Labour Minister pictured on stage at glitzy London jazz club while claiming to be in Middle East 'pushing for peace deal'

She told MPs: “The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my Honourable Friend, the Member for Lincoln, is in the region pushing for a peace deal, hence my covering this brief today, although I am the Indo-Pacific minister.”

A Foreign Office source later revealed that the Falconer was flying back from Ankara yesterday morning after discussing the Gaza ceasefire.

However, the flight did not return in time to allow Falconer to answer the urgent question.

Despite claiming to miss the urgent question, Falconer was snapped by the business group SME4Labour shortly after 3pm.

Falconer was snapped at iconic jazz bar Ronnie Scott's in Soho, less than two miles away from the Houses of Parliament.

The event, which started around midday, saw attendees drink alcohol as a music stand was put up for entertainment.

Confirming Falconer’s attendance, SME4Labour said: “The MP for Lincoln and Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Hamish Falconer, joined the SME4Labour annual lunch, contributing to valuable discussions and fostering connections in support of SMEs.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel was outraged by Falconer’s decision to attend the event rather than field questions in the House of Commons.

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She told The Daily Mail: "This is deeply troubling. When the Government claims that the Minister responsible was in the Middle East 'pushing for peace' whilst he was really lunching at a jazz club in Soho means that either they have deliberately tried to mislead the House, or had no idea what their minister was doing.

"Catherine West must come clean on how this happened, and urgently correct the record."

In a subsequent post on social media, Falconer said: "As one of the UK’s key partners, during my first visit to Turkey, I discussed the security situation in Syria.

“The UK and Türkiye are committed to working together to support Syria’s transition to an inclusive and peaceful country.”

West was forced to step in for Falconer after Green MP Ellie Chowns tabled the urgent question on Gaza yesterday.

The North Herefordshire MP has since raised a point of order in Commons to “seek clarification”.

Chowns said: “Ministers must be honest with Parliament. Given the appearance of a discrepancy between Catherine West MP's statement and Hamish Falconer MP's whereabouts, I will be raising a point of order in the House today to seek clarification.

“On an issue as serious as Gaza, transparency and mutual respect between MPs is essential, and I would be disappointed to learn that any MP prioritised a networking lunch over their ministerial duties.”

Clarifying Falconer’s return flight arrived too late to allow him to field questions in the House of Commons, a Foreign Office spokesman told GB News: “Due to Ministerial travel, Minister West covered Parliamentary business for Foreign Office issues relating to the Middle East on Tuesday.

“Minister Falconer landed from Ankara at 11.45am and would not have been able to attend the Urgent Question at 12.30pm.”