Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems Committee Report

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Friday 19th April 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, like others, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lisvane, for his excellent introduction and for chairing the committee so ably. I also thank all fellow colleagues on the committee. We had some very interesting discussions, and those who were more informed were patient with people like me who were probably less informed. I also thank our advisers and the clerks, who supported us so well. This has indeed been a fascinating committee to serve on and is an example of how the House of Lords plays an outstanding role in highlighting some of the most pressing concerns of the day. My remarks are mostly personal reflections.

Whether we like AI or not, it is here to stay and is developing exponentially at a previously unimaginable rate. This complex technological revolution has the potential to reshape the nature of warfare, with advantages but also disadvantages. As the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Houghton, mentioned, today’s warfare, in a competitive, volatile and challenging world, is often conducted in the grey zone, through hyper competition, on the internet and in so many areas of life. It begs the question: what is a weapon in today’s world? Interference with a country’s systems, be they economic, infrastructure or social, can be subtle but effective in undermining and disabling. However, with a limited time to report, we confined our conversations to lethal weapon systems.

Although AI creates the ability to calculate with such stupendous speed, we should be mindful that there are areas not covered by binary calculations—humanity, empathy and kindness, to name a few. Will faster analysis fuel escalation, due to rapid response and a lack of time to consider repercussions? As others have mentioned, we can see the chilling ability to quickly identify thousands of targets, as the use of the Lavender system in Gaza reveals, with, it is reported, 20 seconds’ consideration given to each individual target.

Whatever military systems are used, we have a national commitment to the requirements of international humanitarian law, and there are huge ethical implications in relinquishing human control over lethal decision-making, with profound questions about accountability and morality. To what point can machines be entrusted with the responsibility of the enormity and breadth of decision-making about life and death on the battlefield?

The MoD’s defence AI strategy, published in 2022, signalled its intention to utilise AI

“from ‘back office’ to battlespace”,

demonstrating how all-pervasive AI will be in every system. While recognising the advantages in many ways, we also have to recognise the dangers in this strategy. Systems can be hacked, so it is equally important to develop security to ensure that they are not accessible by those who wish us harm. The strategy also sets out an autonomy spectrum framework, demonstrating the different levels of interrelationships between humans and machines.

AI is being developed mostly in companies and academic institutions. This too presents challenges: the threat of an arms race with systems that can be sold to the highest bidder, who may or may not be hostile. The majority of this development is being carried out by men, but, as half the world is female and women see things in a different way, we must encourage more girls and women to play their part to ensure a lack of gender bias.

With the glaring example of the Post Office scandal, the opaque nature of AI algorithms makes it difficult to judge whether they are accurate, up to date and appropriate. However much testing is carried out, it is not easy to know for sure whether systems are reliable and accurate until they are deployed. But the reality is that there is no going back, and as these systems proliferate, hostile nations and non-state actors may have access to, interfere with and deploy their own systems, and they may not wish to conform to any international standards imposed.

I thank the Government for their response to our report and congratulate them on the AI summit held last November at Bletchley Park, resulting in a commitment from 28 nations and leading AI companies with a focus on safety. However, I understand that weapon systems were not part of the conversation. It will be difficult to harness the development of this new technology as it gathers speed, so I hope that weapon systems will be part of the conversation at future summits.

Stephen Hawking once warned that the development of full AI

“could spell the end of the human race”,

so “proceed with caution” has to be the mantra with regard to AI in weapon systems.

King’s Speech

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, like others, I pay tribute to the outstanding work of the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, and the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, and welcome the noble Earl, Lord Minto, to his new position.

The Lords Library briefing for this debate states that we are

“at a particular volatile time in global affairs”,

as we have heard from others. Currently, there are around 50 active conflicts globally. The 10 largest humanitarian emergencies are in fragile or conflict-affected states. Most conflicts of the last 20 years remain unresolved—Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Libya, to name just some—with crises going from acute to chronic and often back to acute. According to UNHCR, there are around 108.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide; 62.5 million are internally displaced, 35.3 million are refugees, 5.4 million are asylum seekers and 5.4 million other people in need of international protection. Save the Children estimates that 40% of these are children.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought conflict back to the EU’s borders and we have all watched with horror the situation unfolding in Israel and Gaza. In all these situations, so many innocent civilians are being killed, living in utter terror or having their homes and all their possessions destroyed. As we sit safely in Westminster tonight, I cannot even begin to think how that must feel. As Ernest Hemingway said,

“never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime”.

Why do we never learn the lessons of what has gone before?

Aside from the human cost, it is currently estimated that the economic cost of conflict and fragility exceeds $14.8 trillion. That equates to five times the UK’s GDP. In addition to physical conflict, there is now cyber warfare, hyper-competition, grey-zone warfare and fake news—elections interfered with by hostile actors and reputations inaccurately trashed. We live in an ever more connected world, but finding where truth lies is harder.

The environmental crisis, combined with population growth, has already resulted in increased migration and conflict over resource scarcity. Some 14 of the 25 countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are already in conflict, and 40% of the world’s population live in locations vulnerable to climate change. Poverty and desperation fuel conflict, and war zones are poor zones.

There is much talk about tackling the drivers of instability to create conflict prevention and resolution, but are we serious about that, practically? We sat back and watched the Taliban sweep across Afghanistan. Conflict disproportionately affects women. Look at Afghanistan, with every woman in any public position having to flee for her life, and Ukraine, where rape is being used as a weapon of war and children are removed to Russia to be brainwashed. The UK has led the way on the women, peace and security agenda and yet we are right now seeing the greatest global rollback on women’s rights and the progress of the last 20 years is under threat. I have highlighted before the importance of including women in peace negotiations. Involving women increases the chances of longer-lasting, more sustainable peace, yet they continue to be largely excluded. You cannot build peace by leaving out half the population. We should not have to justify women being included; we should ask the men to justify why they are excluded. Peace is more than the absence of war, and if men cannot find peace, perhaps women can. For example, the women’s groups were instrumental in helping bring an end to the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Liberia. As Ambassador Barbara Woodward highlighted at the UN Security Council,

“gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”.

We are at a pivotal moment. Something must be done. Will the UK focus its leadership on helping to bring some of these conflicts to an end, enabling displaced people to return to their homes? Can my noble friend the Minister assure me that the UK will support the UN Secretary-General’s recently launched New Agenda for Peace, that conflict prevention and peacebuilding will remain central to the FCDO’s foreign policy work and international development strategy, and that we will ensure that women can play their part?

I end with the words of the Dalai Lama:

“Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience … Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free”.

Ukraine

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Monday 15th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goldie (Con)]

The noble Lord poses an important question. Regarding recent activity, he is correct that Russian ships were operating in the North Sea. The Ministry of Defence constantly monitors activity within UK waters and the economic exclusion zone to counter and deter detected threats, and British warships frequently patrol and shadow foreign vessels throughout the UK marine area. Royal Navy vessels are routed through the North Sea where possible on increased surveillance of offshore oil and gas installations. In addition to our effective armed surface fleet, we also have multirole ocean surveillance vessels. HMS “Scott” is currently in service and operating, and very recently we made an off-the-shelf purchase to acquire at speed a new multirole ocean surveillance vessel, recently named RFA “Proteus”. It is currently being readied for operational activity, so I hope I can reassure your Lordships that we are vigilant about that threat.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

Like others, I congratulate the Government on all the support they are giving to Ukraine. My noble friend touched on war crimes. There has been much sexual violence perpetrated by Russian troops. The UK has been at the forefront of the preventing sexual violence in conflict initiative. Are we helping Ukraine with documenting war crimes so that eventually, people can be held to account for them? Also, we are not hearing much from the women of Ukraine at the moment. Like many wars, this war is looking solely masculine, but we all know that women and children are disproportionately affected. Will we be helping to ensure that women participate in any peace talks that take place and that they are included in any plans for reconstructing and rebuilding Ukraine, which I imagine will be discussed at the upcoming Ukraine recovery conference here in London next month?

[Baroness Goldie (Con)]

The UK is very conscious of the atrocities which have been perpetrated by Russian forces in Ukraine. We respond to that as best we can with a mixture of humanitarian aid, some of which I have already described. For example, we have given very significant donations of medical support to Ukraine. My noble friend makes an important point about the role of women in Ukraine. Ms Zelenska has been an admirable advocate for the position of women in Ukraine. I do not think any of us will forget her eloquent address to parliamentarians when she came to visit us, and I think we were all moved by what she had to say. She described graphically the situation to which my noble friend refers. Undoubtedly, as we try to construct a programme of recovery activity, women in Ukraine will have an extremely important role to play, and I hope that many of them will feel they can be involved and included. Perhaps what my noble friend perceives as a low profile by Ukrainian women is simply attributable to their fundamental desire to keep themselves and their children safe, to keep as far as possible out of danger and to ensure that they simply can survive from one day to the next. Our sympathy goes out to all the women in that plight, who are, against all odds, showing such courageous and stoic leadership in looking after their families.

Queen’s Speech

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con) [V]]

My Lords, Her Majesty the Queen stated in her address to Parliament:

“My Government will uphold human rights and democracy across the world.”


Today I ask Her Majesty’s Government to support women in Afghanistan at a time when the Afghan peace negotiations hang in the balance.

Attacks on women and girls in Afghanistan have been increasing and recently we saw the terrible attack in Kabul, which mostly killed girls leaving school. My own recent discussions with Afghan women show clearly that they are very afraid of what will happen after NATO troops go. They have already seen senior female judges, journalists and politicians killed or maimed by terrorist attack. Girls’ schools, opened with international support, have been closed again in Taliban areas. We must help the Afghans to maintain the gains they have made towards a more inclusive society. We need bold action to make women’s lives secure as NATO troops withdraw, and to fulfil our commitments to UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security and to the principles of responsibility to protect.

It is critical the Taliban returns to the peace table, otherwise there may be a return to the lawlessness that led to 9/11 and later to ISIS in Iraq and Syria. However, we need incentives to add to the sanctions if we want the Taliban to behave differently. Surely, we want there to be a truly independent state, drawing on its own significant resources to redevelop its society. Pouring our money into the Afghan Government’s coffers is not the only answer. Above all, this means innovative thinking to keep the women safe. Given the development funding we provide to the Afghan Government, we should demand that they provide real security for all senior women and schools for girls through provision of bodyguards and support from the Afghan national army and police force, and that they must continue to fight for women’s safety in the peace negotiations. Does the Minister agree this should be a priority for the G7 and for the UK to take up in its bilateral and multilateral diplomacy?

The Afghan peace negotiations need more women at the table. The current arrangement of only four women is not enough for women’s views to be heard in all meetings or for significant representation at the different sub-committees. Research shows that when there are women at peace negotiations, the peace agreements tend to be more enduring. The negotiators also need to be able to gather views from women across the country. I therefore strongly support the FCDO funding to help the establishment and work of women in civil society. I welcome the reference to civil society in the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting communiqué of 5 May and the collective view of donors to Afghanistan that women must be engaged in the peace process and that aid conditionality should apply. Has all this happened? Is the UK withholding aid in view of the problems that women and other civil society actors are currently experiencing and are likely to experience more in the future? The situation is now urgent. We need to start considering now what support will be needed for the implementation of a peace settlement and what to do if there is not one. We should be mindful that peace agreements do not always lead to peace.

If a peace agreement can be reached, would the UN send a peacekeeping force to oversee transition? The UN General Assembly has just adopted a new resolution on the responsibility to protect. Can this help to ensure timely and decisive action to safeguard those threatened?

I welcome Her Majesty’s Government’s 2020 report on the UK national action plan regarding United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, in respect of which Afghanistan is a priority country. This is the biggest test of our commitment to the women, peace and security agenda.

After all the lives lost and the billions in aid that the UK and others have put into Afghanistan, are we really going to stand back and let the Talban take control again? We should be in no doubt that the Taliban will kill the educated—those in government and the military, especially women; and the women they do not kill will be subjugated. Surely, we must put support for Afghan women at the heart of our policy as we withdraw the protection they currently have through the presence of NATO and other troops.

I ask this Government to take a lead and stand up to that test.

Afghanistan

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Wednesday 21st April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I too pay tribute to the brave contribution and sacrifices made by our British forces in Afghanistan. I would question the evidence of the Taliban changing its stance. One has only to consider the escalating violence in the country in recent months, and in areas where it holds control, girls’ schools are already closing. How will we ensure that human rights, and particularly women’s rights, are protected? If we do not, all those women who have stepped forward to take part in public life will be left at risk.

[Baroness Goldie (Con)]

We will continue to stand with the people of Afghanistan to support a more stable, peaceful future for the country, and we wholeheartedly support the United States-led efforts to energise the peace process. We have been clear that the Taliban must engage meaningfully in a dialogue with the Afghan Government. We have been equally clear that, in going forward, the Afghan Government must respect and protect the advances which have been made in respect of women and children.

Queen’s Speech

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, today’s world seems ever more precarious, with conflict and instability proliferating in so many places. Today, there are over 75 million displaced people in the world—more than at any time since World War II—with many trying to come to Europe. While we in the UK have spent much time looking inward, debating Brexit, this world has not become a safer place, as we have seen from the events in the Middle East this week.

I hope that Brexit will give Britain more opportunities for influence on the world stage. Although the UK is no longer a stand-alone military power, we more than play our part through NATO, and the UK continues to be a world leader of soft power, promoting our values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance. This is not a time for us to change our international approach, but rather to bolster our resources, to ensure that we have adequate defence spending to counter today’s complex threats, invest more to strengthen our diplomatic service and continue to help the poorest across the world through UK aid, ensuring that developing countries can become more economically viable.

I draw your Lordships’ attention to my register of interests when I say that as a country we should be particularly proud of what we have done to help women and girls across the world through highlighting the importance of gender equality and female empowerment internationally. There is still no country in the world with true gender equality, and the threat of violence is a daily reality for millions of women and girls. In virtually every country, they still face discrimination: they are more likely to be paid less, be denied their basic human and reproductive rights, be unable to access justice and carry the burden of unpaid care work. For most, gender equality remains a distant, impossible dream.

This is a landmark year. Not only is it five years since the launch of the SDGs, with the standalone goal on gender equality, but also it is the 25th anniversary of the Beijing platform for action, and the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the UN framework supporting women and girls affected by conflict. However, in spite of this resolution, women continue to be largely excluded from negotiating peace. Between 1992 and 2018, women constituted only 13% of negotiators, and only 4% of signatories in major peace processes. You cannot build peace by excluding half the population.

Appointing an ambassador for women, peace and security, as Canada has done, establishing a dedicated women, peace and security fund to support work on gender equality and implementing a national action plan would help enormously. We know that there is a global rollback on women and girls’ rights and shrinking spaces for civil society, affecting the poorest and most marginalised the worst. So this is a year when the UK should be leading on highlighting these issues by helping to champion women in the poorest regions across the globe.

I was pleased to hear from my noble friend the Minister that we will continue to work in areas where we have already made progress such as girls’ education, working to end the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children and in the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. These were always going to be marathons, not sprints, and it is vital that we do not lose focus due to the idiosyncrasies of our political system, but ensure that the mantle is passed from Minister to Minister.

Women particularly can be such powerful agents for change in their societies. I believe that the Government should provide dedicated, long-term, core, flexible funding for women’s rights organisations working at grass roots. Last year saw the 40th anniversary of CEDAW—the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women—known as the international bill of rights for women. How excellent it would be if, as one of the ways of celebrating this, the UK put forward a candidate for the CEDAW committee, which it has never done before. Will my noble friend confirm that that will happen?

Finally, I am concerned about rumours of rolling DfID back into the Foreign Office. Large, multifocused departments can be less effective. DfID has shown itself to be a world leader in aid delivery. We should be proud of its work and that we are the only G7 country with our commitment to 0.7% enshrined in law. UK aid helps to lift millions out of poverty across the world and tackles disease, terrorism and conflict, thus creating a safer, healthier and more prosperous world for us all. Let us not change what is not broken.

Afghanistan Update

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, as I have said, the Resolute Support Mission is NATO-led. The legal framework for Resolute Support is provided by a status of forces agreement signed in Kabul in September 2014 and ratified by the Afghan Parliament later that year. The status of forces agreement defines the terms and conditions under which NATO forces are deployed as well as the activities that they are authorised to carry out. The mission is also supported by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2189, which was unanimously adopted in December 2014. The Resolute Support Mission provides training, advice and assistance in eight key areas: multiyear budgeting; transparency, accountability and oversight; civilian oversight of the Afghan security institutions; force generation; force sustainment; strategy and policy planning, resourcing and execution; intelligence; and strategic communications.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for repeating the Statement and welcome the UK’s enduring commitment to Afghanistan. I have been to Kabul twice this year and welcome the progress that has been made there. Although I, too, acknowledge that there are many challenges, I especially welcome the progress that has been made there for women. Today I had the pleasure of welcoming the woman cadet from NMAA who won the Sword of Honour, Somaiya Haidari. She is outstanding and is spending this year at Sandhurst. Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of welcoming and hosting the Afghan First Lady in this House, who has done so much to speak out about the importance of supporting women. She has held five symposiums, gathering women from all over the country. As my noble friend says, ultimately we need an Afghan-led peace process. Is the UK encouraging the Afghan Government to ensure that women are taking part in preliminary talks and that they will be at the peace table? If not, there is a threat that this peace process will leave half the population in danger, because we all know about the Taliban’s attitude to women.

[Earl Howe]

I am grateful to my noble friend for raising this important issue and I thank her for her part in flying the flag for female representation in the Armed Forces. This issue is very much on the agenda in Afghanistan. I remember that my former colleague in the MoD, Penny Mordaunt, when she was Minister for the Armed Forces, visited the training academy, which we are mentoring in Afghanistan, came back with the news that there were an encouraging number of female officers going through the academy at that time. There is no doubt that President Ghani takes this issue as seriously as we would like him to. The equality agenda is being promoted in Afghanistan, which is, as my noble friend said, a vital piece of the jigsaw in countering the philosophy and ideology of the Taliban. If we can get that pattern well established in Afghan society, it will be difficult to reverse.

Armed Forces Covenant

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Monday 9th January 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I am very grateful to the right reverend Prelate for the debate today and his excellent introduction. As a member of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, I am privileged to observe the work of our outstanding Armed Forces at first hand. We have a duty of care to those who serve and give so much, and to their families, and the Armed Forces covenant is an important national contract to address that.

Time is short and there are three issues that I want to raise. First, to be effective, the covenant needs to be widely recognised and understood, yet almost half of service personnel actually know nothing about the covenant, when they should be benefiting from its impact.

Does the covenant or its delivery need amending? I have heard that there is a perception by some on the ground that the covenant is tokenistic. Although it contains noble principles, does not the lack of penalties for failing to fulfil them make it toothless? I know that there are concerns about how effectively local authorities and companies that sign up to the covenant are delivering, so I ask my noble friend whether the covenant’s effectiveness has been studied and whether there has been any audit of delivery.

Lastly, do the Government do enough for military families? It is difficult to live on one salary today, and many wives are highly trained. However, regular moves mean that it is very difficult for them to continue in employment. The moves also impact on children, who have to either change school frequently or be sent to boarding school. As we have heard, housing is an issue. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents to the 2015 AFCAS survey felt that their family life was disadvantaged through their service, and it is far the biggest factor influencing decisions to leave the forces, at a time when we need to retain the best.

To conclude, the covenant is to be welcomed, but does it have proper accountability and could it be more effective to help both our serving personnel and their families?

Armed Forces Bill

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I begin by congratulating my noble friend Lady Pidding on her excellent maiden speech. I look forward to hearing the other maiden speeches from the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, and my noble friend Lord Shinkwin shortly.

Not having a military background, it is with a sense of humility that I contribute to the debate. I welcome the Bill, which recognises the integral role that our Armed Forces play in British life and the extraordinary service that they give to this country. The first duty of any Government is the defence of the realm. At a time of unpredictable threats and dangerous levels of instability the Bill needs to ensure that we maintain our world-class Armed Forces for the long-term security of our country. It is impossible for those of us who have never served our country to fully understand the sacrifice that those in the military make. It is therefore imperative that the Bill also seeks to ensure the well-being of these brave men and women.

As we have already heard, warfare has changed drastically in recent years. It is no longer fought on battlefields but in communities, with terrorism and cyberwarfare now posing significant threats. Asymmetric warfare and counterinsurgency require new and different approaches. Intelligence and cyber play an ever more important part. Highly trained rapid reaction forces that can deploy at very short notice are essential, with Special Forces performing a critical role.

The 2010 strategic defence and security review imposed a programme of significant cuts. This led to feelings of insecurity in parts of our forces, and, I understand, some haemorrhaging of high-quality people. Good leadership is paramount to the military, and attracting and retaining the best is of extreme importance. Are we managing to retain those high-quality warrant officers, captains and brigadiers, the middle-ranking officers who will become tomorrow’s senior leadership? New types of warfare need people with new and different skills to ensure that operations are not impacted. Do we have enough critical specialists? Are some areas suffering diminution of numbers, or having challenges recruiting sufficient specialists? If so, how is this being addressed?

Our Armed Forces covenant is an important national contract to address duty of care to our Armed Forces and their families, with a duty to report on the covenant being a centrepiece of the Armed Forces Act 2011. However, I have heard that there is a perception by some on the ground that the covenant is somewhat tokenistic.

As I have previously asked with concern in your Lordships’ House, while the covenant contains very noble principles, does the lack of penalties for failure to fulfil it make it somewhat toothless? In particular, I know there are concerns about how effectively local authorities are delivering on their responsibilities through community covenant partnerships. This includes affording members of the Armed Forces priority with housing needs and helping them integrate back into local life post-discharge. Has there been any audit of the delivery of the covenant by local authorities?

Of significant concern is that last year’s Armed Forces continuous attitude survey, known as AFCAS, found that almost half of service personnel actually know nothing about the covenant. Surely, a fundamental element of the covenant should be that personnel feel it is impacting upon their lives. If this is clearly failing, should we not seek to amend it or its delivery?

Being in the military is a vocation often lasting many years; therefore we also have a duty of care to the families, considering the toll on their lives while their fathers, mothers, husbands and wives are serving. Have we, as a nation, done enough to ensure that our duty of care is being delivered? It is concerning that 59% of respondents to last year’s AFCAS felt that their family life was disadvantaged through their service. This is by far the largest area of perceived disadvantage and goes hand in hand with the finding that the impact of service on personal and family life is by far the biggest factor influencing decisions to leave the Forces. So it is important that families are considered and listened to and that housing is of good quality and properly maintained. Living in housing that is damp, with peeling paint and malfunctioning plumbing, is unacceptable in this day and age.

The standards of healthcare we commit to our service personnel is one of the key pillars of the Armed Forces covenant. There has been much concern in recent years, as we have heard, about mental health. The proportion of service personnel who suffer mental health problems is broadly similar to that of the general population, slightly higher amongst those in combat roles. The concepts of being a soldier at war and seeking support for psychological distress are somewhat at odds with each other. In some cases, this prevents those who need help the most from seeking it, leaving them to suffer in silence. The fact is that they endure unique conditions and excessive levels of risk that the rest of us cannot understand. Of particular concern are reservists who return to normal life after deployment and may feel very isolated and unsupported.

It is every bit as important that personnel continue to receive support when they cease serving and become veterans. The onset of post-traumatic stress disorder is often delayed for many years. The charity Combat Stress still reports an average of 13 years between service discharge and veterans seeking help. While it is reassuring that a key goal of the military covenant is that veterans,

“should be able to access mental health professionals who have an understanding of Armed Forces culture”,

how does this happen? NHS doctors may be unable to relate to the effects of combat roles.

Combat Stress receives around 2,500 new referrals every year, resulting in approximately 6,000 veterans being treated by the charity at any one time. Last year the number of veterans seeking its help increased by 28%. I was recently told by Combat Stress that the majority of veterans under its care self-refer; thus it would appear that many veterans are put off from using NHS services to address their problems, instead turning to the voluntary sector.

It is encouraging that the stigma surrounding military mental health has decreased substantially in recent years, meaning that those younger veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming forward for treatment much sooner. I appreciate that the Government have already recognised this issue. By embedding the Armed Forces covenant into the new NHS constitution in England last year, members of the Armed Forces community will, in principle, receive the same standard of, and access to, healthcare as all other British citizens. However, more needs to be done, particularly for older veterans and reservists.

Our military personnel make great sacrifices to serve their country and put themselves in the way of danger. Above all, it is paramount that they feel valued. Do we really do this? Do we thank them enough and acknowledge what they have given when they leave? We have outstanding men and women serving. We need to ensure that they are recognised for all that they do. These are the people who will keep this country safe and we owe them a huge debt.

The Role and Capabilities of the UK Armed Forces, in the Light of Global and Domestic Threats to Stability and Security

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Tuesday 15th September 2015 Grand Committee

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

I, too, add my thanks to my noble friend for initiating this debate. It is with some trepidation that I take part in it, because many noble and gallant Lords in this House have spent their whole careers in the Armed Forces and many have much more experience in military matters than I will ever have. However, during the past year I, too, have had the pleasure of being a member of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, which enables non-military parliamentarians to learn about defence. Through this, I have made a number of visits to the Army at home and abroad, meeting serving personnel from senior officers to new reservist recruits.

We all recognise how dangerous and increasingly unstable the world is. Global interconnectivity means that today’s conflicts can endanger us all, as jihadists call for attacks on London and other western cities. The numbers of displaced people fleeing conflict in the Middle East are higher than at any time since World War II, with hundreds of thousands trying to come to Europe as a result. Delivering security is thus of paramount importance and I am sure we all welcome this Government’s commitment to defence spending. Consideration needs to be given to how and where conflict will emerge in the future, such as the risk of cyberattacks. This is all set against a backdrop of a growing world population where there may not be sufficient food, water and other resources for all.

Our Armed Forces are outstanding and have, in recent years, done exceptional work in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, lessons from Iraq and Libya have taught us that simply removing a hostile regime does not lessen the threat; worse risks may emerge from a chaotic void. Military intervention alone cannot deliver post-conflict stability, and DfID and NGOs need to come in alongside to assist with institutional reconstruction and establishing a rule of law. We may well also need help from the military to deal with the challenge of our domestic threats, and to work with police and security services.

I have been impressed to learn how our Armed Forces contribute to building relationships for the UK across the world. The world-class training delivered by Sandhurst and the Defence Academy at Shrivenham draws students from many countries, building lasting relationships. As we have heard, the British Army is engaged in activities around the world. In 2014, I believe that troops were deployed to over 300 tasks in around 50 countries. Last December, in my capacity as a member of the steering board of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, I visited the Gurkhas in Mali, where they were training the Malian army, and watched them deliver a training session on human rights. Delivering military training to enable countries to deal with their own domestic insecurity is an extremely valuable contribution to world security.

I have spoken before in your Lordships’ House about the disproportionate impact of war on women, and how their participation is crucial in building peace and helping to create post-conflict stability. So it is particularly important that our military are trained to engage with women as well as men in conflict zones. This can be extremely challenging, especially where rape and sexual violence are used as weapons of war. In May, I visited Erbil and met some of our military who are training the Peshmerga. As well as delivering military training, they are also training on protection of civilians and on dealing with victims of sexual violence. This is ground-breaking work, which I hope will be rolled out more widely in training for the British Army and in other overseas training missions.

I know that there is concern about whether we will reach the target of 30,000 army reservists by 2018, and I wonder if there has been sufficient recognition of the challenges of being a reservist and how onerous trying to reconcile this role alongside family and work can be. Are the Government looking innovatively at what more can be done with regard to attracting and better supporting reservists, especially post-deployment, as well as to incentivise employers and companies to release employees, particularly from small and medium-sized enterprises, to encourage greater numbers to sign up?

First-class Armed Forces mean first-class leadership, and that means attracting and retaining the best. I suspect that the military will never be able to offer the same salaries as industry and the City, but it can offer other things. Being in the forces is a way of life as well as a job, and this impacts greatly on families. Unhappy families create pressure to leave. It must be very hard being a wife in the macho environment of the forces, having to move with the children over 20 times to accommodate your husband’s career choice, or being left looking after small children while your husband is away on a dangerous deployment. Modern families’ lifestyles must be properly considered and facilitated: the wife who has her own career, and the returning children who wish to live at home post-school and university. As more women enter the forces, consideration needs to be given to male partners, as well as to accommodating couples who are both in the forces.

Above all, we have a duty of care to all those who serve in our Armed Forces. My noble friend Lady Fookes raised the issue of the military covenant. Has there been any study of how effective that actually is? Although it says the right things, does having no penalties if it is ignored not make it somewhat toothless? Is there more that we can do to support the families of those killed in action, for whom life will never be the same again? We must provide the best care and welfare for those who are wounded, especially those who suffer life-changing injuries. We need to ensure that they can access the best care and facilities, wherever that may be, and receive support for the rest of their lives. This includes the invisible mental wounds too. Access to psychological help outside the chain of command is important, as is good support once they leave and are back in the community.

Much has been written about PTSD and the fact that it can occur years after operations. Many service charities provide support for this, and more must be done to signpost the help that they can give. However, there are also many myths about the levels of PTSD. Research by the King’s College military research unit has shown that the rate of PTSD in service men and women who have been deployed is 4%. This is equivalent to the rate seen in the general population, although the rate rises to 7% for those who are in a combat role. Inaccurate impressions can damage the military in terms of not only recruitment but their employability when they leave the forces.

Many of the service personnel I have talked to have said that they are trained to do a job and want to do it. There are concerns that the public have lost their appetite for our forces being deployed in combat situations, due to what are perceived as ill-considered judgments over the past few years. If we are to ask our young men and women to put themselves in the way of danger that they are trained and willing to face, it places an especially heavy burden of responsibility on leaders, both political and military, to ensure that the full implications of decisions are properly assessed.

Visiting our Armed Forces is a humbling experience. At times we ask them to do some very difficult and dangerous things. I pay tribute to them for their professionalism, courage and dedication. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude. As Winston Churchill is sometimes thought to have said, we sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.