Iran

Monica Harding Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

We want to see a better future for Iran and the Iranian people. We must be clear: it is the Iranian people who are expressing that urgent desire for a better future. The future of Iran must be in their hands. We will continue to work with international allies in support of action against the brutality we have seen. That is exactly why we are considering further sanctions measures.

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

When the US President tells the Iranian protesters that

“help is on its way”,

as he has just done, does that include British help? Will the Government rule out the UK taking part in any planned US military intervention without multilateral authorisation?

[Yvette Cooper]

As the hon. Lady will know, I cannot set out the US foreign policy approach—that is for the Americans to do. What I can do is set out the action that we are taking, the further sanctions that we will implement, and the work that we are doing, with international allies, to sustain and increase economic and diplomatic pressure in the light of the regime’s brutality.

Myanmar: Religious Minority Persecution

Monica Harding Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2026 Westminster Hall

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

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing this debate, and for all his work. I also thank all the hon. Members, from across the parties, who have spoken in this debate with such clarity and conviction, and so powerfully.

Next month marks four years since Myanmar’s military junta launched its brutal coup against the country’s elected Government. In the years since, Myanmar has been plunged into a brutal, bloody civil war. The consequences have been devastating, with mass killings, widespread displacement, economic collapse and profound human suffering across the country. Myanmar’s military junta has long been the principal driver of repression, including in the sham elections, and particularly in the persecution of religious minorities. What we witness today in Myanmar is not random unrest between non-state militias; it is systematic state violence with airstrikes on civilian areas, arbitrary detention, torture and collective punishment. It is a deliberate, large-scale system of repression, which has deep roots.

For decades, the Rohingya Muslim population has been subjected to sustained persecution, stripped of citizenship, denied basic civil rights and subjected to repeated military attacks. Over 600,000 Rohingya remain trapped in Rakhine state, stateless, confined to camps and facing severe restrictions on movement, healthcare and livelihoods.

More than 1 million Rohingya have fled the country, primarily to neighbouring Bangladesh, as we have heard. They face appalling conditions: the largest refugee camp in the world is in Bangladesh, just across the Myanmar border. Christians in Myanmar have also faced growing repression. Around 4 million Christians live in the country, many of them in ethnic minority regions that have borne the brunt of military violence. Churches have been damaged or destroyed, religious leaders have been detained, and entire communities have been displaced by airstrikes and ground offensives. Those are clear violations of the most basic freedoms—freedom of belief, freedom of worship and freedom from fear.

That brings me to the central point that I want to make today. The persecution of religious minorities in Myanmar does not occur in isolation; it is part of a far wider assault—an attack on not just specific communities but civilian society itself. Nearly a decade ago, when the Rohingya Muslims were subjected to large-scale military operations that drove them into a corner of the country and across borders, that moment should have been a turning point for international resolve. Instead, it became something else entirely. It became a test, and the world failed it.

What happened to the Rohingya was not an aberration but the tragic rehearsal of what was to come next. The tactics first deployed against the Rohingya, including collective punishment, mass displacement and the criminalisation of identity and dissent, have since been expanded and used by the junta against a broader section of Myanmar’s civil society. Today the junta targets not only particular ethnic or religious groups but anyone who stands outside, or stands up to, military control—pro-democracy activists, journalists, human rights defenders, teachers, doctors, nurses and aid workers. The common denominator is no longer faith or ethnicity; it is defiance, independence and the mere refusal to submit to a brutal military regime. The civilians’ bravery in the face of this is astonishing.

The humanitarian picture today is dire. Millions of people are internally displaced, and entire communities have been cut off from food, healthcare and shelter. Civilian infrastructure has been deliberately attacked; aid is obstructed; local humanitarian workers are criminalised; and starvation and displacement are used as weapons of war. This is a political strategy and a man-made humanitarian crisis, which brings me to the international response, particularly the UK’s. The case for action could not be clearer. There is an urgent need for cross-border humanitarian aid, for sustained support to local partners and for far less deference to junta permission that is never given in good faith.

However, the Government’s cuts to the aid budget, with spending projected to fall to 0.3% of national income by 2027—the lowest level this century—pose dire problems for Myanmar. Four years on from the coup, 22 million people require humanitarian assistance. That rise in need has also been partly driven by overlapping crises, such as the devastating earthquake this year. The Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that 16 million people now require lifesaving assistance and protection, yet the programme budget for Myanmar fell in 2025-26 to £47 million.

The international response is failing to keep pace with the need. The UN humanitarian response plan for Myanmar is only 17% funded, a dramatic fall from the already inadequate 36% reached at the end of 2024. Does the Minister have plans to increase the assistance to Myanmar? Where does Myanmar sit in the bilateral priority list of the FCDO, and does that not underscore the point? Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, Yemen, Bangladesh and Myanmar—I could go on and on. In the midst of all this conflict, why are the Government now cutting aid to such a low level? The Government must get back to their legal commitment of 0.7%. As the hon. Member for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber (Brendan O’Hara) said, to pile conflict upon conflict makes us less secure.

The UN has found localisation extremely difficult, unlike the UK and FCDO, whose localised approach is very welcome. The UN agencies themselves acknowledge that Myanmar is a context in which local actors are indispensable, because international access is so severely restricted. Military interference through visa delays, travel authorisation refusals and access constraints has significantly hampered UN operations since the coup.

The UK has avoided some of those obstacles by consistently supporting a localised approach—funding local actors outside the UN system, working through intermediaries and supporting informal delivery models, as well as working with local partners, including in areas beyond military control. The Liberal Democrats strongly support that approach. However, continued cuts to funding will inevitably undermine localisation, particularly when local actors are left without sufficient backing from the UN system. Can the Minister lay out how that support will continue?

The Government’s sanctions regime also reflects a troubling lack of urgency. Sanctions have been piecemeal, slow and insufficiently co-ordinated with international partners. We need the Government to co-ordinate and enforce a new round of targeted sanctions, to cut the flow of funds and arms to the junta in Myanmar and of the aviation fuel that enables the military there to conduct airstrikes against civilians.

Key economic enablers of the junta remain untouched, while accountability for atrocity crimes remains distant and uncertain. If we are serious about protecting religious minorities and about defending democracy and civilian life, that must change. The Government must support international accountability efforts and name those responsible for atrocities, rather than hiding behind diplomatic caution. Why will the Government not expel Myanmar’s military attaché as the representative of a regime committing war crimes? Given that the UK remains the penholder on Myanmar at the UN Security Council, it is in a unique position to lead the global response to the crisis in the country.

It is disappointing how little sustained attention the crisis receives, both internationally and in this House—the only substantive debate about it in this Parliament followed the Government’s own statement on the earthquake. Will the Government seek a new resolution on Myanmar at the Security Council to stop attacks on civilians and on religious freedom?

The Government have stated that they stand in solidarity with those calling for a return to democracy in Myanmar and they have urged the military regime to engage in dialogue with opposition groups representing the Myanmar people, including the national unity Government. I would welcome an update from the Minister on what engagement has taken place with pro-democracy actors, including the national unity Government, and on what steps the UK has taken to support efforts to achieve a ceasefire so that humanitarian aid can reach those who need it most.

Finally, if the junta were to fall—we have heard today how weak it is—is the UK prepared politically and operationally, with the requisite resource to respond quickly, to scale up humanitarian assistance and help support a civilian-led democratic transition in Myanmar?

The persecution of religious minorities in Myanmar is not a side issue but a warning—a warning about what happens when authoritarian regimes learn that the world will look away: first from one group, then from everyone else. We owe it to the Rohingya, Christians and other religious minorities in Myanmar, and to the millions of ordinary people in the country who continue so bravely and against all odds to resist repression and to hope for a different future, to take action. We must stand with them, not step back.

Middle East and North Africa

Monica Harding Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend has been a doughty campaigner on these issues since he arrived in the House. I do not have much to add. The British position on the deregistration of NGOs is absolutely clear; we opposed the proposals when they were first mooted, and we oppose the deregistration now. My hon. Friend refers to many of these credible organisations, many of which featured in the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee ongoing through Christmas; I know that many of our constituents, including mine in Lincoln, will have contributed generously because they are so keen to see aid entering Gaza, as we all know it needs to.

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

The Minister speaks at length about humanitarian need and the UK’s desire to lead, yet the reality is that this Government have cut aid to its lowest level this century and that the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Yemen and Syria all face cuts—aid to Syria alone this year has been slashed by 35%. How can the Government credibly claim urgency on humanitarian access, stability and peace while simultaneously withdrawing aid budgets? The Minister rightly condemns the suspension of international NGOs’ licences in Gaza, but the restriction of humanitarian aid is against international humanitarian law. Beyond these words, what consequences will this Government place on the Israeli Government?

Venezuela

Monica Harding Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

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

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that failing to publicly call out allies who violate international law—rather than just calling out one’s enemies, which is easy—fundamentally weakens adherence to international law? Will she denounce the illegal actions of the US in Venezuela, including the snatching of its President, and will she confirm that, if it comes to a vote of the UN Security Council, the UK will stand up for international law and will not abstain?

[Yvette Cooper]

The UK continues to argue for international law and to ensure that it guides and frames the decisions that we take as part of our foreign policy, and I have directly raised the issues of international law, particularly around Venezuela, with the US Secretary of State and we continue to do so. Upholding international law also means upholding some of the alliances that sustain that international law, and that is what we will continue to do.

Sudan: Humanitarian Situation

Monica Harding Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

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

I welcome the Government’s sanctions on the RSF. Those are long overdue, given that the US imposed sanctions in January and the EU have gone wider. Why has the UK left out RSF leader Hemedti? Why has the UK left out the Sudanese armed forces who are bombing civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war? It is widely reported that the UAE is arming the RSF, yet the UK continues to supply arms to the UAE. The Minister will know that selling arms where there is a risk that those states are arming actors who commit atrocities is in contravention of the UK’s obligations under international humanitarian law and its own strategic export licensing criteria, whether or not UK arms are being diverted. Why is the UK still arming the UAE?

I am deeply worried about the advances by the RSF in Kordofan, and there are real fears of another El Fasher. What are the UK Government doing to prevent atrocities of that scale? Humanitarian access remains severely constrained. What are the Government doing to open up access? Finally, has the Prime Minister spoken this month to the US President about the Sudan crisis? The Sudan appeal is still just 27% funded, and although I welcome the Government’s additional £21 million of funding, will they pledge further to this crisis?

[Chris Elmore]

As I said in answer to the shadow Foreign Secretary, we do not rule out any further sanctions and we will take evidence-based decisions on what has meaningful impact. On the UK Government’s response, as I have already said, the UK is at the forefront of the process at both the Security Council and the Human Rights Council. I reiterate that we take very seriously any allegations of UK-made equipment being used in this regard in relation to Sudan, but there is no evidence of that in recent reporting. In fact, where any weapons have been found, they have been of no ammunition or military purpose. They have been non-lethal supplies, which I am afraid is the issue in front of us.

Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations

Monica Harding Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Westminster Hall

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

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. This is an important and timely debate. I thank colleagues for their powerful contributions. I also thank the petitioners, including 479 of my own constituents in Esher and Walton, and those who have written to me about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Two years of brutal war have unleashed unimaginable suffering. The ceasefire may have quietened the shelling, but it has not rebuilt homes, recovered food supplies or restored the basic systems needed to sustain life. Violations continue on both sides and the reality on the ground remains desperate. After an estimated 70,000 deaths, a million people are sheltering in overcrowded, unsafe displacement sites, some without shelter, and the entire population is in humanitarian need. Food, water and healthcare networks have broken down. Famine conditions persist in northern areas, driven directly by the obstruction of humanitarian access. Clean water is scarce, disease is spreading and hospitals across the strip are shut or barely functioning.

The atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 were abhorrent; the violations they have continued to commit, even after the ceasefire, are abhorrent and a complete breach of international humanitarian law. The deliberate murder of civilians, the abduction of hostages and the refusal to release the remaining deceased hostages are all blatant violations of international humanitarian law. But let me be absolutely clear: what we are seeing in Gaza today is the horrific consequence of the laws of war being treated as optional.

International humanitarian law exists to shield civilians from the worst excesses of war. All parties have a legal and moral duty to uphold it. The International Court of Justice has again confirmed Israel’s binding duty, as the occupying power, to guarantee effective humanitarian access. International humanitarian law in Gaza has been breached and disregarded over the past two years. Aid should never have been prevented from entering Gaza. Gaza now needs hundreds of aid trucks every day to meet basic survival needs, but only a fraction reach their destination. Barely half of UN humanitarian missions have been permitted to proceed. That is completely unacceptable.

We were meant to see the scale-up of humanitarian assistance, but some £50 million-worth of international non-governmental organisation relief sits outside the crossing, unable to enter. Aid agencies warn that, without fully opening all land crossings and guaranteeing predictable access, genuine humanitarian recovery will remain impossible. Thousands need urgent medical evacuation, but only a tiny number have been evacuated since the ceasefire. Winter will make an already dire situation even worse.

Several crossings are open for limited humanitarian cargo, but the volumes allowed through fall far short of basic needs. The vital crossing point at Rafah remains closed, blocking civilian movement entirely, while key internal routes, especially into northern Gaza, are still restricted. We must also acknowledge that some aid has been diverted or obstructed by Hamas, further undermining humanitarian efforts and deepening civilian suffering. Humanitarian access must never be a bargaining chip, never subordinated to political agendas and never used to engineer local governance outcomes. Its neutrality is the only thing that ensures the protection of civilians.

International organisations such as the World Food Programme have been absolutely clear that they have the food, the staff and the systems ready to deliver at full scale. They now need a ceasefire that genuinely upholds and guarantees uninterrupted humanitarian access. With sustained, predictable access, the WFP can feed up to 1.6 million people for three months, and start restoring Gaza’s food systems and dignity through digital payments.

Donations to Gaza have fallen sharply since the October ceasefire, creating a catastrophic funding gap just as winter arrives, and leaving millions facing hunger, illness and collapsing infrastructure. Since the ceasefire, the UK has provided only £24 million in additional humanitarian aid for Gaza, while UN member states have met just 37% of the $4 billion sought under the 2025 flash appeal to support the 3 million people across Gaza and the west bank. That comes on top of the wider decision to slash overseas aid to its lowest level this century, with funding for the Occupied Palestinian Territories falling sharply; it is 21% smaller than it was last year.

Countries such as Germany and Ireland are stepping up with more serious humanitarian leadership and have shown greater urgency. The UK should do the same. Our people are no less generous than theirs. The British care deeply about Gaza, as shown by this petition. At a moment like this, Britain should also be at the vanguard of diplomatic efforts.

The Government must engage proactively with our international partners. Will the Minister tell us what conversations the UK is currently having with the Israeli Government to get aid in, and what conversations it is having with the United States, our European allies and other like-minded partners to secure unhindered humanitarian access into Gaza? What diplomatic conversations are under way to ensure that all parties comply with international law and allow aid to reach civilians without obstruction?

It is vital that UN agencies are not scapegoated or weakened at the very moment when they are most needed. The UK must be unequivocal: we stand with the UN system, including UNRWA; removing it without a viable alternative will plunge millions deeper into crisis. We cannot allow humanitarian agencies to be dismantled in the middle of a catastrophe.

The Liberal Democrats believe that Britain must reclaim its humanitarian leadership. I therefore urge the Minister to take the following steps. First, the Government should restore the legally enshrined target to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid. Doing so would restore the UK’s ability to deliver lifesaving assistance at the scale required. Can the Minister assure us that there will be no further cuts to official development assistance in the autumn Budget or thereafter? Will he confirm whether he intends to go beyond the £24 million pledged to Gaza since the ceasefire?

Secondly, the Government should ensure that lifesaving humanitarian aid flows freely into Gaza. They must use every diplomatic channel to secure the full opening of land crossings, predictable UN approvals, the restoration of Rafah for civilian movement and an end to the unlawful restrictions that breach international humanitarian law and violate ICJ orders. How do the UK Government plan to engage with the Israeli authorities to ensure neutral, UN-led humanitarian delivery, free from political interference, and to press for all land crossings, including Rafah, to be fully opened so that aid can reach those who need it? Have the Government raised the new registration restrictions with the Israeli authorities? If so, what specific assurances have they sought to ensure that no more barriers are created to the work of international NGOs?

Thirdly, should access continue to be denied, the UK must work with international partners to secure alternative delivery channels. Britain must co-ordinate pressure for sustained access to all crossings, while scaling up alternative routes in parallel. That requires pressing the US and Israeli authorities to open the crossings and urging the United States and partners in the region to use their influence to secure predictable humanitarian access. Fourthly, the Government must continue to push for a lasting two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.

Those on all sides must be held accountable for war crimes. While we hold our breath on Gaza, violence and restrictions in the west bank have escalated sharply. The situation is deeply alarming and continues to deteriorate. More than 1.2 million people there need assistance, around 40,000 are displaced and more than 200 Palestinians, including around 50 children, have been killed this year, alongside Israeli casualties from attacks. Large-scale Israeli operations, ongoing demolitions and severe movement restrictions are driving further displacement and disruption. Settler violence remains at crisis levels, with repeated attacks damaging homes, mosques and vehicles and further eroding livelihoods. I ask the Government to end all trade with illegal west bank settlements and insist on full humanitarian access and protection for Palestinian civilians across the west bank.

The situation in Gaza is a moral disaster, one made worse by deliberate choices. This is a man-made humanitarian catastrophe. Britain must lead with aid, with diplomacy, with integrity and with urgency to ensure that international humanitarian law is upheld, that civilians are protected and that this country is remembered as one that chose to act, not one that chose to look away.

Modern Day Slavery: Pakistan

Monica Harding Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Westminster Hall

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

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for bringing this important debate to the House.

Modern slavery remains one of the greatest violations of human dignity in the world. In Pakistan, an estimated 2.34 million people—more than one in 100—are affected by modern slavery. That figure places the country among the top 20 worst affected globally. Debt bondage, exploitative labour practices and gender-based inequality are driving millions into coercion and abuse. Pakistan’s vulnerability score of 80 out of 100 demonstrates the scale of systemic risk—from the effects of conflict and poverty to weak governance and entrenched inequality.

Although Pakistan has made some progress, its Government response score sits at just 37 out of 100—below the regional average—according to international humanitarian rights groups. Victims continue to be trapped in cycles of exploitation, with women in agriculture and children in bonded labour facing the harshest conditions. Natural disasters, including the devastating 2022 floods, have intensified that vulnerability; they have destroyed livelihoods and forced many into debt bondage simply to survive.

The United Kingdom has a unique and historic relationship with Pakistan. Our two nations share deep ties through trade, and we continue to work with the new Government of Pakistan for the benefit of all Pakistanis. That partnership gives Britain an opportunity but also a responsibility to speak up for those whose voices are silenced. We should be deeply concerned by Pakistan’s lack of action on modern slavery, as well as its lack of action to safeguard human rights, protect religious freedoms and defend minority communities. The UK must use its influence to encourage genuine reform and work with international partners to ensure that all Pakistani citizens enjoy the fundamental freedoms and protections they deserve.

The hon. Member for Strangford laid out the evils of bonded labour in Pakistan. Pakistan has one of the highest numbers of bonded labourers in the world, with over a million workers in brick kilns. Bonded labour is an abuse analogous to slavery. As we have heard, Pakistan’s Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1992 was enacted to outlaw bonded labour, but its implementation has been a significant challenge, perhaps because of a lack of political will or capacity.

What help is the UK giving to Pakistan to implement the 1992 Act by encouraging will and assisting with capacity? What conversations have the Government had with the Government in Pakistan about ending modern slavery, and what support can the Government give to Pakistan, given their own commitment to achieving sustainable development goal 8, which targets modern slavery?

We must also remember, however, that modern slavery is not a tragedy that happens only overseas; it is happening here in the UK, often hidden in plain sight. It is present on our farms, in our care homes, in nail salons and even in drive-through restaurants. Modern slavery is not a crime of the past. Last year alone, more than 19,000 potential victims were identified in Britain. That rise has been fuelled by deepening inequality and increasingly sophisticated criminal networks that exploit vulnerabilities and target victims through online platforms and social media.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was rightly hailed as a landmark piece of legislation and demonstrated that the UK could lead the world in confronting this abuse, but nearly a decade on, charge and conviction rates for offences under the Act remain too low. The result is a system where victims slip through the cracks and too many perpetrators escape justice. If we are serious about ending exploitation and working with our partners in other countries, we must strengthen our own enforcement, protect survivors and ensure that the law delivers accountability as promised.

We Liberal Democrats believe that the fight against modern slavery must begin with action, both at home and abroad. Primarily, we would introduce a business, human rights and environment Bill that would establish a clear duty of care on companies, financial institutions and public bodies. The legislation would require businesses to carry out due diligence to prevent human rights abuses, including modern slavery and child labour, across their global supply chains and to report openly on their actions. Will the Minister commit to exploring similar legislation, and will she ensure that UK-linked supply chains in countries like Pakistan are not allowed to rely on vulnerable or exploited labour?

The UK also has a major role to play in demanding fairness in global supply chains. The fast fashion industry, including major sourcing from Pakistan, has long been associated with unethical labour practices. I hope the Minister will set out today what steps the Government will take to ensure that no product entering the UK market is tainted by exploitation.

Beyond supply chains, more can be done nationally. I would welcome a promise from the Government that they will review the modern slavery strategy to help them to address modern and evolving trafficking methods and take a victim-centred approach. They should restore the modern slavery fund to support innovative approaches to tackling modern slavery and back it up with a multi- year funding model.

Our message is simple: Britain must not profit from exploitation. That means holding corporations accountable where they are complicit in abuse abroad and ensuring that our trade and foreign policy reflect the values we hold dear: justice, dignity and human rights for all.

For the Liberal Democrats, human rights and preventing violations of international law such as modern slavery are the centrepiece of foreign policy. We continue to work tirelessly to abolish the death penalty globally and end the use of torture, and we would ban imports from regions complicit in egregious abuses. However, it is not enough to react to abuse; we must build the conditions in which dignity and liberty can thrive—from Pakistan to China and from Ukraine to Sudan.

On Pakistan specifically, I would like to turn to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Ahmadis are among the most persistently and brutally persecuted people in Pakistan. Their crime, in the eyes of the law, is simply to call themselves Muslim. Under Pakistan’s constitution, Ahmadis are legally defined as non-Muslims. They are forbidden to use Islamic terminology, barred from voting and denied freedom of worship. Last week, I met the leaders of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in the UK, who described to me the grim reality of state-sponsored persecution. Fourteen Ahmadis are currently imprisoned, some for more than five years, for practising their faith. Their schools have been nationalised, their literature banned and their mosques destroyed. In the past two years alone, there have been over 50 attacks on Ahmadi places of worship and over 420 desecrations of Ahmadi graves.

For the Liberal Democrats, freedom of religion means freedom for all faiths whenever and wherever. I ask the Minister to make this issue a diplomatic priority. The UK must use its close relationship with Pakistan to press for immediate change, to hold perpetrators of mob violence to account, to release prisoners of conscience, to restore Ahmadi voting rights and to return nationalised schools. Britain’s voice matters and it must be used to defend those whose only wish is to live and worship freely.

Modern slavery and persecution thrive where the rule of law is weak and indifference is strong. We will not turn away. We stand for a world in which every person in Pakistan and beyond can live with freedom, dignity and hope. Britain must once again lead with moral clarity and compassion, using its influence to not only condemn exploitation, but confront it, and building a future where human rights are not the privilege of the few but the inheritance of all.

Official Development Assistance Reductions

Monica Harding Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Westminster Hall

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

It is indeed a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) for securing this debate on a critical issue. It is critical because we are at a cliff edge. This year, with 120 armed conflicts, more than at any moment since the second world war; this year, with nearly 320 million people facing acute hunger; this year, when 2024 was the hottest year on record; this year, when the deadly trio of climate, conflict and hunger collide to force the displacement of 123 million people, this Government decided to slash the aid budget to the lowest level this century—after, because of or in spite of the United States Administration’s decision to close USAID, cut the foreign assistance budget by 85% and shed 10,000 jobs.

This year, under a Labour Government, we surrendered our global leadership on aid and development. That represents one of the most consequential and devastating decisions of recent years, with long-term consequences for our stability, security and prosperity, and it will cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

It is a mistake, both morally and strategically—strategically, because aid is not an act of charity, as we have already heard today. It is a long-term investment in our future; it is not a cash machine in the sky, but a deposit account from which we withdraw for our own prosperity. There is a reason why some of the most vociferous voices against these cuts are those of former military leaders. In contradiction of the Government’s attempt to reframe the cuts as a choice between defence and development, they argue instead that the two are mutually supportive. To undermine one, is to weaken the other; as former US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said:

“If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately.”

These are short-term decisions with long-term repercussions—easy now, but so hard further down the line, and costing Britain more in the long run.

Through our development spend, we invest in peace and resilience building. We know that when fragile states collapse, they create breeding grounds for extremism and terror, and that preventing wars is cheaper than fighting them. The ONE campaign has emphasised that every dollar invested in conflict prevention saves more than $100 in emergency response. However, funding for the UK Integrated Security Fund has been reduced by over £130 million this year, leaving vital peace building efforts without support.

Strategically, cutting aid is a mistake because aid keeps our borders safe. When we invest in the economic development of a nation, we give people opportunity and a stake in the success of that nation, so they will choose to stay there rather than feeling compelled to seek those things in Britain by migrating to these shores. As the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world unfolds in Sudan, in 2024 alone more than 2,000 Sudanese nationals crossed the channel on small boats.

Strategically, cutting aid is also a mistake because development spend protects our health and security, and the NHS, keeping disease from our shores. Strategically, it is a mistake because development spend creates the conditions for trade and partnership, strengthening economies that become markets for British goods and services and promote growth.

Strategically, cutting aid is also a mistake because development is an investment in our soft power—the global influence that comes from being a trusted partner. When Britain leads on aid and development, our voice carries further in diplomacy, trade and security; when we withdraw, our influence diminishes and our adversaries, who watched us jealously, knowing the value of that influence, move in. As we cut our soft power tools, such as the British Council and the BBC World Service, China and Russia cement their influence across the African continent.

Those are the strategic arguments against cutting aid, but the moral arguments alone are enough. Government projections show UK aid spending falling from £14 billion to around £9 billion by 2027, a near one-third reduction in real terms, and the actual numbers are far worse. In-country donor refugee costs, or asylum accommodation costs, are consuming a fifth of our entire aid budget. What right have the Government to spend taxpayers’ money—including that of my Esher and Walton constituents—money that had been allocated to help the poorest in the world, in our own country to balance the inefficiencies of the Home Office?

Will the Minister ensure that the FCDO follows the International Development Committee’s recommendations, as set out in its report on the FCDO’s approach to value for money, published last week, that formal steps should be taken to cap the ODA that the Home Office can use for in-country donor refugee costs, including capping those costs at a fixed percentage of total ODA, and make a formal commitment that unspent ODA funding by other Government Departments is channelled back into the FCDO?

Analysis by Save the Children estimates that UK aid cuts will leave 55 million of the world’s poorest without access to basic resources, 12 million without access to clean water or sanitation and 2.9 million fewer children in education. This year’s cuts to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, alone will mean 400,000 fewer lives saved.

Let me be clear about what all that means on the ground: in the DRC, a flagship girls’ education programme that we supported will close early next year, and 170,000 children, mostly girls, will lose access to education. Other hon. Members have mentioned Yemen. In the DRC, around 27 million people face acute food insecurity, while cholera and measles spread unchecked. In Afghanistan, half the population—23 million people—require humanitarian assistance. All those are unprioritised by Government cuts. I could go on.

The Liberal Democrats believe Britain can and must reclaim its leadership on development. We need a clear road map to restore the legally enshrined 0.7% aid target. I ask the Minister: will the Government rule out any further cuts, and set out a plan to return to 0.7%?

We must embrace the role that the US has abandoned as the facilitating and convening power. I urge the Government to take up that mantle again, as successive Governments have done before, including Prime Ministers from the Minister’s own party—Blair and Brown, pledging to make poverty history. Before she retorts that those were the good times, I remind her that the coalition Government reached 0.7% for the first time, after the financial crash of 2008. Those were choices. This Government’s choice is to follow Boris Johnson, but to cut deeper, and to join the Conservatives and Reform in a race to the bottom.

I urge the Government to retrieve their progressive mantle; reverse these cuts; restore our legally enshrined commitment and reclaim our leadership on the world stage. Let us make sure that Britain’s generosity, leadership and belief in humanity remain not only a lifeline but a light in our ever-turbulent world.

Sudan: Government Support

Monica Harding Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Brian Mathew]

I know my hon. Friend has military expertise so I thank him for his points. Crucially, we must also suspend arms sales to the United Arab Emirates. The fact that British-made weapons, tools and equipment could be flowing into the hands of those perpetrating these actions is terrible beyond words, and I echo the words of my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), who said that equipment made on our soil must never end up in the hands of those committing such atrocities.

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

My hon. Friend raises an important point in his powerful speech, and I would like to take it further. Even if British-made weaponry is not being diverted and ending up on the battlefield in Sudan, the UK is still breaching sections 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 of its own arms export licensing criteria. Those rules not only prohibit the export of weapons that are proven to be misused, but they also restrict their sale to any country that may use arms to violate international humanitarian law. Does my hon. Friend agree that in exporting arms to the UAE, the Government have been acting contrary to international humanitarian law, and that we must stop selling arms to the UAE?

[Brian Mathew]

I agree with my hon. Friend. We must ensure that this business with arms is stopped. The atrocities that we are witnessing through the news, with the work of Barbara Plett Usher at the BBC, others at The Guardian and Al Jazeera, and through social media trickling through the media blackout, will be remembered for generations. El Fasher, like Srebrenica before it, will sadly likely stand as a symbol of what happens when the world turns a blind eye.

Gaza and Hamas

Monica Harding Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

If you will permit me, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will say a little bit about the wider evacuation operations. Evacuations have continued, including on Monday and Tuesday this week, both for students, who my hon. Friend has been so doughty in pursuing, and for highly medically vulnerable children who can benefit from UK support. That work continues, and I have been working alongside the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed). We have been able to help many people to get to the UK to transform their lives by getting vital medical assistance and educational opportunities, which I hope will allow all of them to make a real contribution to the future of Palestine.

The operations to get people in and out of Gaza have been incredibly complex, not least given the most recent closures. I am afraid that there are very strict limits on how many dependants anyone can bring out. We have made an update to our policy in relation to students who are fully funded, which says that we can support a very small number of dependants to leave. I know that many hon. Members with an interest in this have engaged with me directly, and I reiterate that these operations remain incredibly complex. I am happy to talk to all hon. Members who have an interest, but there is neither infinite capacity in the UK to support people, nor, even with our partners, unlimited capacity to get people out. We have made an announcement and I pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend and many others across the House, but I wish to keep people’s expectations suitably focused on the very many constraints that remain on these operations.

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

Renewed violence in Gaza continues against a backdrop of unimaginable human suffering. Millions remain in desperate need of food, water and medical supplies, yet aid convoys continue to face unacceptable obstacles. The UN reported yesterday that many of the 177 aid trucks that entered Kerem Shalom were limited by congestion on coastal roads, in part because of damage to that aid route, meaning that they were forced to limit their supply of aid far below what was agreed. As yet, aid routes are not fully open, but Gazans cannot wait any longer. Aid restrictions should never have been there in the first place. What specific pressure are the Government exerting on Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli authorities to get the routes fully open and the aid in?