We discuss all aspects of the current conflict with the Government of Israel.

The Foreign Secretary has also raised Iran's long-term support for proscribed groups directly with the Iranian Foreign Minister on 17 January and the UK's new sanctions regime designed to target Iran and its proxies' hostile activity came into force on 14 December. Iran must use its influence to curb attacks and deescalate regional tensions.

We will not provide a running commentary on negotiations, but the UK is using all diplomatic channels to support the international effort being facilitated through Egypt, Qatar and the US.

Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 yearly in the United Kingdom and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, £14 billion of which is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.

The evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption, and all tobacco products are harmful. When smoked, tobacco kills up to two-thirds of its long-term users. Tobacco smoke has been classified as a group one carcinogen, and tobacco smoke from cigars leads to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke.

The upcoming smokefree generation legislation proposes to align to existing age of sale legislation by applying it to any product containing tobacco, including cigars and pipe tobacco. In the Government’s response to the consultation, Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping published on 29 January 2024, 63.8% of respondents to the question on product scope agreed that all tobacco products should be included in the new age of sale restrictions.

The Government keeps all tax reliefs, including the Share Incentive Plan (SIP), under review. In June 2023, the Government published a call for evidence on SIP and the other non-discretionary share scheme, Save As You Earn. The government is carefully considering the responses and evidence submitted and will respond in due course. Any tax policy changes would be announced at a fiscal event in the usual way.

Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.

This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation.

In development of this policy, we have, and will continue to, speak to a range of stakeholders including in the public health community both in the UK and globally, and government officials in countries such as New Zealand.

The latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales show that levels of crime on a comparable basis are down by 56% compared with the year ending March 2010.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on crime affecting retail premises as part of the Commercial Victimisation survey, the publication for 2022 was published in May 2023 and is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-against-businesses-findings-from-the-2022-commercial-victimisation-survey

The data collected includes an estimation of the proportion of commercial premises which were a victim of crime. The data does not provide an estimate of the number of specific incidents of violence, abuse, theft, or other crimes.

The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any public-facing worker is never acceptable. We take this issue very seriously and recognise the implications these incidents can have on businesses as well as the victims.

On 23 October, the National Police Chiefs Council launched their Retail Crime Action Plan; which includes a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of retail crime instances where violence has been used; where an offender has been detained; or where evidence needs to be promptly secured and can only be done in person by police personnel.

The 23 October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.

As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 October 2023, the Government is creating the first smokefree generation, by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. This will prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking, as there is no safe age to smoke. The ‘Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation’ command paper sets out the proposed actions the Government will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stopping-the-start-our-new-plan-to-create-a-smokefree-generation

The Government launched the ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ consultation on 12 October on the smokefree generation policy detailed in the command paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping

Once final policy decisions are confirmed, the impact of those decisions on the public finances will be assessed and reflected in the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.

A smokefree generation will save the NHS billions over the long-term and put cash back in the pockets of millions of families across this country.

Since Hamas' abhorrent terrorist attacks on 7 October, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and the Minister of State for the Middle East have spoken to counterparts from more than 20 countries as part of extensive diplomatic efforts to prevent regional escalation and to sustain the prospect of peace and stability in the Middle East. On 22 November the Foreign Secretary hosted Islamic and Arab leaders in London to discuss the Israel/Gaza conflict and on 24 November, the Foreign Secretary travelled to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to engage with leaders from the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel. Ministers also continue to focus on opposing any attempts by malign actors to cause further escalation in the region.

I announced in my statement to the House on 29 June Firearms Licensing - Hansard - UK Parliament that we are providing funding of £500,000 to support the development and roll-out of a new national training package for firearms licensing staff, developed by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council. In due course the training will become mandatory for police firearms licensing teams.

The training package will be reinforced and supported by a refresh of the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice, which was the subject of a consultation from January to March this year. The finalised APP will sit alongside the Statutory Guidance to provide support and guidance to police firearms licensing teams.

The Home Office publishes annual figures on the number of firearm and shotgun licence certificate renewals and refusals in England and Wales in the ‘Statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates, England and Wales’ National Statistics publication. The latest data cover the year ending 31 March 2023 and are available here: Statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates, England and Wales: April 2022 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Data on the number of applications for the renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates that were granted, and the number of applications refused in the last five years are published in tables 1 and 3 of the accompanying data tables.

Reasons for refusing applications for a firearm certificate are not collected centrally. Under the Firearms Act 1968, police forces will refuse such applications where they are not satisfied that the applicant is fit to be entrusted with a firearm, has a good reason to possess a firearm, or that they can be permitted to possess a firearm without danger to the public safety or to the peace.

The Home Office publishes annual figures on the number of firearm and shotgun licence certificate renewals and refusals in England and Wales in the ‘Statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates, England and Wales’ National Statistics publication. The latest data cover the year ending 31 March 2023 and are available here: Statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates, England and Wales: April 2022 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Data on the number of applications for the renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates that were granted, and the number of applications refused in the last five years are published in tables 1 and 3 of the accompanying data tables.

Reasons for refusing applications for a firearm certificate are not collected centrally. Under the Firearms Act 1968, police forces will refuse such applications where they are not satisfied that the applicant is fit to be entrusted with a firearm, has a good reason to possess a firearm, or that they can be permitted to possess a firearm without danger to the public safety or to the peace.

The Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police for firearms licensing, which was introduced in November 2021 and refreshed in February 2023, requires applicants to provide relevant medical information from their doctor with their firearms application.

This is an important part of the licensing process which ensures that the police can consider the applicant’s medical suitability to be in possession of a firearm, helping to keep the public safe from the misuse of firearms. Doctors are also asked to place a firearms flag on the patient record as part of the continuous assessment by police of certificate holders during the five-year validity of the certificate.

The Statutory Guidance makes it clear that the responsibility for assessing whether a person is suitable to be granted a firearm certificate lies with the police, and not with the applicant’s GP or doctor. The Statutory Guidance contains a link to a Memorandum of Understanding agreed in July 2019 between the British Medical Association, the National Police Chiefs Council and the Home Office.

The Memorandum of Understanding sets out that the legal responsibility for the assessment of the suitability of a firearms applicant or certificate holder lies with the police and not with the GP. It states that while GPs will endeavour to share relevant medical information with the police, there is no legal liability if they fail to do so.

The Home Office collects data on homicides by method of killing in England and Wales. The latest data available, from April 2021 to March 2022, shows that there were 282 homicides involving a sharp instrument.

For the same period there were 9 homicides involving a licensed firearm and 19 involving an unlicensed firearm. The published data are available here Appendix tables: homicide in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) at worksheet 8, for data on method of killing including sharp instruments, and table 12 for firearms by licenced / unlicensed.