US National Security Strategy

Lord Beamish Excerpts

Tuesday 16th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

My view on Churchill is very straightforward: we are immensely grateful, proud and in awe of the way he led this country through an incredibly difficult period in our history. Obviously, there are complexities and people have views, and there are many people far better placed to give an opinion on Churchill’s legacy than me, but that is my view and I think it is consistent with the view of the Government.

The noble Lord urges us to be closer to our European allies and partners. He is right to do that, and we have reset our relationship with the European Union, I think quite successfully. It has its own positions, and we are rebuilding what was quite a fractured relationship. It is now much more constructive, and we are working together on some very difficult issues, not least the defence of Ukraine. But I do not see it as a question of having to choose between the US and the EU. It is important—indeed, it is our responsibility and our global duty, actually—to step up, as the UK is, and act as a bridge between the EU and the United States and to make sure that we maintain the very best of relationships with both.

[Lord Beamish (Lab)]

My Lords, last week the US Congress, on a bipartisan basis, passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by the President on Thursday night. That Act commits US troops to Europe, highlights that it sees Russia as a threat not only to Europe but to the United States, and commits the US to providing the senior military figure for SACEUR, the commander of NATO. Does my noble friend agree that we should be looking at actions rather than some of the wild statements coming from the White House?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that. While we must not disregard, of course, statements that are made, I do think it important that we focus on the work we can do together in a pragmatic way. As he says, let us focus on the things we do, not just the things that are said.