May 2026

I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.

I call the shadow Chancellor.

Before I call the Chancellor to make her statement, I have to say to her that Mr Speaker has checked the ministerial code, which makes it clear that important policy announcements should be made in the first instance in this House when it is sitting. This House and its Members should be the first to know what the Government are doing—not TikTok. Posting videos on social media to announce new policies before informing this House is not in line with the Government’s own rules. This is a new parlia

Order. I remind Members that questions need to be much shorter if we are going to get business done today.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I call the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

I call the shadow Foreign Secretary.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I call the shadow Minister.

That concludes business questions. I have a list of Members who were unsuccessful in catching my eye today, but may I ask Members to reflect on the length of their questions? With such long questions, it is really difficult to get everybody in.

For the final question, I call Laurence Turner.

Order. Before the next question, Members should be aware that I am aiming to finish business questions at about 12.15 pm, so it is unlikely that I will get everybody in, even if the questions are very short.

It is a great pleasure to answer a question from my hon. Friend, not least because he himself was a distinguished member of the diplomatic service. He is absolutely right.

The challenge for the Minister is that we have come in for a statement on the middle east, but in the last few weeks alone, we have seen the treatment of detainees being flaunted on television by an Israeli Minister, who clearly has no regard for international human law, and that clearly demands a stronger response. We have seen an ongoing restriction on aid to Gaza, which the Minister himself describes as resulting in children being bitten by rats, and we have seen an ongoing escalation in viol

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving me an opportunity to touch briefly on Yemen. Events there remain dire, and we continue to see famine right across the country. The behaviour of the Houthis is not in the interests of the Yemeni people. We have regular and fruitful discussions with all our partners on the GCC about Yemen, Sudan and a whole range of international crises facing us, and will continue to do so.

You are absolutely right, Mr Stringer. I apologise.

Youth unemployment is now at 5%. On current form, it will rise to 5.8% by next year, which will mean a very large number of young people without work. What actions can the Chancellor take to ensure that young people get access to jobs and careers, and do not have the deeply depressing experience of being unemployed when they leave school, college or university? A disproportionate number of young people rent in the private rental sector, so will she also do something about bringing in much needed

Yesterday I raised a point of order on the attack on Khan al-Ahmar and the brutality of the settler forces who are destroying lives there. That is now continuing all across the west bank, where settler violence is destroying Palestinian villages. The genocide in Gaza is continuing; the occupation of the west bank in its totality is continuing. The Minister talks about sanctions against Israel, but where are the sanctions that mean anything? Why are we still supplying arms and weapons? Why are we

Parliamentary appearance by Ben Obese-Jecty

That concludes the statement. I thank Members for shortening their questions, so that we could get everybody in.