Royal Navy: Caribbean

Lord Addington Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for the question. I am not familiar with the particular problems she referred to, but I am happy to find out more and come back to her.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, can we get some assurance from the Government that any naval ship based out there is doing a worthwhile job and will not get pulled into activities that we might question at home? That is the key thing here. If we are doing things such as supporting people in times of natural disaster, there are limitations on that, and we will not find ourselves enforcing another nation’s whim actions.

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I am very happy to reassure the noble Lord and the entire House on that point. There has been no UK involvement in operations outside our own policy remit, and specific operational activities undertaken by the US military—which I assume is what the noble Lord was referring to—in the Caribbean and the Pacific are a matter for the US. The legality of US actions is a matter for the US. The UK upholds international law, and I reassure the noble Lord that UK exchange officers are segregated from US personnel during specific US operations.