British Council
Debate between Baroness Alexander of Cleveden and Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
There is an interesting response to that today.
There are so many different levers for soft power that may not have been there in the past, but that does not mean that the British Council is not central to our soft power around the world. We are committed to strengthening it and making sure that it can continue to do outstanding work well into the 21st century.
Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Lab)
My Lords, I declare my interests as on the register. My noble friend the Minister will have the sentiment of the House on this matter and the overdue delay in resolving a Covid-era loan. Remembrance Day is the right day to remember that the British Council was founded 90 years ago, to fight fascism. It is the greatest soft power asset that this country has, and it is envied by friends and foe alike. The reality is that it is financially imperilled by a loan from the Covid era. Will my noble friend commit that the Foreign Secretary will now finally grip this issue and meet the leadership of the council to resolve the financial issues and allow it to continue to be the credit to this country that it has been in the past and should be in the future?
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
There is no lack of will to get this resolved. We need to see modernisation at the British Council; it is working hard at this and deserves credit for that. As the noble Baroness says, it is incredibly well-networked internationally, but I have to say that its network inside this House is equally impressive.
Middle East
Debate between Baroness Alexander of Cleveden and Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
I think it is. I was in South Africa in 1994, just before the elections. I remember that time of huge optimism but also of great fear in certain parts of the population. I recognise completely what my noble friend says. Sometimes, we look back and forget just how desperate things got in South Africa at various points and the things that were done.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to feel that sense of optimism now, either about Sudan or the situation in Gaza. I fear that there is a Government who are deliberately acting in a way that they know is leading to enormous suffering and death in Gaza. This can be prevented very quickly. If dialogue is needed, dialogue is what we should have. It would be very good to move forward in a way that takes us to a place where there is a process and a structure to negotiations, and where the UK—or any country that is able to—is able to bring parties together. Perhaps that means our friends in the region; it does not have to be some of the usual partners who lead this, but dialogue is the only way, ultimately, that this will be resolved. The problem today is one of desperate need and starvation in that population.
Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Lab)
My Lords, I would like to follow the remark just made by my noble friend about the lessons from southern Africa; I would not presume to be any more expert than he is on that matter. Of course there was a place for promoting reconciliation and dialogue, but there was also a place for sanctions against a pariah regime, and that brings me to my question for my noble friend the Minister.
I want to focus on what is excluded from this Statement. The Minister helpfully told us that this is “a man-made famine” and that she is
“outraged by the Israeli Government’s refusal to allow in sufficient aid”.
In the light of the Government’s outrage at man-made famine, why are they not including any new sanctions against the Israeli Government or their members, who have promulgated the terrible acts that we have seen over recent weeks? Given that there are no new sanctions in today’s Statement, can we be reassured that further sanctions remain under active consideration as a response to the humanitarian outrage and man-made famine that this Statement identifies?
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
As the noble Baroness should know, we do not comment on future sanction designations.