Ukraine

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town Excerpts

Friday 25th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)]

My Lords, that maiden speech will have told you something about my noble friend but I will share a few less familiar things.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)]

When I first met a ginger-headed, ginger-bearded young trade union political officer, or “fixer” as we called him, a couple of things were already evident: his persistence as an accumulator of newspaper cuttings, including black intelligence on the infiltrating militant, and his ferocious memory for political facts, figures and gossip. Even now, his daily “Spellar News”—available only to friends—summarises all the material any similar-minded colleague needs to know.

Dulwich School and Oxford University taught him about organisation, and it was organisation that he put at the disposal of the then troubled Labour movement. John Golding’s book is testimony to the role that my noble friend played in bringing Labour back from the brink of obscurity to the 1997 election victory. Similarly, over two dozen references in my own book show how he helped swing the NEC behind the then leader, my noble friend Lord Kinnock.

Alongside this, as my noble friend said, he became a local councillor, MP for Birmingham Northfield and later for Warley, Defence Minister, Minister of State for Transport, and for Northern Ireland, and a much-feared Whip. In his maiden speech in the Commons, 42 years ago, when he represented Cadbury, Bournville and British Leyland, he criticised the Government for acquiescing in a move out of manufacturing and into services—disastrous for the Midlands, as we have heard today. He continues to rail against any public body, and indeed any friend, who fails to buy British-made cars or to support the defence industry.

Few will doubt my noble friend’s Labour, defence, manufacturing or union credentials. His maiden speech was a fitting example of his knowledge, motivation and work ethic. We look forward to many more contributions from him.

It is hard to add any words to those already spoken about the bravery and resilience of the Ukrainian people, and of the horrors inflicted on them by the Russians, and the need to understand that their fight is our fight. They are the front line against military aggression. If they lose there will be no Ukraine, but there will also be no security along Russia’s extended border, and few of us will sleep safe in our beds.

I have never quoted from one of my speeches before, but on 25 February 2022, in that first shock of invasion, I confessed that I did not know the Ukrainian equivalent of “Ich bin ein Berliner”—though I knew why we wept for Ukraine. Today, nearly 1,000 days on, we weep for the lost people of Ukraine, for the lost homes, farms, factories, jobs and lives, and for the loss of security.

We weep too for the loss of families. The children’s charity Coram has pointed out that a distinctive feature of this war is the very large number of mothers and children who have left the country. Those children are attending schools and receiving services in the UK that are a far cry from those available back home. Significant support will be needed to modernise children’s social care at speed when they return.

Two things have continued in these past 32 months. The first has been Russia’s determination to win at whatever cost to its people or its economy. Indeed, its huge defence spending next year will effectively turn its economy into a war economy. The second, however, has been the ongoing support of the British public for Ukraine and the cross-party consensus on the role we should play. I congratulate our new Government, the Prime Minister, the Foreign and Defence Secretaries and my noble friends in this House on their efforts to seek a successful outcome of the war. Today’s debate is testimony to this House’s endorsement of the Government’s policy. However, success will depend on our resolve and contribution—military, economic and diplomatic—but also, as the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, said, on the support of the US, European and British public. Continuing this must be a priority.

We have seen the ruthlessness with which Russia is willing to prosecute the war, regardless of the harm to the very earth it seeks to colonise, the deaths and injuries caused, or even the effects on those miles away. We see Putin’s willingness to use his own prisoners or North Korean soldiers for his own personal war. Meanwhile, Russian attacks on port infrastructure in the Black Sea stop vital grain supplies being delivered to the global South—any price, it seems, for Putin’s survival and his strutting on the world stage. Today, we recommit to supporting the Ukrainians as they stand up to might in the name of sovereignty, security, peace and future prosperity.