David Cameron’s attempts to answer questions from MPs for the first time sparked laughter this afternoon, after failing to satisfy one member of the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee.
Lord Cameron took to Parliament this afternoon for his first grilling by the respected Committee, covering all topics from Israel, Palestine, Aid and his personal shock at being appointed to the top role by Rishi Sunak last November.
Taking to the grilling with his usual confidence, Lord Cameron confidently answered most questions, but fell short when pressed on whether Israel is committing war crimes.
Asked whether a Foreign Office lawyer has ever told him Israel may be in breach of their international humanitarian commitments, Lord Cameron said he couldn’t answer the question as he “can’t recall every single bit of paper that’s been put in front of me”.
Adding he “doesn’t want to answer that question”, the Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns pointed out that as Prime Minister he’d been more than happy to say that Syria had committed war crimes by using chemical weapons, and Hamas had committed a war crime by firing rockets at Israel.
Lord Cameron argued there is a difference between using chemical weapons to kill people “and Israel fighting a conflict where they’re trying to deal with a terrorist force that inflicting an appalling attack on their country”.
He added: “I’m not sure we’re going to get a lot further with this”.
“If you’re asking me, ‘am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law because this particular premises have been bombed’, yes of course I’m worried about that and that’s why I consult Foreign Office lawyers when giving this advice on arms exports.
“If you put it that way I’m happy to say yes of course every day I look at what’s happened and ask questions about whether this is in line with international humanitarian law,”
The serious discussion eventually resulted in laughter after Lord Cameron attempted to tell the committee how his department’s officials provide legal advice.
He concluded: “I’m trying to be helpful by explaining how the job works. Does that help at all”.
SNP MP Brendan O’Hara bluntly replied: “No!”.
At this point Lord Cameron appeared to give up, leaning back and signing with frustration.
Mr O’Hara similarly concluded: “I think that’s as good as we’re going to get from you!”
The committee grilling saw Lord Cameron reveal that two British nationals remain as hostages in Gaza, down from the eight confirmed by his predecessor James Cleverly.
He also revealed he is “disappointed” that the 0.7 percent international aid target had been cut by Rishi Sunak, but said he was now signed up to ministerial collective responsibility and argued: “politics is a team enterprise and you can’t always get everything you want”.
He refused to say whether he is now lobbying for foreign aid to return to 0.7 percent behind-the-scenes.
The session began with questions about Lord Cameron’s reaction to his surprise appointment to the job of Foreign Secretary.
He told the committee: “I didn’t expect to be called back to this role. I went to see the Prime Minister … and we were talking about various problems including Israel and Gaza, and he suddenly said ‘I’m going to be having a reshuffle and I’d like you to be foreign secretary’.
“That was quite a shock and I said instantly ‘I would like to say yes because I enjoy public service, I believe in it, it’s a very difficult time for these affairs, but let me go away and think about it’.
“I had a little bit of time to think about it and said yes, and I’m delighted to be back.”
