King’s Speech

Earl of Dundee Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Dundee (Con)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to my noble friends Lord Minto and Lady Goldie, and I join your Lordships in warmly congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Young of Old Windsor, and my noble friend Lord Roberts of Belgravia on their excellent maiden speeches.

In my remarks today, I will touch on three themes: within international communities, the role of improved education to induce and structure peace and stability; the current means for achieving that purpose; and the ways in which the United Kingdom and our Government can assist their delivery. Here, we are fortunate to continue to operate against the background of core actions and the solid accomplishments of the British Council over the past eight decades, these having been sponsored from the outset by our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

If there is a consensus on the desirability of peace and stability, no doubt all conflicts, not least those now forming part of the daily news, reflect a paradox: not so much that they are happening at all, yet more to the point, they do so alongside an increasing concordat that they should not even be allowed to begin, instead being prevented and eclipsed through the far greater muscular strength of a shared priority agenda, which in the first place and at all times is there to safeguard democracy, human rights and the rule of law. That point was also emphasised by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwark, the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, and my noble friends Lady Hodgson of Abinger and Lord Vaizey of Didcot.

Only a few weeks ago, on 29 September of this year, the Standing Conference of Education Ministers of the Council of Europe agreed and produced a written resolution, The Transformative Power of Education: Universal Values and Civic Renewal. This resolution, while recognising the undermining political influences of populism and authoritarian nationalism, also highlights the adverse and disruptive impact caused by crises upon large numbers of learners. In addition, it stresses the disadvantage affecting countless groups of people ranging from girls and women, students with disability and special needs, learners living in remote areas, refugees and asylum seekers, to those experiencing discrimination against them emanating from a number of pretexts and prejudices.

This is a robust and useful intervention by the 46-state affiliation of the Council of Europe. Here I declare an interest as recent chairman of its Committee for Culture and Education, and I am particularly glad that today’s debate will be wound up by my noble friend Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, who, along with the Prime Minister, when attending the Council of Europe’s summit meeting this May in Iceland, reaffirmed the Government’s support and gratitude for the soft power capacity of this institution, as the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, and others have also implied, to contribute ever more constructively towards peace and stability both within and beyond Europe.

In that connection, its recent resolution on education equally points to the huge scope, already proven and accepted, of digital technologies and how these can facilitate online education programmes to reach out through the world not only to those in difficulty and under pressure but also to millions of others eager for many branches and subjects of knowledge, as well as for the acquisition of competitive skills easily available to us in the United States or in the majority of our own European countries but often, for various reasons, denied to so many elsewhere.

However, to a great extent the international delivery potential of online education programmes, in covering all relevant subjects and studies within the humanities, science and technologies, is thus also well placed to fill and redress any gaps in teaching and deficiencies in knowledge provision. To encourage the consensus of education as an international delivery responsibility, I have a Private Member’s Bill on international higher education and research. This morning I chaired a parliamentary conference on education as a human right and a cornerstone for any democratic society.

During its G7 presidency in 2021, the United Kingdom gave a commitment to promote education in the third world and elsewhere, in countries where education systems do not fully operate. What actions have the Government taken since then? Which combined initiatives are in progress? Can my noble friend affirm that such G7 plans are being clearly designed and carried out so that they contribute towards building up the strength of international communities themselves?

Ukraine, where 7 million people from the east of the country are displaced within the west, already provides its own excellent example of education good practice in difficult circumstances. Thousands of displaced children are taught daily within improvised buildings protected by air raid shelters. The teachers make use of online programmes. Thereby a good balance is maintained in two respects. The children are together to interact with each other and their teacher in a normal classroom environment, yet the teacher, at his or her discretion, is able to make use of high-quality online learning programmes.

Competent and timely international delivery of education programmes reflects the need for public/private partnership. In the city of Dundee, the online games industry works with universities. Increasingly too, and to progress their own employment recruitment, most UK sectors of industry are motivated to support good education. Does my noble friend the Minister concur that education deliveries through public/private partnerships are cost effective, punctual and of sustained quality? If so, what steps are the Government taking to advance these partnerships?

Another consideration is that of international education partnerships, whether at school or university level. Clearly, these stand to benefit associated communities within cities and regions. One example is the current academic partnership of joint research into green energy between the Scottish University of the Highlands and Islands in the United Kingdom and the University of Zadar in Croatia. Having helped to put this together, I declare an interest as current chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Croatia. What steps are the Government now taking actively to encourage similar partnerships in the context of the recently revised Horizon scheme?

Enhanced prospects for world peace will derive from much better education and competitive skills opportunities at grass roots and within all international communities. Given that G7 countries have already embraced that objective, the United Kingdom—in its own interest and that of others—must now help to ensure that this objective is properly carried out.