LFI vice chair pushes for coexistence support at FCDO questions

LFI vice chair Dame Diana Johnson

LFI vice chair Dame Diana Johnson today asked a question at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Questions on Government support for the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. You can watch her question and Middle East Minister James Cleverly’s reply here.

The exchange was as follows:

Q: Despite hosting the G7 in Cornwall this weekend, the Government have yet again missed the opportunity to make global Britain a reality in the middle east by not seizing the initiative for UK leadership of the international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Why did the Government pass over that opportunity, and is there any prospect of the UK stepping up and leading that exciting new project with the United States?

A: I pay tribute to the right hon. Lady for her passion for finding a peaceful resolution to this situation; it is our shared goal. As I said in my answer, we will look at the detail of what this programme seeks to deliver, and as yet all the details are not available to us. We have always looked favourably on programmes that bring about peace but we want to make sure that they are effective and, as I have said, once we have more details we will assess our contribution or collaboration.