Middle East and North Africa

Tom Rutland Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

The hon. Gentleman is right to talk of the danger to aid workers. He and many others across the House will be aware that more than 500 aid workers have died in the Gaza conflict. I have set out some of what we are doing to try to ensure that aid gets into Gaza. We will continue to take those steps. We will continue to work with our partners in the way that I have set out.

[Tom Rutland (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Lab)]

I agree with the Minister that Mr el-Fattah’s tweets are abhorrent, and I am glad that the Government have made their position on his views clear, but I cannot understand the clear lack of due diligence on such a high-profile case, which has led to getting him over here being a priority for successive Governments. It calls into question the adequacy of the procedures within the FCDO if even the civil servants working on the case were not aware of his tweets. Will the Minister set out what he will do to ensure that due diligence is conducted on high-profile consular cases, so that officials can provide advice and Ministers can make decisions with as full an understanding as possible of the facts relating to any particular case?

[Mr Falconer]

It is precisely the concerns that my hon. Friend outlines that led to the Foreign Secretary commissioning the permanent under-secretary to conduct the swift review that I described in my statement. We will update the House when that has concluded.