Tag: Yvette Cooper

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 19 February 2026.

The findings of this UN report are truly horrific – atrocities including systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting used on the most horrendous scale during the Rapid Support Forces siege of El Fasher.

The UK called for this report to be commissioned by the UN in November to hold perpetrators of these vile atrocities to account, and today I will take its conclusions to the chamber of the Security Council and ensure that the voices of women of Sudan who have endured so much are heard by the world. 

Today’s report describes the most unimaginable and chilling horrors – including people forced to choose between starvation or eating animal feed, children subjected to mass rape, civilians ambushed and slaughtered as they fled the sieged city, patients and staff killed in their hospital, perpetrators boasting of mass crimes on social media, and calling for “extermination”.   

We need urgent action from across the international community including urgent international criminal investigations into the mounting evidence of atrocities in El Fasher to ensure accountability for vile perpetrators, justice for victims and to break the cycle of bloodshed.

We urgently need an end to arms flows. Reports into breaches of the arms embargo which we agree should be extended and enforced, must be investigated. The obstructions to the Fact Finding Mission from both warring parties are shameful and unacceptable – the UN needs unimpeded access to bring atrocities and breaches to account.

Most important of all we need global action and pressure in pursuit of a ceasefire, and essential humanitarian access with support for survivors.

Our response must be emphatic: the UK has sanctioned four senior RSF commanders accused of committing heinous atrocities in El Fasher.  And this week we joined the US and France in proposing they will be designated in the UN too – these crimes must not go unanswered. 

The world is still failing the people of Sudan. When the stories started to emerge about the horrors of El Fasher it should have been a turning point, but the violence is continuing. Today, in the Security Council, the UK as President will make sure the world does not look away. It is time to listen to the women of Sudan not the military men who have been prosecuting this war. We need action for justice, accountability and peace.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, at the United Nations in New York on 18 February 2026.

Colleagues, let me begin by welcoming my fellow Ministers joining today’s session and also by thanking Under-Secretary-General Di Carlo for her briefing, as well as Hiba Qasas and Nadav Tamir for their powerful remarks which remind us of the opportunity that lies before us, an opportunity to end the cycle of violence and suffering, and to build a better future, free from terror, free from occupation, and to bring lasting peace and security to the region, and to come together in the very spirit of this United Nations.

For more than two years, the human cost has been unimaginable. Families shattered. Communities destroyed or displaced.

Trauma that will reverberate for generations.

The pain of the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7th, the suffering of the hostages, and the devastation of the war that followed in Gaza, with over 70,000 Palestinians killed. That is ever-present.

With thanks to the leadership of the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye – alongside a wider intense intense diplomatic drive from many of the nations represented here today – a ceasefire was secured and endorsed by this Council, in Resolution 2803.

The hostages are home, and the families of those deceased can finally lay their loved ones to rest.

And we have an international determination to deliver Phase 2 of the Peace Plan.

But the ceasefire itself remains fragile.

And the progress we all seek is at risk.

We have seen ceasefire violations on both sides. 

Hamas has continued to attack Israeli forces. 

And over 600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began.

And this is deeply disturbing and undermines Phase 1 of President Trump’s peace plan. 

Gaza must not get stuck in a no-man’s land between peace and war. 

So to deliver Phase 2, we see four priorities for urgent action.

Firstly, we must begin the serious process of decommissioning Hamas’s weapons.

In line with the 20 Point Plan, Hamas must destroy its terrorist infrastructure and weapons production sites as a first step towards full demilitarisation. And we stand ready to play our part.

Hamas must have no future role in running of Gaza.

Because that is crucial for the security of Israelis and Palestinians alike. Alongside this we need to see the Palestinian police strengthened, the International Stabilisation Force deployment, and IDF withdrawal from the Strip.

Second, we need to build stable Palestinian governance.

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza must be supported to succeed.

This crucial body which was included alongside the Board of Peace in Resolution 2803 now needs to be supported to deliver for the Palestinian people, leading day-to-day service, delivery and recovery efforts, establishing its legitimacy and credibility.

That is the best way to weaken Hamas and render them irrelevant.

And there must be a clear plan for the links and transition from the Committee to a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Because Palestine must be run by Palestinians.

Third, we must prevent the destabilisation of the West Bank and preserve the viability of a Palestinian state. 

We have seen the Palestinian economy face strangulation, including the Israeli government withholding some of the Palestinian authority’s own tax revenues.

We are witnessing an all-time high of Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence, in flagrant breach of international law.

With Palestinian families and communities driven from their homes, beaten while farming in their own land.

Attacks that sow terror among civilians.

This is deeply deeply wrong, and a clear contravention of the resolutions of this Council, and counter-productive. It only makes the Israeli and Palestinian people less secure.
Fourth and most important of all, most immediately, we must address Gaza’s catastrophic humanitarian situation.

Families, repeatedly displaced, are spending this winter desperately seeking shelter amidst the rubble.

Without electricity. Without water supplies or healthcare.

Children have frozen to death, and died while awaiting medical evacuations.

This is unconscionable and, crucially, it is preventable.

To address these dire needs the United Kingdom has contributed over $100m for humanitarian support in Gaza this year.

Since the ceasefire, aid flows have increased, more crossings are partially reopened, but the level of need cannot be met unless more restrictions are lifted covering essential medical equipment, components for field hospitals, basic shelter items.

Because delays and restrictions cost lives. And we also risk now going dangerously backwards.

The Israeli government policy of deregistering and shutting down the operations of international NGOs in Gaza – including British organisations like Save the Children – risk choking off essential access to people in desperate need and closing fragile health facilities, so we need an urgent change in course.

So I urge the authorities to urgently ensure that experienced and long-standing organisations can continue to operate, and the UN and its partners must remain at the heart of the response throughout the whole of Gaza, including the proper protection of all UNRWA and UN staff, premises, and operations.

Colleagues,

Last September, I came to the UN and – and alongside allies – affirmed the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine.

This historic step, 75 years after Britain’s recognition of the State of Israel, reflected our commitment to a two-state solution, to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the security of Israel.

And I spoke then about the profound peril facing the two-state solution and the need for the world to come together and take action for peace.

That remains true today.

So Britain remains steadfast in our support for the security of Israel and its people.

Because a two-state solution can be the gateway to transform the region: with normalisation, regional integration and peaceful coexistence.

But security cannot be achieved by an indefinite or humiliating occupation that denies security and sovereignty to the Palestinian people.

So despite the trauma; despite the suffering of recent years, there remains the hope for a better future.

As we have heard from the powerful testimonies of our civil society briefers today.

In March this year the UK will hold a Peacebuilding Conference to bring together Israel and Palestinian civil society leaders to build trust and challenge divisions, because peace is built not just by governments, but by whole societies.

The UK has its own experience of peacebuilding in Northern Ireland, which was a conflict that many said could never be resolved and communities that many said could never co-exist.

There are other members of this Council who have equivalent or deeper insights. And we know that we cannot undo the trauma of the past. But we can chart a different course for generations to come.

To help realise Palestinian self-determination.

To help provide Israel with long-term security.

And to secure the two-state solution as the only path to lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

The comments made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 14 February 2026.

Since Yulia Navalnaya announced the loss of her husband here in Munich two years ago, the UK has pursued the truth of Alexei Navalny’s death with fierce determination

“Only the Russian Government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia.

Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin’s barbaric plot to silence his voice.

Russia saw Navalny as a threat. By using this form of poison the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition.

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 9 February 2026.

British National Jimmy Lai was today sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for exercising his right to freedom of expression, following a politically motivated prosecution. Beijing’s National Security Law was imposed on Hong Kong to silence China’s critics.

For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence. I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai’s health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family.

The Prime Minister raised Mr Lai’s case directly with President Xi during his visit. That has opened up discussion of our most acute concerns directly with the Chinese government, at the highest levels. Following today’s sentencing we will rapidly engage further on Mr Lai’s case.

We stand with the people of Hong Kong, and will always honour the historical commitments made under the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration. China must do the same.

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons on 5 February 2026.

I wish to update the House on the situation in

Sudan.

On Tuesday night, I returned from the border between Sudan and Chad, where I witnessed from the camp of 140,000 people in Adré—85% of them women and children who have fled the most horrendous violence and violations—the devastating human toll of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. In January, Sudan passed 1,000 days of conflict between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces. This is a regionalised conflict of power, proxies and profit, defined by unimaginable atrocities, by millions pushed into famine, by the horrific use of rape as a weapon of war, and by suffering that should strike at the core of our shared humanity.

That should mobilise the world’s resources and resolve, yet too often the response is to hold back and look away—catastrophically failing the people of Sudan, and Sudan’s women and girls. I am determined that we do not look away, and that we put the spotlight firmly on Sudan. That is why this week I travelled to the region to see at first hand the extent of the crisis, to listen to the testimony of traumatised women and children whose lives will never be the same again, to see how UK support is making a difference, and to see what urgently needs to be done by the international community to help arrest the spiral of bloodshed and drive urgent momentum towards peace.

In Adré, I met families who had been torn apart, mothers who had survived appalling violence only to find their daughters missing, and frightened children who had travelled vast distances in search of some semblance of safety. I met teachers, nurses, students, market traders, small businesswomen and political activists—impressive women whose lives and livelihoods back home had been stolen from them.

I met a mother separated from her children who told me she still does not know where they are and whether they are alive; a young woman who told me that most of the women she knew had been through “bad violence” on their journey, but they would not talk about it “because of the shame”; and a Sudanese community worker who told me she thought more than half the women in the camp had directly experienced sexual assault or abuse. I have heard from others in recent weeks, including a Sudanese emergency response room worker who described three sisters arriving at the response room who had all been raped. The oldest was 13, and the youngest was eight. This is a war waged on the bodies of women and girls.

But here is what I also saw: an incredible group of Sudanese women who have set up a makeshift support centre for women who have suffered sexual violence and for children with trauma. They have activities for children and support for mums. More survivors need that kind of help, so this week I announced that the UK will fund a new £20 million programme to support survivors of rape and sexual violence in Sudan, enabling them to access medical and psychological care, given the terrible stigma endured by survivors and children born of rape. That is part of our international action to tackle a global emergency of violence against women and girls.

What I did not see in Adré is just as disturbing: the fathers, husbands and brothers missing, either killed, drawn into the fighting or migrating further and leaving family behind. Reports from El Fasher after the RSF attacks were of atrocities so appalling that they could be seen from space—blood-soaked sand, multiple piles of bodies and mass graves—but aid agencies are still facing barriers to getting in. There are reports that the Sudanese Armed Forces are refusing to let desperately needed humanitarian aid through, even though right now some 30 million people need lifesaving assistance due to this war, and up to 7 million face famine. That is nearly equivalent to the entire population of London—every person across the entire city we stand in today.

In December, the UK provided an additional £21 million for food, shelter and health services, and we have committed £146 million to support over 800,000 people this year alone. Since the conflict began, we have reached over 2.5 million people, delivering water and medicine to hard-to-reach areas. We will continue to make Sudan a top priority for UK humanitarian support, and we will support reforms such as the steps advocated by UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher and the International Rescue Committee to strengthen prioritisation and closer work through local partners on the ground. But for aid to save more lives, the deliberate barriers to humanitarian access must be lifted.

Aid alone will not solve this crisis; we need an immediate and urgent ceasefire, we need those responsible for these atrocities to be held to account, and we need a pathway to peace. There is no military solution to the conflict—that only results in devastation for Sudan—yet the military men driving this conflict still refuse to agree a truce, and there is disturbing evidence that they are seeking and getting hold of ever more dangerous weapons.

This crisis is compounded by regional rivalries and vested interests, with the real risk of further escalation within Sudan and beyond as fighting spreads to the Kordofan regions. I am very fearful that the RSF advances on the city of El Obeid risk turning it into another El Fasher. Co-ordinated and determined international pressure are needed to halt this bloodshed and pursue an immediate truce, with a halt to the arms flows, tangible pressure from all those who have backed the RSF and SAF or who have influence upon them to deliver a ceasefire, and pressure from the entire international community too.

The US has been working intensively to secure a truce, drawing together other Quad countries—the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt—and discussing humanitarian support, military withdrawal, civilian transition and action to stop arms flows. I am in close contact with all members of the Quad, including Secretary Rubio and the President’s senior adviser on Africa, as we urgently push for a way forward. The UK is particularly involved in a process to support Sudanese civilians to build their capacity.

African partners in the region also have a critical role. In Addis Ababa earlier this week, I met Foreign Ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Chad, and the African Union’s chairperson and peace and security commissioner, to discuss what more can be done by border countries, and their assessment of the action needed to achieve a ceasefire. We need to build the same focus and momentum behind a peace process for Sudan as we had last year around Gaza, with countries from across the world coming together to back a ceasefire. That is why I am so determined that the UK will keep the international spotlight on Sudan. This month the UK holds the presidency of the United Nations Security Council, and we will use it to press for safe, unimpeded humanitarian access, accountability for atrocities, and international co-operation for a ceasefire. We will use it to ensure that the voices of Sudan’s women are heard in the Security Council Chamber.

As we look to the third anniversary of this devastating conflict in April, the UK and Germany will jointly convene a major international conference on Sudan in Berlin. In November, UK leadership at the UN Human Rights Council secured international agreement for an urgent UN inquiry into crimes in El Fasher, following its capture by the RSF. Later this month we will receive the report of that UN fact-finding mission, because as well as pursuing peace, we must also hold the perpetrators to account.

Today I can announce new action that the UK is taking to apply pressure deliberately on the belligerents, with fresh sanctions targeting senior figures in the SAF and RSF who have committed atrocities across Sudan. We are also targeting a network of individuals operating behind the scenes to procure weapons and recruit mercenary fighters. These designations send a clear message that the UK will hold accountable those suspected of perpetrating and profiteering from the most egregious violations of international humanitarian law.

To look away from crises such as Sudan is not just against our values but against our interests. Wars that rage unresolved do not just cause harm to civilians, because their destabilising effects ripple across borders and continents through migration and extremism. Let 2026 be the year that the world listens to the women of Sudan, not the military men who are perpetuating this conflict. Let 2026 be the year that the world comes together to drive urgent new momentum for peace. I commend this statement to the House.

STORY

Five years on from the military’s coup, the people of Myanmar face a deepening crisis.

By overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, the will of the people was overturned and their political freedom taken away.

Amidst this crisis, the UK remains committed to supporting a stable future for the people of Myanmar.

In the past year we have supported over 1.4 million people with humanitarian assistance and provided 1.3 million people with essential health services. We will continue to stand by those most affected.

Yet conditions on the ground remain dire.

Half of Myanmar’s children are now out of school, while women and girls face persistent violence.

Crimes that affect us in the UK, like drug production and cyber scams, have flourished.

The recent military-run elections were neither free nor fair.

For the aspirations of the Myanmar people to be met, there is much that still needs to be done.

We continue to urge all parties to protect civilians.

We call on the military regime to end its airstrikes; to allow unhindered humanitarian access; to release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in genuine dialogue towards a democratic and peaceful transition.

Today and always, we stand in unwavering solidarity with the people of Myanmar.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, on 26 January 2026.

I am pleased to gather with you here on such a significant and important day.

As we remember the 6 million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis. And as we remember all victims of Nazi persecution – from Roma communities to gay and disabled people.

Alongside all victims of genocide across history. An occasion for us to commemorate and to learn. And also, to combine remembrance with resolve.

To spur us to work even harder to tackle the scourge of antisemitism. And to relentlessly confront prejudice, persecution and hate.

The violent and corrosive effects of which are all too present in our own society today. And so tragically evident across the world. 

Thank you to Daniela for co-hosting today’s event – a joint initiative with the FCDO that goes back over a decade.

And thank you to the Holocaust Educational Trust, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, and to the Association of Jewish Refugees. For their essential, longstanding work and their contributions to this event, and for creating such powerful exhibitions that I encourage you all to view today.

The theme of this year’s Memorial Day is ‘bridging generations’. Reminding us that responsibility for remembrance does not end with the survivors.

Instead, it must reverberate through those that follow. Through all of us. A bridge across years. But also a bridge to join memory and action. A bridge across generations. So that our engagement with horrors past animates our engagement with horrors present.

Something that I discussed earlier with Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich who I am honoured is with us today. Huge thank you for being with us today. She has now spoken at countless national events and, perhaps most importantly, to tens of thousands of students across the country.

Mala, who for many years found it too painful to talk about her experiences and who has shown such strength and bravery speaking out, and will kindly speak shortly to share her story.

For decades, Holocaust survivors have carried the truth across time. Sharing achingly distressing experiences with extraordinary courage, so future generations would know what happened – and would never forget.

Each personal testimony an act of generosity to humanity. Bestowing the gift of truth, of wisdom so that we may honour their suffering. By reckoning with the meaning of their experiences. And by taking action in our own lives to make real the all too easy phrase of ‘never again’.  To make that real.

Each year, fewer survivors remain. Each time a survivor’s voice falls silent, we are reminded that soon there will be no first‑hand witnesses. Their absence does not bring an end to remembrance. It simply places it firmly in our hands. So that we carry and reinforce it through education, dialogue and action.

I’d want to say how pleased we are  to have the presence today of Meg Davis – Young Ambassador of the Holocaust Educational Trust – who has contributed so much to this cause.

And because education remains our strongest defence. Lest the passage of time dulls the urgency of the lessons. Or is exploited for the distortion of truth, the manipulation of facts, or – even more shockingly – the antisemitic denial of Holocaust altogether.

Because truth does not endure on its own. It endures because people chose to humanise it, to share it and to defend it. 

That is why I’m so pleased that Parliament has now, finally, passed the Holocaust Memorial Act, which received its Royal Assent late last week and passed through Parliament.

A vital step towards establishing the national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre that this government has so long championed. And that we want to see built just a few hundred metres from where we stand today, at Victoria Tower Gardens. A location so close to Parliament is fitting because we must never forget that the road to the Holocaust began in a democracy.

I am also pleased to announce that Jon Pearce will be appointed as UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues. To give advice and push forward UK policy – including promoting Holocaust education, remembrance and research here and around the world.

Jon who brings his deep personal commitment, having spoken movingly in the House exactly a year ago of his trip to Yad Vashem and of standing in the Hall of Names, overwhelmed by Pages of Testimony detailing the individual lives so brutally cut short.

We mark Holocaust Memorial Day at a time of successive repugnant attacks on Jews here in the UK and overseas. Jews killed for being Jews, in the twenty first century.

The appalling Manchester synagogue attack of 2 October during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

The terrorist murders in December as Australian families gathered at Bondi Beach to celebrate the joyful time of Chanukah.

Instead facing an unimaginable ordeal and loss of life. And the ever-present, horrific October 7 Hamas attacks – the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

All the grieving families and friends are in our thoughts today.

The loved ones of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz and all the congregants of Heaton Park Synagogue.

The parents of Ran Gvili in such anguish and pain as the wait continues for the return of his remains. And all communities mourning victims and facing hate today. 

Here in the UK, I want to pay tribute to the light of the Jewish community that shines so brightly in our country, enhancing in so many areas our communal life.

The volunteers from Community Security Trust guarding against attacks and protecting communal events. The fantastic, life-saving work of Jewish Women’s Aid, who support victims of domestic abuse.

The brilliance of Mitzvah Day – with thousands of people volunteering in their communities up and down the country.

The humanitarian work of World Jewish Relief, helping keep Ukrainian families warm this winter in the face of Russian aggression.

And I want to say clearly on behalf of this Government. That we stand with the Jewish community today and every day. Unresolving in our resolve to tackle those who spread the poison of antisemitism online and on our streets. Unrelenting in our determination to stand against antisemitism.

Hence further allocations to the CST through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant. Including for additional security staff and equipment following the Manchester attacks.

The Home Office’s independent review of public order and hate crime legislation. Steps in the education sector to tackle antisemitism in schools, universities and colleges.

In the NHS through Lord Mann’s review of the regulatory system for healthcare professionals.

And in my role as Foreign Secretary, I will continue to work with counterparts around the world to tackle the global of rise of antisemitism. Including close collaboration with Canada and Australia in the wake of recent attacks.

Just as I am committed to preventing atrocities and pushing for accountability wherever they occur – from Sudan to Iran.

We cannot only be witnesses to memory. We are its custodians. How we remember shapes how we act for the future. And how we act shapes the world we pass on.

By bridging generations, we honour those who were lost. We defend those who remain. And we protect those yet to come.

Thank you.

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons on 5 January 2026.

I want to begin by expressing my condolences to all those affected by the terrible tragedy in Crans-Montana, and my support for the Swiss authorities. The British embassy has been supporting the family of Charlotte Niddam, who was educated in Hertfordshire and in north-west London. I can confirm that yesterday Charlotte’s family were given the devastating news that her remains had been identified. Charlotte was just 15. The whole House will be thinking of her and her friends and family now.

Let me turn to Venezuela. Over the weekend, the United States conducted air strikes on a series of Venezuelan targets, and confirmed that it had captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They have been indicted on narcoterrorism, drug smuggling and weapons charges. I can confirm to the House that the United Kingdom was not involved in these operations.

UK policy on Venezuela has long been to press for a peaceful transition from authoritarian rule to a democracy that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people, maintains security in the region and is in line with international law. That remains our position and our determined view about what must happen in Venezuela now. Over the weekend I discussed this with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the UK Government are in close contact with our international partners on the issue.

The first duty of government is the safety and security of our citizens, and my Department is working tirelessly to ensure the safety of British nationals. Over the weekend I also spoke to the UK chargé d’affaires in Caracas. All our embassy staff are safe and accounted for, and working to support the approximately 500 British nationals in Venezuela. Our travel guidance currently advises against all travel to Venezuela, and British nationals in Venezuela should closely follow that travel advice, which will be kept up to date.

We should be under no illusion as to the nature of the Maduro regime. A once functioning democracy has become a hub for very dangerous organised criminal gangs—corrupt links have involved Iran, with Hezbollah increasingly present in recent years, as well as malign support from Russia—and a regime that has facilitated illicit finance, sanctions evasion and organised criminal activity, including narcotics trafficking and illegal gold trading. That undermines the security of the whole region, including UK overseas territories, as well as the United States and other regional partners. The country has been driven into economic ruin, with an 80% drop in its GDP in a decade. More than 8 million people have left, which has caused instability elsewhere in the region.

We have seen Maduro’s regime systematically dismantle democratic institutions, silencing dissent and weaponising state resources to maintain power through fear and corruption. The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into possible crimes against humanity, following reports of hundreds of extrajudicial killings, including at the hands of Venezuela’s security services and paramilitary groups under the regime’s command. UN investigators have repeatedly reported a pattern of arbitrary detentions, tortures and killings.

In the July 2024 presidential election, millions of Venezuelans voted, but the official results have never been published. The opposition leader, María Corina Machado, was banned from standing by Maduro. International observers cited basic failures of election integrity. Independent tallies covering 80% of polling stations showed a clear victory for Edmundo González, yet Maduro claimed victory.

Most recently, in October, the UN independent fact-finding mission reported on state security forces using firearms against protesters after the elections 18 months ago, where 25 people died. González has been forced to leave the country and claim political asylum in Spain. Machado was forced into hiding for her own safety and had to be spirited out of the country to receive her Nobel peace prize in Norway last month.

These are the hallmarks of a regime that clings to power through fear, coercion and violence, not through democratic consent. That is why, as the Prime Minister said on Saturday, we can shed no tears for the end of Maduro’s rule.

Let me turn to UK policy. The UK has long been an advocate for a democratic Venezuela and a vocal critic of the Maduro regime. Since 2019, successive UK Governments have refused to recognise the regime. Through the G7 and the UN, with partners and directly, we have continued to call out the Maduro regime and its appalling human rights violations.

We have also, in some areas, taken a different policy approach from some of our allies. Our other Five Eyes partners have closed their embassies, but we have maintained our diplomatic mission in Caracas at a much more senior level than many of our partners and are seeking dialogue, sustaining direct contact with the opposition, supporting Venezuelan civil society and advocating for British interests.

A year ago, around Maduro’s inauguration, the UK acted alongside partners and announced a wave of new sanctions. We targeted 15 individuals, including judges and senior-ranking officials in Maduro’s regime responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law, and for human rights violations. We have imposed sanctions on individuals, but not on sectors of the economy, and we have not supported or been involved in blockades or strikes against drug boats. We have continued to directly promote the interests of the British overseas territories, which need to see stability in the region.

Of course, throughout we have promoted and maintained support for international law. The commitment to international law, as the Prime Minister set out on Saturday, is immensely important to this Government. Those principles guide the decisions that we make and the actions that we take as part of Britain’s foreign policy. That commitment to international law is part of our values; it is also strongly in the UK’s national interest. Our manifesto talked about a foreign policy that is progressive and is also realistic, engaging with the world as we find it, in the interests of UK security, prosperity and our values. That means upholding international law and defending democracy, and it means confronting the complex, evolving and hybrid threats that we and our allies face in the world today.

Those principles and values also guide the conversations that we have with our allies across a range of issues where we agree and disagree. In my discussions with Secretary Rubio, I raised the importance of complying with international law, and we will continue to urge all partners to do so at every stage. It is, of course, for the US to set out the legal basis for its actions. The UN Security Council is discussing Venezuela this afternoon. These issues will continue to be matters for international discussion.

I discussed with Secretary Rubio what should happen next and our continued commitment to a transition to a peaceful and stable democracy. Our collective immediate focus must be on avoiding any deterioration in Venezuela into further instability, criminality, repression or violence. That would be deeply damaging for the people of Venezuela, our own overseas territories, our allies in the US and other regional partners.

The UK has long been clear that the leadership of Venezuela must reflect the will of the Venezuelan people, so the international community must come together to help achieve a peaceful transition to a democratic Government who respect the rights and will of their people. That must mean action on the economic crisis, the release of political prisoners, the return of opposition politicians, an end to political repression, respect for human rights, and plans for the holding of free and fair elections. I urge the acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, to take these steps forward, because the people of Venezuela have a right to decide their own future.

The US Secretary of State and I discussed the particular role that the UK can play to support a peaceful democratic transition and stability. Drawing on our embassy in Caracas and on the work that we have done over many years to build up relationships and dialogue with Venezuelan opposition parties and with the current authorities and regime, and of course our relationship with the US, to that end I have also spoken today with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Her unwavering fight for democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Venezuela, and against oppression, is inspirational. We will keep in touch over the days and weeks ahead.

Finally, let me turn briefly to another matter. The House will have seen recent comments from the United States and from Denmark regarding Greenland. Let me be very clear on the UK’s position: Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Our close European partners, our long-standing NATO allies and all our countries work closely together on security issues and will always do so. The future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes, and no one else. I commend this statement to the House.