Human Rights: India

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Thursday 17th November 2022 Grand Committee

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Hussain, for initiating this debate. Of course, it has reminded us that India is the world’s largest democracy and will always remain a close ally of the United Kingdom, underpinned, as we have heard, by the close social, economic and cultural ties that we enjoy. Perhaps it is because of that close relationship and shared ties that we should continue to stand up for human rights everywhere, and call out human rights violations wherever they exist, including in Kashmir. A peaceful dialogue and respect for human rights, with India and Pakistan working together, is the only way that a political solution can be achieved. All parties should refrain from unilateral decisions, which make the process of building a lasting peace more difficult.

The conflict in Kashmir is more than 70 years long and is the longest unresolved conflict on the agenda of the United Nations. We will continue to respect UN resolutions on this issue. As the Minister for the United Nations, can the Minister update the Committee on whether the UK mission is involved in any efforts to monitor resolutions relating to Kashmir?

Of course, we should look beyond Kashmir to wider human rights violations which persist elsewhere in India, including violence against religious minorities and other vulnerable communities. Can the Minister offer an assessment of recent levels of violence and the safety of religious minorities?

The United Kingdom—as all noble Lords, including the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, have stressed—must be a strong advocate for human rights wherever they are under threat, and that always means supporting a free press and a strong civil society. They, rather than politicians and Governments, are often the guarantors of human rights.

I have raised previously with the Minister the question of media freedom, particularly in Kashmir. I hope he can update us on the FCDO’s recent efforts to secure this and what protections we are able to offer. I echo the point made by the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, about civil society and hope that the Minister can update us on the steps taken by the department to engage with civil society groups in India and Kashmir, including those representing workers, women’s groups and religious minorities.

Missile Incident in Poland

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Thursday 17th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, the loss of life in Poland is a brutal reminder of the tragic consequences that Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is having. I am sure the whole House will wish to express condolences to the families of those killed. As NATO’s Secretary-General said yesterday, and as the Statement reflected:

“Russia bears the ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine.”


The Government of Poland, along with NATO, should be praised for their level-headed response. We should also recognise the risk of miscalculation that results from this war. Is the Minister able to give a further update on the NATO meeting yesterday to discuss its reaction to the incident? Can he also confirm that we are, either directly or through NATO, giving maximum support to the investigation to establish the full facts?

This week has seen the largest barrage of missiles against Ukraine since the war began, with a completely unjustified focus on civilian infrastructure, which we all know will have consequences for innocent people, families and children as the winter approaches. We must continue to offer our full solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and of course the Opposition are absolutely at one with the Government in our support for Ukraine. I hope, however, that the Minister can tell us that, in expressing our solidarity, we are also exploring new ways of bolstering Ukraine’s defences. In particular, can he tell us what further steps we are now taking to strengthen its air defence capacity?

In terms of maintaining global unity in support of Ukraine, I assume that the Prime Minister’s Statement on the G20 will cover a major part of this, but can the Minister tell us more specifically what we have been doing with the EU to ensure that we maintain absolute unity in the fight against Putin’s illegal war?

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I also associate these Benches with the condolences offered by the noble Lord, Lord Collins, to those affected by this. We agree with the NATO Secretary-General when he said that

“this is not Ukraine’s fault”

because the cause is Russia, which “bears the ultimate responsibility”. Putin will of course seek division, and therefore it is important that the UK and our allies are together with President Zelensky in supporting the Polish Government and investigating the direct cause of this.

It is to be welcomed that the UK and our allies at the G20 conference reacted in a sensible and cautious way. I support the work of the Government on this. The Foreign Secretary said in the Statement that

“the UK stands ready to provide any practical or technical assistance”

to the Polish Government. Can the Minister say whether the Polish Government has asked for that from the UK and whether that is to be provided? We offer great resources when it comes to investigative capacity, and our intelligence networks are of course second to none. I hope that they are fully open to the Polish authorities.

The Government have said that the UK has provided

“more than 1,000 surface-to-air missiles thus far”

to Ukraine. We have supported the deployment of UK assets provided to Ukraine. Can the Minister give an estimate of how many of those have so far been used and whether UK support with regard to missile capability needs to be replenished? The Minister knows well enough from questions in previous debates that we have sought clarity as to UK stocks of supplies, not only for supporting Ukraine but for our own defensive capabilities. It would be helpful to know what level of resources that we have made available has been used.

Can the UK now work with our allies to move into a new phase of tackling what could well be apparent impunity? The random bombardment of cities with missiles from the Putin regime is fully grotesque. There is no question in my mind that this is now absolutely a clear crime of aggression, in addition to the crimes against humanity that we have already discussed. Can the Minister update the House with regard to the UK policy on the crime of aggression? The UK has not ratified the amendments to the Rome Statute made in Kampala in 2010. We have not been as clear as I believe we should be in support of those who have called for a hybrid chamber on the crime of aggression of the UN and Ukraine, so that we can see movement on reducing the prospect of impunity for the Putin regime. Is this not now the appropriate time to review the UK’s position on the failure to ratify the amendments to the Rome Statute on the crime of aggression? The UK should be seen as a facilitator in moving to establish a chamber where we can see some of the crimes that have so clearly committed by the Putin regime put to the judicial process, so that there can be punishments for the crimes that are so obviously taking place.

Russia in Georgia

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I assure my noble friend that I am all for cross-party co-operation when it comes to good governance in our Parliaments. Despite our different perspectives and challenges, I think your Lordships’ House and the other place reflect that genuine desire to ensure good governance in Parliament. Of course, I take on board what my noble friend said. It is important that all parties work in the common interests of Georgia and ensure that the current occupation and annexation of these breakaway republics is addressed centrally, because this is a violation of its sovereign territory.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I have raised with the Minister several times the threat to human rights in Georgia, particularly attacks on workers, trade unions and LGBT people. Can he tell us what steps the Government have taken to engage with civil society? As we often hear, civil society is the main guarantor of human rights when Governments fail to ensure them, so what are we doing to engage with it?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Lord knows that I agree with him totally, not just in the context of support for civil society in Georgia but generally. Civil society is core to any progressive, inclusive, functioning democracy. We are providing support in Georgia; for example, through a range of projects focused primarily on confidence-building dialogue, funded by CSF funding. That also helps Georgia take forward public administration reform, parliamentary capacity building and good governance, and includes some of the work we are doing with civil society. On the specific groups we are working with and direct engagement, if I may, I will write to the noble Lord.

Tigray Province: Ceasefire Agreement

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lord Browne for initiating this debate. Sadly, we have not had sufficient time to focus on this conflict; we have raised questions but not really had the opportunity to debate it in full, and I appreciate that he has been able to get this debate scheduled so quickly after the peace talks. I also start by thanking my noble friend Lord Boateng, who is absolutely right about the context of this debate. Ethiopia was a highlight of development and a positive news story in that regard, and it shows how quickly conflict can undermine such progress. That is why our emphasis and minds need always be turned to conflict prevention.

I shall not bang on about the integrated review, but diplomacy, defence and development are all key ingredients of any reaction to these sorts of events. It is important, when we consider the future, that we have uppermost in our minds the need to ensure that we support conflict prevention. Of course, what we have seen for the last two years, from Ethiopian government forces, along with Eritrean forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, is a humanitarian disaster developing. We have seen massive impacts, as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, highlighted, on food security and access to medical care. Severe shortages of fuel have limited aid delivery outside major areas, even when this has been able to flow into Tigray.

We have had periods of hope. We had the humanitarian ceasefire, established in March, which broke down in August. One of the things I was most heartened by was the news on Sunday that the 2 November agreement has now been backed up with a very clear agreement to facilitate immediate humanitarian access to all in need in Tigray and the neighbouring regions. That is good news, and I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, that we should ensure it is backed up by resource. If it is not, we have the potential to fall back into conflict.

I also absolutely agree with my noble friend Lord Boateng about the role of the African Union. I know that in previous debates on this issue, the Minister and I have agreed about that and he stressed its importance, but we all have to understand that this agreement is a crucial first step, not the end of the matter. That is why we have to be continually focused on this. The restoration of aid to Tigray and its 6 million people was one of the key planks of the accord, and I hope this will be backed up. As we have heard, the conflict has caused untold numbers of deaths, forced more than 2 million people from their homes and driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine in Tigray.

As we have heard, the UN investigators have accused all sides of committing abuses but, as the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, highlighted, they also charged Addis Ababa with using starvation as a weapon of war. On Wednesday, the WHO called for a massive influx of food and medicines into Tigray after the ceasefire, saying that aid had not yet been allowed in. I hope the noble Lord can respond to the questions about aid. What are we doing to co-ordinate support through UN agencies in particular? Now that we have the open door, how are we going to get that support in? It is really important. The WHO chief was saying that many people are still dying from treatable diseases, and that is why access to medicines is so crucial.

Many noble Lords, including my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, referenced the September 2022 report of the UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia. That looked at a selection of incidents that the noble Lord, Lord Alton, highlighted—I will not repeat them, but they included crimes against humanity and even worse than that. We should understand that that team had limited access; we should demand clear access to the whole of Tigrayan Ethiopia to examine them. I hope the Minister can give us some reassurance that, in holding people to account, we are prepared to give the necessary resources. As all noble Lords have said, without justice there can be no peace. That is a really important element.

We have heard descriptions of the sexual violence that has been rife in this conflict. As the noble Lord, Lord Alton, highlighted, we were at a meeting where we heard first-hand evidence from a very young, brave woman who had been to the camps. We need to ensure that that sort of evidence and testimony is heard at the forthcoming conference on the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. We need to ensure that civil society representatives from the Tigrayan and other diaspora communities in the UK can have their testimonies heard. That will be an important element of this conference, which I am pleased to be able to attend. I look forward to hearing the Minister speak about that.

I want to hear from the Government how we will continue to support investigators from the international commission so that there can be proper processes, as my noble friends have highlighted, to ensure that people are held to account. This has been an important debate. I do not think it will be the last time we discuss this issue. It is really important that we continue to focus on it, because it is a lesson on how conflict can undermine such good work. I commend my noble friend for initiating this debate.

Iran: Women Protesters

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that we are not turning a blind eye, whether on the issue of Iran or the issue of Ukraine. There are countries, partners and friends of ours that have different perspectives. I cannot speak to their foreign policy, but I can assure the noble Lord that we are robust in putting to them the United Kingdom’s position, and our position on Iran is of course very clear.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I recognise what the Government have been doing, particularly at the United Nations, and I recognise what we have been doing Government to Government. However, the real issue here is how we support those very people who are on the street, how we support civil society and how we amplify those voices. Faith leaders need to be heard across the board, as do civil society organisations globally. Can the Minister assure us that we are supporting those organisations so that it is the people’s voices that are heard, not simply those of Governments?

Inter-American Investment Corporation (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2022

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Grand Committee

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)]

I thank the Minister for that introduction. We appreciate that the consolidation of the bank’s arrangements has led to this situation; that is perfectly understandable.

I will raise just one or two questions. The Minister said the bank aligns with UK aid, but on previous multilateral assessments the bank has not performed as well as other international institutions and international banks in a number of areas, particularly on inequality and gender issues. It has improved on climate change, which the Minister will be particularly pleased about, but can he indicate the extent to which the bank aligns and the extent to which the UK can influence it? We have a UK director—I assume we still have—and it would be interesting to know what his or her brief is and what they are looking for, given that we are a very small shareholder in the bank. The UK and the bank worked together on the green bond initiative. I wonder how that has developed and whether it could develop further.

With the bank operating here, is there a particular objective to being in the UK? Its interests clearly are not here. Is it about raising money? Is it about partnerships? It would be helpful to have some idea of the bank’s interests in being in the UK.

This is a small point, but I see that the Scottish law is different. Just for clarification, given that the Scottish Government have been consulted and have agreed, is there any significance to this? Will the passing of instrument and the relevant legislation in the Scottish Parliament ensure, from the bank’s point of view, that the UK operates as a homogeneous whole and that there are no differences? An international bank such as that might have some trouble if there were internal differences.

We have just had an election in Brazil, which has been welcomed by many people, particularly on climate issues. Again, I am sure the Minister will be very supportive of that. I suppose the question is: is there an opportunity for the bank to refocus and reprioritise? To the extent to which there is, does the UK have some capacity to shape that so that it matches UK aid objectives?

As an aside, UK aid objectives are somewhat confused and reduced at the moment, but I very much welcome the reappointment of Andrew Mitchell as the Development Minister attending Cabinet, because I know from his past record that he will certainly want to ensure that UK development aid gets back to where it has been, not just in financial terms but in quality and impact.

The Inter-American Development Bank is not the most important vehicle for UK aid and development but, given that we are part of it, it is important that it aligns and that we use whatever influence we have to help shape it. I will be grateful if the Minister is able to give us any flavour of that.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for those questions. I shall not repeat them, although I was going to cover some of the issues myself. One thing that struck me, which the Minister mentioned, was that, when we presented the treaty in 2018 to join the bank, the associated impact assessment stated that secondary legislation would be required to grant immunities and privileges. I am not at all surprised that we have this SI, but I am slightly interested to know why it is happening four years later. Just to pick up the point, it would be good to better understand what prompted it to come now.

The Minister mentioned that there was no physical presence of the bank in London, but is there going to be? If there is going to be, what are the reasons for that? Is it something that we can positively influence and shape? We heard from the noble Lord about how we might be able to have influence, even as a minor shareholder. He is absolutely right to draw attention to the election in Brazil and the fact that there will be a greater opportunity to push the green agenda. Given that the Amazon is the lungs of the world, it is even more important that we focus on that.

I have just a couple of technical points. When SIs of this nature have come up before, particularly as part of privileges, I have asked the specific question about road traffic offences and immunities and whether they are part of those privileges. I hope that the Minister can reassure us on that. On the question of physical presence, if he is expecting there to be one, is there any anticipation about the number of officials who are non-UK citizens who might be here?

In conclusion, I agree with the comments that have been made. This is positive news; we welcome this, and we certainly welcomed the treaty and our engagement with the bank in 2018. In its original presence, it has been around since 1984, and the more we can influence it, the better. Such investment has an important role to play in development and reaching the UN’s 2030 agenda on sustainable development goals. We certainly welcome these regulations, which should allow the corporation to contribute to that.

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

I am grateful to noble Lords for their contributions and questions, and I shall do my best to answer them. I welcome the support for our membership of IDB Invest.

I turn to the questions from the noble Lords, Lord Bruce and Lord Collins, who both mentioned the scope for further alignment of international objectives between the UK and IDB Invest. We are very much moving in the same direction already; the IDB played a very important role in the run-up to and at COP 26. Noble Lords will remember that, as part of our forest package, we secured commitments from what are now 145 countries, representing 91% of the world’s forests, to end deforestation and reverse it by the end of this decade. We secured $20 billion in finance from Governments and philanthropists to help them to do that, and, as part of it, we got the multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, to commit to aligning their portfolios not just with Paris but with those broader deforestation goals as well. We would not have been able to do that had it not been for the intervention of key figures in the IDB. I am personally very grateful to them for the support that they provided during COP and in the run-up to it.

Obviously, climate change continues to be a top international priority for us and is a key priority for the IDB. In the context of that region, the obvious contribution that can be made to the challenge of tackling climate change is protecting the lungs of the earth, as the noble Lord, Lord Collins, said. There is no solution to climate change that does not involve nature and protecting and restoring degraded forests. From the perspective of the IDB, the Amazon is absolutely central. This remains a priority for us. At COP, we committed £200 million of UK ODA to support efforts to protect the Amazon, and we are working in many other ways to amplify that support; it is not just financial.

Both noble Lords mentioned the election in Brazil. From the point of view of the environment, climate change and the protection of the Amazon, the result was wildly good news. The previous Government had a hostile attitude to environmental protection and, in particular, the indigenous people who live in the forest. President-elect Lula takes a completely different approach. He has been bullish and ambitious in the statements he has made about his plans to protect the Amazon. We will of course do absolutely everything we can to support him in those endeavours.

I should also say that he has a record: under his previous two terms, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon came down very markedly, and it went up very sharply under the last Government. So we know that it can be done, and we stand ready to support our friends in Brazil in whatever way we possibly can, alongside other donor countries, with which I have had many conversations in the past few days about how we might work together to support the new Government in that objective. I thank noble Lords for raising this issue.

The noble Lord, Lord Bruce, talked about other areas of the IDB’s performance. IDB Invest certainly has space to improve but it is found to be good for transparency, and it is rated as one of the highest-performing organisations in that regard. As one of its priorities, the UK will use its membership of the IDB to invest in and push for higher levels of transparency still, greater learning across the bank and the sharing of best practice. This very much remains on the agenda for us but we are happy with our relationship with the multilaterals. There are numerous big multilaterals, and not all of them are as easy to deal with as the IDB on the issues I have just talked about.

Both noble Lords asked about the likely presence of the IDB in the UK. It does not have a staffed office at the moment; the only people who are expected to be granted immunities and privileges, therefore, are staff members who travel to the UK on official business—for example, to meet UK Ministers or businesses. We anticipate that fewer than 10 IDB Invest staff will travel to the UK per year on official duties.

With respect to the important point made by the noble Lord, Lord Collins, about road traffic accidents, it is hard to discuss this issue without making reference to the tragic case of Harry Dunn. Before moving on, I should say—I know that everyone in the Room will echo this—that my deepest sympathies very much remain with his family; I pay tribute to their resolve. We are pleased that criminal proceedings are now taking place in that case. It is a long-standing government policy to seek a carve-out of immunities relating to road traffic accidents when granting privileges and immunities. However, the possibility of such a carve-out was not included in the establishment charter for the IDB in 1959, so it was not passed through to the IDB Invest treaty. Instead, the FCDO has negotiated a bilateral memorandum of understanding with IDB Invest to mitigate this risk. The MoU states that IDB Invest staff members are not permitted to drive a vehicle on official business in the UK.

The noble Lord, Lord Collins, asked why it has taken so long to ratify the UK’s membership. The delay in laying the required legislation was the result of two factors: first, the higher priority given to legislation to facilitate our exit from the EU; and, secondly, the time taken to negotiate an MoU with the bank to clarify that IDB Invest staff members are not permitted to drive a vehicle on official business in the UK.

It is good news that we are now here. In taking up our membership of IDB Invest, we will undoubtedly be better placed to influence the investment that it makes to support private sector development. This will allow us to support the UK’s goals of promoting development and reducing poverty in a region of enormous strategic importance. Once again, I thank noble Lords for their contributions and commend the instrument to the Committee.

Ukraine

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I reiterate that these Benches are completely at one with the Government in giving full support to the Ukrainian people in their fight against Putin’s illegal and immoral act of aggression.

The Russian missiles launched against Ukrainian energy and water systems are part of a deliberate and callous strategy to target civilian infrastructure ahead of winter, causing as much damage to civilians as possible. Therefore, the resilience of Ukraine’s energy, heating and water systems is vital in resisting Russia’s attacks on that civilian infrastructure.

James Cleverly said yesterday in response to my right honourable friend David Lammy that

“the UK has pledged £100 million to support Ukraine’s energy security and to reform, and £74 million in fiscal grants to support Ukraine through the World Bank.”—[Official Report, Commons, 31/10/22; col. 625.]

All this is very welcome, but he was unable to give a specific answer on the number of generators we have supplied, and promised to find out the details. The reality is that, in such war conditions, practical support and speed of delivery are essential. In addition to detailing the number of generators that we will supply, can the Minister assure the House that we are working with all relevant suppliers to speed up matters? Also, can he tell the House whether such action is being co-ordinated in conjunction with our allies, particularly our European allies?

As we have heard in media reports today, Russia’s attacks on infrastructure and the electrical grid have not been limited to the use of drones, missiles and bombs. Europe Minister Leo Docherty said on the BBC this morning that Ukraine faces

“the same threat and same challenge in the cyber domain,”

representing the most extensive compromise of a single Government seen in history. He confirmed that support is provided through the FCDO, with officials saying that it has led the way among allies in providing specialist expertise. Can the Minister tell us whether this support is being co-ordinated with such allies? What assessment has the department made of the implications of escalation of the conflict?

In relation to arms supplies to the Russians, the Foreign Secretary said that the UK will be keeping a close eye on the actions of Iran, and indeed other countries. He confirmed that we would take appropriate action to dissuade them from supplying arms and would react if they do. Can the Minister assure the House that in reacting the Government would work in complete tandem with our allies, such as the US and the EU? On too many occasions we have been slower than our allies to react.

On the important issue of grain exports from Ukraine, the UN-backed agreement has been vital in reducing global food prices. Putin’s unjustifiable decision to pull out of this deal will undoubtedly have catastrophic consequences. It comes at a time when many countries are already food insecure, including Somalia, where an imminent famine is feared. This is a cruel and transparent use of hunger as blackmail. Any spike in world food prices will be the responsibility of the Russian Government. Therefore, this agreement must be restored.

The Foreign Secretary said that he had spoken to his Turkish counterparts in the past, expressing our gratitude for the work they have done in securing the grain export deal. However, it was unclear from what he said whether he has spoken to his Turkish counterparts and Turkey’s political leadership on the potential for restoring grain flows since Russia’s announcement. Have the Minister’s department or the Foreign Secretary been in touch with Turkey in recent days? The Foreign Secretary did not address the steps that the UK is considering to mitigate the worst consequences for the developing world if these efforts fail, but I hope the Minister will be able to do so today.

James Cleverly also told the other place that we are supplying a considerable number of air defence missiles, which is very welcome in light of the attacks we have seen. Can the Minister assure us that we are able to keep up with the demand for these missiles with our US and NATO allies? Can he assure the House that we can provide all the lethal and non-lethal equipment that is being requested?

I conclude by reiterating Labour’s full support for the Government’s actions in respect of Ukraine.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, as the barbarity of Putin continues and winter approaches, our admiration for the resilience of the people of Ukraine knows no bounds. The Minister knows that we have supported the government strategy; the support for the Ukrainian Government and people; and the sanctions regime— notwithstanding that we have highlighted areas where we could have gone further and faster on sanctions, as has been highlighted. There is no doubt that Putin wants both malaise and division in the West, and we support the Government in ensuring that that does not happen.

I have a number of questions for the Minister about the direct impact of the sanctions regime on Russia, which he will have heard me ask before. I ask for an update on what the direct impact of our sanctions has been, because they do not seem to have prevented the barbarity continuing in certain areas.

Could the Minister also be specific about what we are saying to our allies in the Gulf and in Asia, India in particular? Have the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister raised at the highest levels the concern about the impact of our allies providing neutrality but also therefore de facto support? This is a challenging area for UK foreign policy, but one we need to tackle. It would be depressing if we are so reliant on the Gulf’s inward investment and so hopeful for a trade deal with India that it prevents us having very hard conversations with our allies.

As the noble Lord, Lord Collins, indicated, we have seen the grotesque weaponisation of energy, fuel and grain by Russia. Prices have risen already with the 4 million tonnes of shipments that are being prevented from being distributed. As the Minister knows, this will have a disproportionate impact on the countries in east Africa and the Horn of Africa that are already facing famine. What direct measures are we taking to ensure that shipments can be released? What security support might be made available to ensure their supply?

The Minister knows that we have supported the UK’s support for Ukraine and we of course supported the resettlement scheme at home. He will also know that we have repeatedly highlighted concerns that this is provided at a direct cost to overseas assistance to countries in need. Figures suggest that the resettlement scheme at home for Ukrainians will be met entirely from ODA funds, which will mean that, for the first time in our nation’s history, more overseas development assistance will be spent domestically than bilaterally abroad. That is unprecedented. I hope the Minister will say that this is not correct.

It was disturbing to read Kwasi Kwarteng’s tweet in June, posted when he was BEIS Secretary, saying on supplying defence equipment:

“My Department has contributed to the effort by surrendering climate finance and foreign aid underspends.”


Countries with which we are seeking to build a diplomatic consensus against Putin are seeing the UK provide support, which is welcome, but at a direct cost for those countries. Just before the start of proceedings this afternoon, I met the deputy speaker of the Malawi Parliament, who raised questions as to why cutting support for young girls in Malawi was a cost of UK support for Ukraine. Surely this is a cost which will do us long-term damage. I hope the Minister is able to respond to these issues. We will not retain moral value in our work for Ukraine if other countries see us cut directly as a cost of it.

European Political Community

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Monday 31st October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, it will be for BEIS to provide specific details on next steps in relation to this issue but I can confirm that it was discussed. The former Prime Minister pushed for the development of new North Sea hybrid interconnectors to accelerate renewables capacity, among other things, but I am afraid that I will have to leave the outcome to colleagues in BEIS.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I know it feels like some time ago but, at the Conservative Party conference, the Foreign Secretary said:

“We want to find ways of working well with our neighbours and partners … in Europe”.


I am rather disappointed with the Minister’s response; the security situation is incredibly grave and we do need more formal structures to address security. Instead of trading insults and threats to break international law, will the Government consider an EU-UK security pact to complement NATO in light of the security threats that we now face?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, the UK will always do what is in our interests, and our interests are closely aligned with those of our European neighbours. The fact that progress was made at the forum without that forum being owned exclusively by the EU, with the summit being open to other non-EU member countries on the continent—as I said, one-third of the attendees were not members of the European Union—and the fact that no new structures or institutions needed to be created mean that this is exactly the kind of forum that we need, to be able to talk honestly with our friends and to align our response to things such as Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine with one another in our mutual interest.

Women, Peace and Security Bill [HL]

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 28th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, for bringing this Bill before Parliament. I also thank her for all her work on this agenda; she has worked tirelessly on a cross-party basis. As noble Lords have said, I hope that the response to the Bill, from these Benches and from the Government Benches, will be at one in seeking to deliver this agenda.

The denial of the rights of women and girls remains the most widespread driver of inequality in today’s world. Gender-based violence is a major element of this massive and continuing failure of human rights. Delivering this agenda, as action plans have recognised, is not a matter for government alone. The ingredients of a thriving democracy are not limited to Parliaments and parliamentarians. As the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, rightly highlighted, civil society organisations such as women’s rights groups and trade unions remain an important part of democratic life and are frequently the only guarantors of human rights in society.

Women endure discrimination, violence and the denial of their rights simply because they are women. We must tackle the underlying problem of a lack of empowerment, education and inclusion. As my noble friend Lord McConnell has frequently argued,

“development is the mortar of peace.”—[Official Report, 8/7/10; col. 360]

I also welcome Andrew Mitchell’s appointment. He certainly has a tremendous track record on this issue, both as a Minister and a Back-Bencher. I echo the comments of all noble Lords, and I hope he will see his focus as establishing a very clear timetable for the return to 0.7%.

Ethiopia is an example of how quickly incredible levels of development can fall apart when conflict re-emerges. A really sad and horrific example of that conflict has been the sexual violence we have seen, particularly in the Tigray region. I know that is something we will be focusing on in the Bill which we will be considering later. In the Ukraine conflict we have also seen rising levels of sexual violence. Yesterday we had a very short debate on the situation in Iran, where the shameful killing of Mahsa Amini was followed by alarming reports of the continued use of disproportionate force, particularly against women, opposing the restrictions on their rights. This is all evidence of how women and girls pay a very heavy price in conflict and instability. There is more; sadly, I could go into a long list.

The UN Secretary-General’s 2020 annual report on the responsibility to protect focused on the role of women in peace and security. The report was published on the 15th anniversary of the responsibility to protect, as well as the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. The report recognised that the full and equal participation of women in peace processes and in decision-making, as well as in the design of preventive measures, is important in closing any gender-based gaps in atrocity prevention. Globally, only 13% of negotiators, 6% of mediators and 6% of signatories in major peace processes are women. Women deserve to be part of peacebuilding and conflict response because, unless they are given the opportunity to voice their demands and needs, they may be left in danger, even though the fighting appears to have stopped.

As the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, said, the United Kingdom has a proud record of supporting the women, peace and security agenda for many years, including setting up a network of women mediators. It is currently the pen holder at the UN Security Council. Noble Lords have referenced the forthcoming conference in November of the international Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, which focuses on ending conflict-related sexual violence. The Minister and I have talked about the conference and stressed the obvious importance of hearing the voices of those most affected, ensuring that we make it clear that these are the ones the world needs to hear. I have also stressed to him the importance of civil society being properly engaged in that conference, and I hope that he will give us some idea in his response about the conference’s shape and agenda.

Labour has argued and believes in foreign and development policies based on the principles of gender justice, rights, intersectionality and solidarity. That is why we support the Bill transforming words into actions. As the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, said, we have signed up to the conventions, but we have to make sure that those commitments are a “must” rather than a “should”. That is why the evidence she highlighted is so important and why we need to make it clear that this is not a desirable objective but an absolutely necessary one.

Of course, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, highlighted, the delay in the national action plan report to Parliament, which was not published until July this year, is just one part of the evidence that she presented. It is an important and crucial mechanism of accountability, which is why we support the Bill. I hope the Minister will also commit to supporting it and to giving it a successful passage through Parliament.

Genocide Determination Bill [HL]

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 28th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for introducing this Private Member’s Bill today: it is an important element of our fight to defend human rights. I stress that it is an element of our fight to defend human rights because I must pick up the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Mann: there is a pathway to genocide. It does not start with mass murder or gas chambers; it starts with abuse, disrespect and all kinds of actions that can accumulate. It is really important that we look at that sort of pathway.

Certainly, since the UK acceded to the genocide convention in 1948 and introduced laws that criminalised genocide, no matter where it is committed, we have a duty to prevent and punish the crime of genocide wherever it occurs. An important lesson from this debate is that we need to look at the mechanism to prevent, as much as to punish, genocide. The UK Government, as we heard from all speakers, has a long-standing policy of leaving the question of genocide determination to the international judicial system. Of course, it has not stopped the Government supporting efforts and I know that the Minister will say that where there is a strong evidence base, we will support the gathering of that evidence and make sure that there is a strong basis for pursuing that international court action. But the lack of a formal mechanism, whether grounded in law or policy, was, as we heard from my noble friend, criticised by the Foreign Affairs Committee in December 2017, particularly on the situation in Rakhine state in Myanmar.

On these Benches, we support the efforts of the noble Lord, Lord Alton. We supported him in the Trade Act. In debates on that Act, I also had amendments, supported by this House, to underpin the element of it being not just about genocide. A lot of the things we have been talking about today are not simply about genocide; they are that pathway to genocide.

When I read the Library briefing and the campaign briefing that the noble Lord has been associated with, what struck me was the question of whether a determination makes a difference. I found the research in the briefing by Gregory Stanton from George Mason University fascinating. It found that recognising as genocide mass atrocities that meet the legal definition has resulted in a more comprehensive response, including to stop atrocities. That is what the Bill is about. It is not about having the luxury position of saying, “We now know they’re guilty and there’s a legal process”, but about how we stop it. I thought that research was really important. As Gregory Stanton put it, genocide determination is the first step towards an effective and comprehensive response, including to prevent the risk of genocide materialising and to prevent further atrocities. Has the department seen that research? How might it help the department to consider the broader policy issues in relation to how we pursue evidence of genocide?

The global community has previously acknowledged the failure to prevent tragedies such as the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and the Srebrenica genocide in 1995. I have been working on the United Nations for the last year for the Labour Front Bench, and I was struck by Kofi Annan’s report from 2000 on the role of the UN in the 21st century. He posed the question,

“if humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica—to gross and systematic violations of human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity?”

The result of that question was the 2005 world summit to address the four key concerns: to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The outcome was a global political commitment, endorsed by all member states, called the responsibility to protect, referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan. That commitment had three pillars. First, there are the protection responsibilities of the state. Each individual state has a responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The second is international assistance and capacity building. States pledged to assist each other in their protection responsibilities. The third pillar is a timely and decisive collective response. If any state is manifestly failing in its protection responsibilities, states should take collective action to protect that population.

Despite the apparent consensus about the responsibility to protect, there is a persistent contention over the application of the third pillar in practice. In preparing for today’s debate, I thought I would reread the Secretary-General’s annual report on the responsibility to protect that was published last year. Key points in the report were:

“Systematic and grave human rights violations, widespread impunity, hate speech, exclusion and discrimination can all increase the risk of atrocity crimes. Prioritization of prevention remains crucial. Atrocity prevention should be integrated into all relevant fields of the work of the UN.”


Can the Minister tell us today what assessment the FCDO made of last year’s report? How is it influencing our engagement with the UN and underpinning the principles of the right to protect?

As we have heard, since 2005 and that global consensus, we have seen clear evidence of genocide in Myanmar, Syria, Iraq and China. Yet, in the face of all this, the UK Government’s stance remains unchanged. Impunity begets further crimes, and the lack of action will only empower those seeking to commit this crime. I read in today’s Guardian about the crimes in Syria and the appalling video evidence of the case of Major Yousef, who committed and filmed a massacre. I understand that the French Government are looking at preparing a case and taking action.

That leads me to my other point. I hope that, in supporting the pathway the noble Lord, Lord Alton, is pursuing through this Bill, we do not have to wait for his legislation to act. I know that the Minister will come back on some of the practical things in terms of evidence, but what are we doing to work with other Governments and our allies to pursue cases such as Syria—for example, co-operating with the French Government? I hope the Minister can reassure us this afternoon that this Government will work with their allies.

Whatever happens, I wish this Bill a successful passage. It does not give us all the answers—I think the noble Lord, Lord Alton, would be the first to admit that—but it provides a pathway. What we cannot do is continue to stand by and watch these horrendous crimes being committed. I support the Bill.