Sudan: Protection of Civilians

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

For the final Back Bencher contribution, I call Mark Sewards.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

Three days ago, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that

“Member States with influence must act urgently to prevent large-scale atrocities”

by the RSF and allied fighters. But atrocities have happened: 460 people have died in a maternity hospital. What has the UK done since that statement was made, in conjunction with the Quad and the African Union, to try to help those people trapped in El Fasher? While I know that the Minister cannot comment on future additional sanctions, will he at least consider additional sanctions or travel bans for RSF leaders and their regional backers?

[Stephen Doughty]

As my hon. Friend knows, we keep sanctions under regular review. He asked an important question about what we have been doing diplomatically. I have mentioned what we will do later today at the United Nations. I can also confirm that the Foreign Secretary has spoken with Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan in the UAE, and the National Security Adviser has spoken with the US special adviser on Africa, Massad Boulos. We are regularly in contact with other members of the Quad and speak to the African Union regularly, and indeed hosted an event with it at the United Nations. I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that we will use every diplomatic lever and every contact we can to try to bring an end to this terrible conflict—not just in the light of the atrocities of the past few days, but in the light of all the loss of life and violence that we have seen over the past years.

Ukraine

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

As the hon. Lady will know, we continue to support international law and international court processes. She is right to say that Russia ultimately needs to pay the price and to be held accountable for the damage it is doing. I hope she also agrees that Kyiv is an incredibly beautiful city, where many people are going about their daily lives undeterred, determined not to let Russia win.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

The politicians, civilians and soldiers I spoke to last month in Kyiv were unambiguous when asked what was the best thing the UK could do to help them win the war. The hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian assets that they currently cannot deploy could help them bolster their military and swing the war decisively in their favour. On their behalf, will the Foreign Secretary use every power available to her to unlock those assets and put them in the service of the people of Ukraine?

[Yvette Cooper]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s support for unlocking Russian sovereign assets. The Chancellor is raising that issue in Washington with international partners as I speak.

Iran-Israel Conflict

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I do not believe that that sits behind the action that we are seeing at this time. I do believe that the way forward is de-escalation and diplomacy.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

A full-scale war between Israel and Iran is clearly in no one’s interests, but neither is a nuclear-armed Iran, so what is the Government’s realistic proposal to return to diplomatic solutions as soon as possible and to get Iran to give up its nuclear weapons programme? How realistic is it that Iran will engage in such an effort?

[Mr Lammy]

I can confirm to my hon. Friend that, along with my colleagues in France and Germany, I expect to be engaged with Iran on this very issue in the coming hours.

Air India Plane Crash

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I associate myself with the comments made by the Minister, the shadow Foreign Secretary and many others from across the House in expressing condolences. My thoughts have been with the families, friends and the people who have lost loved ones in the Air India crash. I represent a lot of people in Leeds South West and Morley, including a group of wonderful families who organise under the name Morley Indians. They have sent me here today with a couple of questions for the Minister, so on behalf of one of their representatives may I ask what support are the UK Government providing for the families in the UK who have lost loved ones? In addition, what support can the Government provide to the wider community, following the impact of this horrific crash?

[Mr Falconer]

For families who have chosen to remain in the UK, a family liaison officer has been appointed by their relevant police force and should have been in contact over the weekend. I invite any right hon. or hon. Members who think there are gaps in that to get in touch with me, but hopefully every affected family will have now heard either from the Foreign Office or their relevant police force, if they are in the UK. We will continue to keep all of that support under review.

business of the house (today)

Ordered,

That, at this day’s sitting,

(i) the Speaker shall put the Questions necessary to dispose of proceedings on the motion in the name of Lucy Powell relating to Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (Policy Framework and Assurance Board) not later than two hours after the commencement of proceedings on the motion for this Order; such Questions shall include the Questions on any Amendments selected by the Speaker which may then be moved; proceedings on that Motion may be entered upon and may continue, though opposed, after the moment of interruption; and Standing Order No. 41A (Deferred divisions) shall not apply; and

(ii) the business determined by the Backbench Business Committee may be proceeded with for up to two hours, or until 10.00pm, whichever is the later, and shall then lapse if not previously disposed of; those proceedings may be entered upon and may continue, though opposed, after the moment of interruption; and Standing Order No. 41A (Deferred divisions) shall not apply.—(Lucy Powell.)

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend is committed to these issues, although I am sure she would not expect me to speculate at this point about what hypothetical next steps might be. I am sure I will be returning to this House, and I am sure I will continue to discuss these issues with her.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, having visited both Israel and Palestine just a few weeks ago. I welcome the Minister’s statement today, as sanctioning these two extremist individuals is exactly the right thing to do; they are enemies of peace, and no two-state solution will ever be achieved while they are in post. It is also clear to me that Prime Minister Netanyahu has come to rely on these two Ministers for his political survival, and the feeling on the ground in Israel among ordinary Israelis—backed up by consistent polling—is that they do not support their Prime Minister and will change their Government at the first opportunity at the next election. Will the Minister set out how the UK Government can not only sanction those who seek to destroy peace, but support those who champion moderation and peacemaking in the region, both in Palestine and in Israel?

[Mr Falconer]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, both for his question and the travel he has recently undertaken. As I am sure he would expect, I will not be drawn on questions about Israel’s democratic process—clearly, their elections are a matter for them—but I can assure my hon. Friend that we do everything that we can to try to support peacemakers on both sides of this conflict to find common cause.

Sanctions Implementation and Enforcement

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

The hon. Gentleman will know that there are significant civil and criminal penalties for the evasion of sanctions. If he or any other Member of the House has any evidence of that, I hope that they would share that with us and the relevant authorities, and we are looking at a single reporting point for people to do that. He can be assured that we look at every way in which people are trying to circumvent the sanctions regimes. We cannot have London, the UK or our British family being a place for those who enable this type of activity. We are resolute and committed to cracking down on it.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s statement. It is fairly obvious that these sanctions are essential in deterring the kinds of behaviours and activities that we do not want to see internationally. The Foreign Secretary has spoken about introducing sanctions against those involved in smuggling gangs and those who cause irregular migration to the UK. The Minister made reference to it in his statement, too. Will he update the House on when we can expect to see such sanctions take effect? Will he also comment on their effectiveness in dealing with and defeating the criminal smuggling gangs?

[Stephen Doughty]

This Government have been clear that we will take every measure possible to crack down on irregular migration and those who facilitate the cruel trade in human beings, trafficking them across continents and countries. That is one of the reasons we are introducing the new regime. We will be bringing forward the legislation in due course, and at that time we will be able to discuss the exact details of the proposals; we aim to bring that forward as soon as possible so that we can start taking actions. That is just one of the measures we are taking, and I regularly engage with European and other partners to deal with the whole chain of smuggling gangs and illegal migration. That is exactly what the Prime Minister will be setting out in his visit to Albania.

Ukraine

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for reminding us of the history. He will know that, in the 20th century, to the east it was only the Russo-Japanese war that stopped Russia’s imperial ambitions, to the south it was the war in Crimea, and of course to the west it was the containment strategy to which I have referred and NATO. This history is our best adviser as we approach the matter of peace.

[Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I start by commending the people of Ukraine for resisting the murderous dictator Vladimir Putin for as long as they have. They are heroes. Almost every Member of this House knows that, if we fold in our support of Ukraine now and give Russia what it wants, Vladimir Putin will only come back for more. Our national security is at stake. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that it is in everyone’s interests—Britain’s, Europe’s and America’s—to ensure that any potential peace deal includes Ukraine at the table?

[Mr Lammy]

“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” was heard loudly of course from President Zelensky, but all Europeans recognised it. I am pleased that Secretary of State Rubio, in my conversations with him, and indeed General Kellogg have both underlined the importance of Ukraine being at the table.

UK-Ukraine 100-year Partnership

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I know that the hon. Gentleman understands history. He will know that after the second world war, we were in quite a lot of debt to the United States as a result of lend-lease, which it took us many years to pay off. Today, no trading relationship of ours is bigger than that with the United States: it totals over $300 billion, with $1.2 trillion invested in each other’s economies, and 1 million British people working in US companies and 1 million Americans working in British companies. This partnership sets up something similar for the next 100 years. It is the result of war, but it has brought our two nations together. He is absolutely right to centre on how we can better use those Russian assets. That is a matter of close discussion across the European family.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Government’s commitment to 100 years of friendship with the people of Ukraine. In pillar 4, which talks about economy and trade, there is a commitment to “broaden mutual market access” and raise

“awareness and utilisation of the UK-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement”.

How long will it take for that work come into effect and for both countries to benefit from it?

[Mr Lammy]

I am so glad that my hon. Friend has drawn attention to pillar 4. That allows me to remind the House that the Prime Minister announced £40 million for a new economic recovery programme, which will create opportunities for UK companies by supporting key growth sectors in Ukraine. That is the bedrock of an enhanced trade and investment opportunity, and eventually a trading relationship when Ukraine gets back to the normality that I know it is so keen to achieve.

Pro-democracy Campaigners: Arrests

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West]

The right hon. Member asks two excellent questions. The first concerns training and capabilities, which feature in our audit of Government Departments and the extent of their preparedness for these increasingly different challenges and threats—they are part of what we are looking at. In response to the second question, I can tell the right hon. Member that BNO passport holders are safe because we keep them safe, and we ensure that there is adequate training and up-to-date knowledge on an ongoing basis. I think that we have the best intelligence services going, particularly when it comes to questions of this sort, but we can never be complacent. Instances such as those raised by the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel) and others give us an opportunity to underline from Parliament the important and cross-party nature of cracking down on transnational repression.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

Chloe Cheung, a resident of Leeds, has been subject to a £100,000 bounty simply for telling the truth about Jimmy Lai. At 19 years old, she is the youngest person to be subject to Hong Kong’s national security law. What reassurances can the Minister give Chloe and other Hongkongers that they will be protected from transnational repression while they reside within our borders?

[Catherine West]

I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent constituency work, and for knowing his constituents so well such a short time after being elected. I can reassure him that if he feels that the advice that his constituent has been given is in any way lacking, he can write to me so that I can secure a specially designed package of safety for that vulnerable 19-year-old.

Syria

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Monday 9th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am very grateful for the interest in these issues and in the region that my hon. Friend has shown over many, many years. He will understand that we are in the foothills here, and that a lot has to be done to stabilise Syria at this time. In that context, it is a little premature to give a timetable. I understand why he wants one—he wants to guarantee that things will not go south over the coming months—but the issues that I raised relating to oil, fuel and energy and support for public services are pressing on our minds. We have to ensure that disorder does not set in, and that is what we will be working closely on with partners over the coming days.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement, and the detailed and nuanced answers he has given to what have been some complex questions are extremely welcome. One thing that is not complex is the fact that Assad is a murderer who has taken 500,000 people’s lives, and my right hon. Friend was absolutely right to resist calls to reopen channels and negotiate with him.

I have two questions: one simple, one not so simple. First, does my right hon. Friend agree that every single Member of this House should welcome the downfall of Assad? Secondly, does he have thoughts on what this means for Russia? Will its catastrophic failure in Syria change its behaviour in other conflicts, including in Ukraine?

[Mr Lammy]

I think my hon. Friend can feel the united position on Assad in this Chamber. We are one of the great democratic Chambers of the world, which is why we know a dictator when we see one, and we call that out across the House. On the other point my hon. Friend makes about Putin, I am always reassured in these moments that in the end dictators fall because they never attend to all of their population. They always suppress the will of minority groups and opposition, and in the end they have to run their countries with a horrible, horrendous iron rod, because they know—as we saw with those statues coming down—that there is a target on their back. That is where I take heart about the future of Vladimir Putin.