Strait of Hormuz: Merchant Shipping
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
I do not often do this, but let me read the advice that I have had about UK bases involved in recent strikes, because I need to be clear that I am getting it right. The noble Baroness said in her opening remark why I would do this, so let me read the points. Our position on this has been consistent. The Government took a decision in Britain’s national interest not to get involved in the initial phase. We have acted in defence of our allies, including by approving the US to use our bases for the specific defensive and limited purposes of destroying Iran’s missiles at source. We remain in close communication with the US, including on our efforts to support the restoration of freedom of navigation through the strait, through our independent and defensive mission.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, none the less, the military personal in those bases in Oman and Bahrain will be at some degree of risk. What reassurance can the Minister give the House? When I visited Bahrain and Kuwait with HMS “Cumberland” through the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, I was immensely impressed by the work that they do there, so how can we keep them safe?
Lord Coaker (Lab)
The reassurance that I can give to the noble Baroness and to the people she knows is this. I can talk about the Ministry of Defence. Meetings have taken place across government, but I personally have met virtually every week with either defence attachés or the ambassadors from the region to talk to them. We have responded to their requests for help and support with respect to their own countries. Doing that helps to support the defence of our own personnel, whether that be people who are living there or our own Armed Forces personnel. I hope that gives the noble Baroness some reassurance that there is continued discussion with and involvement of the ambassadors, reflecting the opinions of their Governments. That is an important way in which we have tried to reassure not only the region but our people there as well.
Russian Shadow Fleet
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
My understanding from the briefing that I had is that the action took place in international waters, and then it was brought back into UK territorial waters. An important point to make, just as a statement, is that the English Channel, although called the English Channel, is an international waterway; it is perfectly legal for legal ships to operate and to travel—even for warships, frankly—to go through the English Channel, providing their intent is not malign. That is an important comment for us to make. Then, of course, we have the territorial waters of our own country and the territorial waters of others in Europe. But as a specific answer to my noble friend’s question, my understanding is that the interdiction took place outside our territorial waters and the ship was then brought back into our territorial waters.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I declare my interest as being half Danish. The Danes have been especially concerned about this, and not just because of the damage it is doing to the war effort against Ukraine. Obviously, they live a lot closer to Russia, as do other Scandinavian countries, and we have had the build-up of troops on the Russian side of the Finnish border. Is it not the case that it might be easier for a big country such as Britain to board these vessels than a small country such as Denmark? To what extent can we co-operate through JEF and other international efforts in this regard? It would cause a catastrophic environmental incident if one of these vessels were to beach on one of the Scandinavian coasts.
Lord Coaker (Lab)
The noble Baroness makes a very important point. On what we may or may not do, we work very closely with all our allies, of course, including Denmark, but the noble Baroness makes a broader point about the importance of JEF and its work. In JEF, both in the maritime sphere and on land, we work with others to co-operate. She will know that we have troops in Estonia. I have also mentioned in the House that, only a couple of months ago, I was in Finland as part of a NATO operation. We were talking about the border between Finland and Russia. When you get within 30 or 40 miles of the Russian border and talk to people who live there, as I am sure many noble Lords have done, you understand the very real threat that they face; you understand the prospect, and their fear, that what is happening with respect to Russia in other parts of Europe might happen to them.
80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I am delighted to participate in this debate, which marks in particular the 80th anniversary of VE Day. My contribution is a deeply personal one, taking memories handed down from my mother, grandmother and other members of my family in Denmark.
Denmark was occupied from April 1940 until 5 May 1945, although the island of Bornholm remained under Russian occupation for another year. I am proud of the support given by Britain to the resistance efforts in Denmark in terms of explosives and ammunition and, of course, moral support.
It was always going to be difficult for a small country such as Denmark, with limited military forces, to resist the German occupation of its country. Initially, the Danes declared neutrality and agreed a treaty of non-aggression with Germany, primarily to protect the Jews—I am delighted to say that most of the Jews survived the war under the German occupation. Germany broke that treaty within one year.
With support from the Special Operations Executive here, the Danish resistance movement became more active and more daring, managing to damage the German occupiers with their efforts to sabotage and disrupt the occupying forces, as well as taking strike action to deny the German war effort ammunition and arms being produced in Danish factories destined for the German army.
A strict curfew was imposed and the hours were limited further as the war went on. Many Danes defied the curfew order to take an evening stroll, and were shot and killed on the streets. News of the liberation reached Denmark from the British Broadcasting Corporation, as the BBC was then known, which interrupted its normal broadcast on the evening of 4 May 1945.
British forces played a large role in freeing Denmark, as well as assisting the resistance fighters. During World War II, there were 415 airdrops, allied aircraft dropping 6,500 containers with weapons, ammunitions and sabotage equipment to support the Danish resistance movement. There were inevitably heavy losses, with 18 allied aircraft lost over Danish soil and 69 airmen losing their lives in the line of duty.
The liberation was followed by the prosecution of those who collaborated with German occupiers working against the resistance movement. Over 10,000 were tried as collaborators or traitors between 1947 and 1950. Over 100 were sentenced to death, with more than 40 executed.
The ninth of May is also Schuman Day, commemorating the role played by Robert Schuman and other European leaders in bringing Europe together after the war, initially pooling their coal and steel resources to prevent the potential for further aggression between European neighbours. Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, marking the first steps in greater co-operation, peace and prosperity between European neighbours who had previously been at war with each other in the 20th century.
I consider myself a product of a very special European union between a Scottish father and a Danish mother, who met on a blind date in Hamburg in the aftermath of the Second World War. My father was serving as a Royal Army Medical Corps officer, and my mother was working as a translator with the British Army. The UK having now left the umbrella of the European Union, I hope that a review next year of our relations with the EU will be positive and reflective of the realities in which we now live. Perhaps the European defence mechanism outlined by the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, could be the next step forward to which Britain can contribute.
Until now, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, my generation had lived in relative peace. We owe that peace and our freedom to all who sacrificed their lives in the Second World War, and we recognise and commemorate all who served and contributed to that success in Europe and the Far East.
Defence Programmes Developments
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
That is a really good question. On the first point about spending, the noble and gallant Lord will know that, notwithstanding the amount in the budget—there is 2.3% at the moment, and we have laid out and talked about the pathway to 2.5%—whatever amount of money the defence chiefs have to spend, they will always want to spend it in the best possible way. We have discussed with them a way of doing that ensuring that we have the newest and best possible equipment available to our Armed Forces, and that at times will mean decommissioning older equipment.
On the noble and gallant Lord’s second point, in terms of retention payments for aircraft engineers, as part of the Government's commitments to renew the nation’s contract with those who have served, eligible tri-service aircraft engineers will be given £30,000 when they sign up for an additional three years of service. From April 2025, this will be applicable to around 5,000 personnel in total. That is one practical way we are trying to deal with the specific point the noble and gallant Lord raised.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
Can I press the noble Lord on the number of fast jets that are currently in service and are expected to be in service, say, over the next five years, and also on the number of fast jets pilots that we are training? In one constituency alone, the Vale of York, which I had the honour to represent for 13 years, we had at that time RAF Linton-on-Ouse, RAF Leeming, Dishforth airfield and Topcliffe airfield as well, so I hope he will give me some encouragement that we are going to be on track for a number of fast jets going forward.
Ukraine
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(1 year, 9 months ago)
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I welcome the chance to debate the situation in Ukraine as we approach 1,000 days of war, and as we witness growing Russian aggression across Europe and violations of NATO airspace almost every weekend. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, for leading this debate and setting out the level of government support.
I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Spellar, on his maiden speech. I greatly admired his contributions in the other place and look forward to his future contributions here. He reminded us that the initial occupation of Ukraine was in 2014, so this occupation has been a lot longer than might seem the case.
The human cost of the occupation and hostilities in Ukraine has been high, and my heart goes out to the families of the fallen and injured on both sides of the divide. Ukrainian soldiers have fought to defend their land with courage and resilience, and the conflict is set to run for longer yet.
I shall focus my remarks on neighbouring European states. The recent referendum in Moldova and the alleged Russian interference in the democratic process there sets alarm bells to ring. But there are a host of other former satellite countries in the vicinity that feel increasingly threatened, not least, as the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, referred to, the Baltic states and Poland. Perhaps, therefore, it is not surprising that current defence spending of NATO members puts Poland on 4.1% of its GDP, then Estonia on 3.4% and the US on 3.4% too. The UK, as we know, is on 2.3%.
Sweden and Finland share a very large land border with Russia and now are members of NATO. They take the threat of Russian aggression seriously and devote resources to it. The threat is felt also keenly in Denmark, whose Government regularly issue safety and survival advice, most recently including advice to take iodine to counteract radiation poisoning, although apparently it helps only the younger generation—the children. My late mother grew up in occupied Denmark, and memories last long. The current threat is very real.
The fact that in two weeks’ time, the results of the election in the United States may signify a change of policy towards Ukraine is deeply worrying. President Zelensky has bravely and skilfully led Ukraine through these violent and dangerous times. We owe it to the people of Ukraine to continue to support them in this war on an independent sovereign state. Were Russia successful in foisting a disadvantageous settlement on Ukraine, that would be a dereliction of a peace settlement honouring the boundaries of a democratic, independent state. Worse, it would permit Russia to perpetrate further aggression on another, yet unidentifiable, front. We simply cannot allow that to happen.
A hallmark of the British constitution is a seamless transition from one Government to another overnight at a general election. I welcome the fact that it is very positive that the new Government are building on and developing the policy in regard to Ukraine pursued by the outgoing Government. Like the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, I hope the incoming President of the United States will continue to support Ukraine in the defence of their country, while we in Britain play our part in defending European borders.
I was in Berlin on 9 November 1989, the day the wall fell. The euphoria at the newfound freedom was palpable and memorable. We must never return to a full-scale occupation of Europe, and I echo the words of the noble Lord, Lord Coaker: the front line of Ukraine is also the front line of UK and European security. We must defend it.
I end with a question to the Minister, for when she responds. I am very taken by the suggestion by my noble friend Lord Hamilton of Epsom that we could invite Ukraine to join the Joint Expeditionary Force. It does excellent work and meets regularly, and it would embed Ukraine in the European family. Will the Government look favourably on such a suggestion?
Situation in the Red Sea
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(2 years, 5 months ago)
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The Earl of Minto (Con)
The noble Lord makes a very good point—one brought out earlier by the involvement of Saudi Arabia. It is very difficult to answer. We must take action to deter the disruption going through the Suez Canal because we believe so passionately in global trade. One would hope that there comes a point when diplomatic efforts and other activity in the region may bring a halt to this very unfortunate situation.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, Maersk, which I understand is the largest container company in the world, and Hapag-Lloyd, based in Germany, have taken the decision for commercial reasons not to risk going through the Red Sea but to take the long way around. Does my noble friend agree that this is possibly one reason why Germany and other European countries have not committed their forces against the Houthis at this time, as is the increased threat seen to Denmark’s home security and the fear of repercussions at home were it to do so?
The Earl of Minto (Con)
My noble friend makes a good point. These enormous shipping operations have clearly taken some commercial decisions, which are almost certainly the right thing to do for them and their customers. One can see why there may be some reticence for sovereign states to get involved in more direct action, thereby threatening some of those countries’ commercial assets.
Service Family Accommodation
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Goldie (Con)
The noble Baroness’s entreaties of my predecessor and noble friend Earl Howe were to very good effect because it was part of a systematic approach to the MoD about quality of accommodation for our service personnel. I can reassure the noble Baroness by saying that Pinnacle has increased the number of call handlers from 14 to 56, VIVO has boosted the number of contractors by 27%, Amey has boosted the number of contractors by 60%, and 15,000 heaters have been bought and are being distributed.
I asked officials this morning that if I were in that accommodation with two vulnerable young children and the heating went off, what could I do and how quickly could I do it? I was reassured that there is now, through Pinnacle, a 24/7 365 helpdesk where calls are triaged so that the urgent ones are dealt with and get a response. The caller is given a reference and there is a response within 48 hours, although the majority of calls are being responded to quicker than that. As I said earlier, we are holding the contractors in a vice-like grip: we are holding their feet to the fire. What has happened has been profoundly unsatisfactory, and I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for her efforts in drawing attention to it.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
Can my noble friend update the House on the status of the hundreds of former MoD homes at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, which have been empty for some considerable time? There was a proposal to use them to house Ukrainian women and their families, who would replace the men who had previously picked fruit and vegetables in a one-hour radius of that area. As my noble friend may be aware, there is a shortage of seasonal workers for this purpose. Defra had such a scheme in mind, but unfortunately it did not happen. What is the current status of the homes? Are they about to be refurbished and will they be sold, or might they be used for such a future scheme?
Baroness Goldie (Con)
On the general question of availability of MoD accommodation, we are very careful about how we manage accommodation because we have ongoing obligations to rotating staff and we must ensure that we can accommodate them safely when that accommodation is required. I do not have information on the specific location to which my noble friend refers, but if she permits, I will inquire and write to her.
Ukraine
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I support the government response to the Ukrainian situation that we have seen thus far. I join others in welcoming the noble Lord, Lord Sedwill, and congratulating him on his fantastic contribution—his excellent maiden speech—today. We look forward to many such contributions.
Two events close to me stand out for me. One is that my mother, having been born and brought up in Denmark, lived for a number of years under German occupation, and her generation was scarred by that experience. The second is that I was in Berlin in November 1989, the day the Berlin Wall came down. I felt the euphoria of all Germans—indeed, all Europeans —as expressed on that day.
Today, we stand in solidarity with Ukraine. What I find perhaps most deeply disturbing is that an independent sovereign nation state purely expressing the desire to join a defence organisation, NATO, and an economic organisation, the European Union, has led to the act of aggression and war that we have seen. No remarks could be more apposite than those made today by the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York about the Schuman plan and the foundations of the economic community that came to be known as the Common Market and the European Union as we know it today.
I ask my noble friends in the Government to respond positively on three separate issues. One is that those countries that we know have made an application under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty will have a serious consultation on their safety and protection under Article 4—and potentially, subsequently, Article 5 of the NATO treaty. I would like to hear precisely how we intend to take seriously their concerns. I welcome the reference made by my noble friend Lady Goldie, our Defence Minister, in explaining the work of the Joint Expeditionary Force. I wish it every possible success in ensuring freedom of movement in the Baltic Sea, which is of great consequence to those countries.
I look also for recognition for the work of the 75% to 80% of fruit and vegetable growers in this country who, as we heard yesterday, are from Ukraine. They provide a fantastic service to this country and enable us to put fresh fruit and vegetables on our plates. We have to ask about the future of those Ukrainian citizens here and, more importantly, that of their counterparts, their families, in Ukraine. I would very much like to hear, as well, what assessment the Government have made of the potential consequences for food supply, given the humanitarian status of Ukraine, which can go only one way in the months ahead.
The noble Lord, Lord Alton, eloquently conveyed the fears, dangers and humanitarian challenges for the refugees coming initially into Poland but from there to other parts of Europe. Following his remarks, I end by asking what specific aid the Government are planning to give to those refugees and what particular support might be given to Poland and other neighbouring countries at this time.
A matter of some concern to many of us in this House, and indeed the wider country, has been the successful attempts at ransomware and cyberattacks, not just on government and official bodies in this country but on private enterprises. I have witnessed one and I am sad to say that no help was given and the ransom had to be paid in that case. As the noble Lord, Lord St John of Bletso, rightly indicated, it is highly probable that we will become a target, particularly given the sanctions outlined to date, of a cyberattack. I would like to hear from the Government today precisely what action we intend to take to protect not just government bodies but private enterprises. I have no doubt that those ransoms that have been paid, and the cyberattacks that have been successful, have been used to pay for the Russian aggression that we see to date.
I would like an assurance on what the status of refugees will be and what level of humanitarian aid we intend to give, as well as a serious undertaking to consider the further protection of those seeking our help under Article 4 of the NATO treaty.
Exchange of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information Agreement
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
I too congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, and the committee for the work they have done and for creating the opportunity to debate this issue and the agreement before us. Like the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, I welcome it. As the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, said, it is particularly welcome as this is a new agreement that covers an area for which there has never been this opportunity before—namely, the Indo-Pacific waters. I hope it presages and prefaces more interplay between the parties involved.
Like the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, I also express my regret at the lapse in diplomatic judgment that led to France being left out in the cold. I say this simply because I have never represented a part of the south; I have always represented parts of either the north or the east of England. But I am mindful that we are extremely dependent on France at the moment regarding the number of migrants who come to this country. Noble Lords must ask ourselves how prepared we would be, if the roles were reversed and this was happening to us, to police our waters and stop migrants coming over. I just leave my noble friend with that thought. I would be grateful for her views on the way the situation was handled with France and if things could have been done in a more diplomatic way. We did not need to offend them.
I echo the concern raised by the noble Baroness in introducing the report regarding paragraph 16 and amendments to the agreement being subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The Minister served in the Scottish Parliament with some distinction and is only too aware of the interest the Scottish nation has in this form of nuclear deterrent. What procedure is envisaged to discuss and debate these amendments with the assemblies of the devolved nations, in particular the Scottish Parliament?
In introducing the report, the noble Baroness said that it was hoped that the agreement would run for 18 months. Can the Minister confirm that? The very useful note provided by the Library in preparation for today says that the agreement will stay in force until 31 December 2023, but it does not say when it will come into force or when all three partner countries will have completed their respective internal procedures to ratify international agreements. I fully accept that it is extremely important that we share the naval nuclear propulsion information that lies at the heart of the agreement, which is why I warmly welcome the agreement before us.
I hope that my noble friend and the Committee will permit me to raise one issue which is even more of a threat at the moment, and which we briefly debated two weeks ago when we discussed an international agreement similar to this one, albeit with Ukraine. I am delighted to say that my noble friend Lord Grimstone has written to us answering a number of questions that were raised then in relation to cyberattacks, which have been identified by the Government as being of great concern. The one causing particular concern was that on Ukraine, which took out a number of Ukrainian Government websites and was presumably committed by a hostile state, in this case Russia.
As is clearly stated on the government website, we have seen an increase in the number of such attacks in this country through 2021, and I welcome the National Cyber Strategy, which the Government published in December 2021. However, that would be even more helpful if it contained some specific advice on how a company might respond if it was in the midst of a cyberattack and on what government resources would be made available to address the increasing number of such cyberattacks on companies. I read with interest that for most of those that have taken place to date, against government bodies either in mainland Britain or in Northern Ireland, no ransom has been paid. It is a matter of record that the clothing company, FatFace, paid a ransom of £2 million to recover its systems. The cyberattack with which I was involved led to a ransom of more than £100,000 being paid. All I could find on cyberattacks was the following statement on the National Cyber Security Centre website:
“Law enforcement do not encourage, endorse, nor condone the payment of ransom demands. If you do pay the ransom … there is no guarantee that you will get access to your data or computer … your computer will still be infected … you will be paying criminal groups … you’re more likely to be targeted in the future.”
I do not believe that this advice goes far enough. If a company is in the midst of a cyberattack which has shut down its systems and if it is not given any help by the Government, the only option it has is to pay the ransom money. There is no doubt that the two cyberattacks that I referred to came from a third state, a hostile state, believed to be Russia. I would draw the conclusion that the moneys raised, the £2 million from FatFace and the more than £100,000 paid recently in bitcoins by the company in North Yorkshire, will go to fuel the troops on the Ukrainian and other borders.
Will the Minister comment on how we are going to meet such cyberattacks going forward?
Royal Marines
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts(9 years, 3 months ago)
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Earl Howe
My Lords, I do not accept the picture being painted by the noble Lord. As he knows, the annual budget cycle is our yearly process which allocates resources to defence spending requirements for the next 10 years. It focuses on ensuring that the programme is affordable and balances military and financial risk. The 2017 annual budget cycle is in fact still under way, but the process means that we continually reassess our financial position and prioritise accordingly.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister not agree that this is precisely the sort of operational matter that should be left to the Joint Chiefs of Staff? I want to place on record my admiration for the Royal Marines, with whom I had contact on HMS “Cumberland” and at other times when serving with the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, which I commend to the House.