Defence Reform Bill

Debate between Lord Astor of Hever and Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

Wednesday 5th February 2014 Grand Committee

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords—

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer]

I apologise to the Minister, but I am afraid that there is a lot more to say on these amendments before he comes to reply.

I want to address two issues in these amendments in particular. First, the technology has advanced much faster than the legislation designed to regulate its application. In this case, I am not talking about drones but about interception capabilities. Secondly, a lot of the technology appears to be applied by American forces who operate from UK soil but for whom the force of UK law does not seem to apply. For both those reasons, I suggest that the legislative framework is in urgent need of amendment.

Libya

Debate between Lord Astor of Hever and Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble and gallant Lord for his questions. We do not comment on the military contributions of other nations to the campaign. However, we are grateful for them. He asked me about risk assessments. Before we take any operational decision, we make a full risk assessment to understand the environment in which we require our personnel and equipment to operate. We will look particularly at the regime’s capability, not least its surface-to-air missiles.

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a board member of UNICEF UK. If we are to have helicopters and ships in greater number in the area, have any further instructions been issued on what to do with boat-loads of refugees who are fleeing the situation? I am sure that, like me, the Minister does not want to see any more of the disasters that were seen previously.

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, as I understand it, there is an international stabilisation response team in Benghazi looking at this issue. Of course, the United Kingdom will continue to provide medical and emergency food supplies.