Mediation, Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding

Lord Anderson of Ipswich Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Anderson of Ipswich (CB)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, on securing this debate and thank him for introducing it so well. I declare a non-pecuniary interest as chair of Inter Mediate, the charity founded by Jonathan Powell and inspired by the Northern Ireland peace process. Inter Mediate has been engaged for almost 15 years in dialogue with Heads of State and armed groups in attempts to resolve some of the most dangerous and intractable conflicts of our time. Some of its successes, such as Colombia and Mozambique, are matters of public record; the great majority of its work is not, and for good reason. Suffice it to say that I am more proud of the achievements of our remarkable staff, led by Claire Hajaj and Mockbul Ali, than I am of anything else apart from my own family.

When this House amended the National Security (State Threats) Bill this summer to avoid penalising or chilling dialogue between good faith conflict resolution organisations and designated foreign bodies, it was acknowledging that states do not have a monopoly in conflict resolution. Indeed, some of the principles identified by Jonathan Powell in his book Talking to Terrorists may be more usefully performed by non-state entities than by Governments: dialogue with actively hostile groups, the establishment of back channels and the taking of calculated risks to build trust.

Unlike some noble Lords present today, my experience of international conflict resolution is largely second hand. I am not out there cutting deals with national leaders or armed insurgents—just sitting in London checking the kidnap insurance and signing off on the accounts—so I shall not detain your Lordships for long. I venture to make three points that have struck me with particular force during my eight years with Inter Mediate.

First, we in the United Kingdom have a very good name for this sort of activity. I am regularly impressed by the regard in which our diplomats and third-sector peacemakers are held for their influence, their convening power, their trustworthiness and their moral leadership, even—perhaps especially—in those parts of the world where we were once the coloniser. In a 2026 Conciliation Resources survey, 65% of those polled expressed support for UK investment in peacebuilding around the world. They were backing a British success story that, with the right support, has the potential for more success still.

Secondly, conflict resolution is not some wishy-washy nice-to-have. Here I go perhaps a little further than the noble Lord, Lord McConnell: it is an essential ingredient of our hard power. Conflict, weak governance and institutional collapse can create opportunities for terrorist recruitment, regeneration and expansion, and can provide hostile actors with opportunities to undermine UK interests. Integrating early warning, intelligence, local partnerships and institutional resilience into security planning enables us to anticipate threats and head them off. If our counterterrorism or containment strategy begins only when a threat becomes operational, we have already surrendered the advantage. Enhanced military power is certainly necessary, as the noble Lord, Lord Redwood, said—a year on the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme has left me in no doubt about that—but it can be strategically effective only when accompanied by work at every level to develop relationships, forge compromises, make agreements and see that they are implemented.

Thirdly, money spent in this field offers remarkable value. Public investment in civilian peacebuilding, conflict prevention and mediation is minuscule as a proportion of overseas development aid, and barely noticeable by comparison with defence spending. The annual budget of Inter Mediate would barely stretch to the purchase of a single fixed-wing attack drone or a Patriot missile. If we are serious about boosting our security, our self-reliance and our ability to respond to and shape international events, planning for a serious investment in mediation and peacebuilding needs to be a long-term priority, both in our world-class capacities here at home and in local partners who are essential for reach and for delivery. This means more than simply increasing budget allocations, although after years of the brutal cuts that have been referred to, that would be a good start. We need funding vehicles that are flexible and responsible, partnerships across government and with peacemaking organisations and, returning to where I started, a political and legal environment that supports the risks necessary to make peace.