King’s Speech

Lord Bates Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates (Con)]

My Lords, it is a privilege to follow the noble Baroness in this: I believe very much that it is a question of actions, not just talking. The gracious Speech promises:

“The United Kingdom will also take action to reduce humanitarian need and conflict around the world”.


The promise would carry immeasurably more weight were the Government not simultaneously imposing the deepest cuts ever seen in the UK aid budget—this from a Government who were elected on a manifesto to keep aid at 0.5%. We are now reducing it to 0.3%, with devastating effects. We all know why this policy changed: it is because the Government—and their loyal Opposition, I have to say—saw focus group polling that showed that cutting overseas aid budgets to fund defence at home might prove electorally popular. Well, that does not seem to have gone down too well, does it? But it is worse than that because, as the noble Baronesses, Lady Ashton and Lady Northover, pointed out, some of Britain’s most senior former military chiefs have now warned that cutting foreign aid to fund defence will compromise our national security. The Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, began this debate by reminding us that we live in a more fragile, contested and interconnected world. But the policy of aid cuts leaves us less safe at home and less effective abroad.

These cuts have real-world effects, nowhere more so than in Sudan. As my noble friend Lady Anelay set out very eloquently, 19.5 million people in Sudan today are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The World Food Programme can reach only 5 million, but because of aid cuts and the conflict in Iran, which is driving up costs of delivery, that has had to be reduced to 3 million, and individual rations are being cut by 50% in some areas. Despite the pledges made at last month’s Berlin conference, as of today, the UN’s Sudan humanitarian needs and response plan of $2.87 billion remains only 20% funded. What does it say, in a world of unprecedented wealth, where we are able to find $3 trillion for arms sales, that we cannot find $3 billion to save the lives of 20 million people?

The prime responsibility for the human suffering in Sudan lies squarely on the warring parties, which are perpetrating extraordinary acts of cruelty and sexual violence against their own people. The use of drones means that there is no safe space for civilians. Hospitals, markets and waterholes and wells are targeted. Civilians are overwhelmingly the victims of this war, and as such their voice needs to be heard too.

The peace negotiations are supposed to be led by a quad of nations—the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates—but they have stalled, with three of the four who are supposed to be in charge of peace negotiations actually supplying arms to one side or the other. As the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, said, we need to invest diplomatic capital in calling that out and reminding our friends of their responsibility to get their sides to the negotiating table, to stop feeding the conflict and to start feeding the people. We need a humanitarian ceasefire now. If they are not prepared to step up to the responsibility, they should step aside and let others try.

The United Kingdom is still a diplomatic superpower that is widely respected around the world. We have some of the finest and most skilled diplomats on the planet. The UK and London have enormous convening power, as we have seen this week at the excellent Global Partnerships Conference in Woolwich. There is no military solution to this problem; the need of the hour is for a diplomatic surge. I believe that the UK is uniquely placed to do that. We are the penholder on Sudan at the UN. We need no further authority to act and to get involved.

The need of the hour is not just for words; it is for actions too. I began by quoting the gracious Speech, which said we should

“reduce humanitarian need and conflict around the world”.

That Speech goes on to say:

“Ministers will champion the rights of women and girls to live in a world free from violence”.


Fine words. But for the women and girls living alone in fear and hunger in Sudan today, they may respond in the immortal words of Eliza Doolittle:

“Words! Words! Words! I’m so sick of words! …


Sing me no song!

Read me no rhyme!

Don’t waste my time,

Show me!”