitivities around the use of specific language in the international system, and I would want to be mindful of the views of other partner countries on this; however, I would be delighted, substantively, to meet my hon. Friend to see what we can do to advance the cause of Afghan women and girls, which is close to both our hearts.

[Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Blake Stephenson (Mid Bedfordshire) (Con)]

T4. Last year, more than 7,500 Eritrean nationals entered the UK illegally on small boats. Following talks to persuade Eritrea to accept the return of those illegal immigrants, the Eritrean embassy dismissed threats of visa sanctions as “a perfunctory political gimmick”. Will the Minister please update the House on what she is doing to apply diplomatic pressure to countries such as Eritrea that refuse to take back illegal immigrants?

[The Minister for International Development (Kirsty McNeill)]

As the hon. Member will appreciate, every time we enter into one of these negotiations across the whole of Government, our objective is to uphold the integrity and impact of our migration policies. The FCDO has responsibility for ensuring that our policy position is communicated forcefully bilaterally, and we will continue to do that. I have been in dialogue with the Eritrean ambassador to convey exactly the seriousness with which the Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary and the wider British Government take this matter. There will be no resiling from the forcefulness with which we promote our policy that Eritrean returns are central to this Government, and we will pursue that until they are secured.

[Dame Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)]

T5. While knocking on doors in Denton Burn in Newcastle on Saturday, a resident said to me that we see these terrible images of families putting children on to small boats and of floods, wars and droughts all around the world, but we never hear what Britain is doing to help people stay and flourish where they are. I thought, “Well, he’s right actually.” Could the Secretary of State tell us what is the most successful or effective thing that the Department is doing to reduce migratory pressures?

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[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

T8. While successive Governments have cut the international aid budget, the reality is that the public are still donating in their millions to causes that are dear to their hearts. Those usually relate to disasters, but the public also care about women and LGBT communities in other countries and many other issues. Will the Minister meet me to talk about how we can extend UK Aid Match beyond disaster recovery?

[Kirsty McNeill]

We do not currently have plans to expand UK Aid Match beyond the Disasters Emergency Committee funding appeals, which, as my hon. Friend rightly said, are focused on crises that require a large-scale rapid response. She is right, however, that the British public continue to care deeply about equality and the human rights of those overseas. The FCDO formally supports that through our women’s rights organisations programme, our grassroots sexual and reproductive health and rights programme and our LGBT+ rights programme. I would be delighted to talk to her and, indeed, any other hon. Members across the House about what more we can do to give life to the British public’s impulse towards deep solidarity on questions of equality.

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

T7. The Foreign Office facilitated a trip to Dublin for the Scottish First Minister, John Swinney. There, he met the egregious Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin to discuss the break-up of Britain. Why are British taxpayers paying for such nonsense?

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

About 13 million people have been displaced in Sudan, but they are far from safe. Earlier this month, a drone strike near one of the displacement centres in Blue Nile killed 31 people, mostly women and children. This is the world’s biggest humanitarian disaster. Where are the protests on the streets? Where is the round-the-clock media reporting? Where is the online coverage? Will the Minister set out what the Government are doing to raise awareness of that catastrophe and how we can galvanise international action?

[Kirsty McNeill]

My hon. Friend is right. Just yesterday, I attended an event in Parliament to mark the one-year anniversary of the fall of El Fasher. At that event, I heard testimony that I will never forget as long as I live. We heard about, and I spoke about, bloodshed so overwhelming that the ground was soaked with blood so deeply that it could be seen from space. That should be a matter of ongoing, daily outrage in our country.

Last month, at UNGA, the Foreign Secretary and I met international partners to galvanise further action, including through an event focused on the devastating use of drones to terrorise civilians, alongside our UK-convened coalition for atrocity prevention. I am proud that just yesterday, the UK announced further sanctions against commanders suspected of involvement in the atrocities in Sudan.

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[Pam Cox (Colchester) (Lab)]

There is cross-party concern about an extremely concerning situation in Tanzania—the trial of Mr Tundu Lissu, the chair of the party for democracy and progress, Chadema. Mr Lissu has been charged with treason after calling for electoral reform at a public rally during an election campaign. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death. The UK has long enjoyed close and constructive relations with Tanzania, so can I ask what action Ministers are taking to raise concerns about this serious matter?

[Kirsty McNeill]

We remain gravely concerned about the continued detention of Tundu Lissu, and we will continue to raise his case through ministerial channels and the British high commission. We note the UN working group opinion that his detention is arbitrary, unlawful and lacking in sufficient legal basis. We await the 6 November verdict and underline its significance for Tanzania’s democratic freedoms and the rule of law. I also take this opportunity to say that the UK remains firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances in every country.

[Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)]

His trial was unfair, and the 20-year sentence extension was arbitrary and outrageous—will the Secretary of State now unequivocally say that Ryan Cornelius should be released?

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[Kirsty McNeill]

We absolutely welcome the fact-finding mission’s report. Indeed, we were the initiator of the fact-finding mission, and we remain a huge champion of its work.

[Ben Obese-Jecty]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On the question I have just asked the Foreign Secretary, I have asked several times for a straight answer about the appointment of Jonathan Powell. I put in a freedom of information request on 23 June. That FOI was delayed to 22 July, then to 20 August, then to 18 September, then to 18 October and then again to 13 November. What can I do to get a straight answer from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, given that it has now been delaying a response to an FOI for five months?