Greenland: Proposed US Tariffs

Earl of Kinnoull Excerpts

Monday 19th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I agree that this needs to have the Greenlanders at the heart of it. I am pleased that many Ministers have met their counterparts in Greenland, not just in response to recent events but as part of a long-standing arrangement. The right reverend Prelate makes a strong point that diplomacy should never happen somewhere else. What recent events have proved is that geopolitics is not something that happens out there, away from here. It has a direct impact on people’s jobs and livelihoods, our manufacturing industry and almost every element of life in the United Kingdom. That is why this is being taken quite so seriously by the Government.

[The Earl of Kinnoull (CB)]

My Lords, much of what has been said so far is of the respectful and firm way in which the intergovernmental dimension of the relationship is reacting to this news. Tomorrow, of course, we have the opportunity for someone from the interparliamentary dimension to react, with the visit of Mr Mike Johnson, who is speaker of the US House of Representatives. Does the Minister feel it is helpful if we, as parliamentarians, reflect the same respectful and firm tone on this issue in an interparliamentary dimension as well?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I would not dream of advising noble Lords or my good friends at the other end of the building on what they should and should not say to a visiting speaker from the United States. The noble Earl makes a good point about having clarity in the position—which I think is widely, if not unanimously, held, at least within this Chamber—as regards Greenland.