The Israel/Gaza conflict the last fortnight has been viewed with alarm around the world.

As the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs Secretary eruditely put: cool heads must prevail.

What needs to happen immediately is for Hamas to return all hostages safely. We know that the Palestinian people, too, are victims of Hamas’ reign of terror and the British Government has pledged further humanitarian assistance to help civilians.

It was at the UN that the British Ambassador reiterated that Israel has the right, under the UN Charter, to defend itself against Hamas’ appalling terror attacks, with Britain’s position clear that every feasible precaution must be taken to minimise harm to civilians. The UK continues to call for immediate unimpeded humanitarian access to enable essential aid, water, food and medicines to reach civilians.

One of the issues I have raised with Government was the policing of protests on our streets following concerns highlighted over the scenes we have recently witnessed in central London.

As Crawley MP and a member of the UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee I am in regular contact with the Secretary of State and the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia & United Nations.

It is the case that even when one particular issue understandably dominates much national and international focus, the House of Commons is where Members of Parliament continue to highlight local issues of concern to residents.

In recent days I questioned the Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Secretary seeking clarification over Government’s implementing of its policy of ‘brownfield first’ for housebuilding.

This was specifically with reference to the controversial proposals put forward by Homes England to build up to 10,000 new homes on greenfield sites to the west of Ifield.

To mark Household Support Fund Awareness Week I have been encouraging Crawley residents to check with West Sussex County Council to see if they may be eligible for further Government support to help with cost of living pressures caused by high inflation impacted by Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.

Since the Household Support Fund was launched two years ago, over £2 billion has been invested to provide support with cost of living pressures. The latest round of funding covering between April 2023 and March 2024 includes more than £9.7 million for West Sussex.

This brings the total funding available to residents in our county through the fund to more than £24.3 million. Councils are able to use this backing from Government to help those most in need by drawing from local knowledge and directly reaching people in the community.

Henry Smith MP