Ukraine

Debate between Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord West of Spithead

Wednesday 26th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[The Archbishop of Canterbury]

My Lords—

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

My Lords—the most reverend Primate beats me; he is senior to me.

[The Archbishop of Canterbury]

Scarcely. I have never commanded a ship.

First, I associate myself with, particularly, the wise comments of the noble Lord, Lord Cormack. Having listened to the questions, does the noble Baroness the Leader agree that mediation and diplomacy should be pursued until the last moment, seeking to find ways to give both sides the opportunity to withdraw—particularly the Russians from their completely unjustified threats? The one thing we can be sure of is that, once war starts, all control of the situation will be completely lost, possibly for years, and the casualties will be terrible. Secondly, what provision are the Government making, should the worst come to the worst, to support the very large number of refugees and the huge needs for humanitarian support that will inevitably be part of fighting in the late winter in eastern Europe?