Middle East

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Baroness Uddin

Thursday 19th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have been very clear that the most important outcome is a negotiated settlement and agreement to achieve the end of this war. The Strait of Hormuz presents us with a problem. We are in detailed negotiations with our allies because, as the noble Lord accepts, what we are facing now is very different from what we faced 10 or 20 years ago. Technology has changed. As the Foreign Secretary said in the other place, we have not just air drones but sea drones and other different things—it is not just about guns along the bank. It is important that we understand that. We are actively working with our allies to see how we can address this.

Either the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, or the noble Earl—by the way, I should have said happy birthday to him; dealing with this Statement at the end of the week is not a birthday occupation—referred to international law and the law of the sea. The law of navigation and trade is the number one priority for the UK and our ability to trade and be economically viable, so we are going to continue to work with our allies. The noble Lord is right that in the end we need a negotiated settlement.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Statement. I associate myself with the constructive and thoughtful way in which he has responded and with the comments made by other noble Lords, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Purvis of Tweed, because of the issues that he raised on Sudan.

Does the Minister accept that there is no hierarchy of wrongs, whether we are talking about the attack by the US and Israel in an unprovoked war on Iran and its population or about Iran itself conducting a blatant disregard of human concerns and pouring wars on its neighbours? I utterly condemn both those actions. Does the Minister accept that there was a peaceful solution in place, according to the Minister from Oman, and that it would have been possible if international laws had not been broken?

I have two questions. First, can the Minister assure this House that in our measured action—and I congratulate our Government on the way they have conducted themselves so far—no support is provided for killing innocent civilians in Iran? Secondly, the Minister will be aware that the al-Aqsa mosque has been closed to Palestinian Muslims for prayers at this auspicious time. Tomorrow is Eid. Has he had any opportunity to make representations to the Israeli Government to say that the mosque should be open?

Lastly, I wish Eid Mubarak to all those who are going to celebrate the end of the month of Ramadan.

Digital ID: Public Consultation

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Baroness Uddin

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

We will consult the devolved authorities on this; they will be a major part of the consultation. There is no definite cost for the programme because the design of what we are building has not been decided yet. Noble Lords should not just look at one line item on the shopping bill but rather the whole thing. The issue is that the status quo has costs. I know we often say this, but if we can develop a more efficient digital portal for people to use, it could potentially reduce costs and save the public and the Government money. That has to be a good thing.

If you look at all the private sector services we use that currently have this sort of thing, they are doing it to reduce costs—although they often dress it up as “improving services”. Let us take banking: my accessibility to banking services has improved hugely over the years. I can do many more things online and through apps than I could ever have done before by visiting a local bank. I reassure the noble Earl and the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, that this will not be a mandatory system. When we are able to launch it, I suspect that it will be something that people want to use, because it will make their lives easier. That is what we should be doing.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Digital Identity. The Minister said that he will consult widely on this and on what support there might be for it. Nearly 3 million people have signed the petition. If they have not already convinced the Government that they are opposed to it, how will the Government ensure that many of them will have the opportunity to feed the Government their opinion?

This morning, I tried to log in to GOV.UK on a personal matter but was kicked out eight times. My digital understanding is pretty good, so that worried me greatly. I knew that this was coming up, so I wanted to draw the Minister’s attention to this issue. We have been talking about sovereignty and keeping all our information in one place. So far, the experience of GP services has been that we do not have exclusive access to our data because it is farmed out somewhere else. Has that been considered? How will we ensure, eventually, that any ID information is sovereign and held in this country under our Government or whatever system we set up?

Finally, there has been lots of evidence of discrimination, particularly against Black and Asian men and Muslim women. I hope that the Government will seriously consider that aspect as well.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

On the noble Baroness’s last point, how we look at inclusion and accessibility is really important in tackling those issues of discrimination. It is very important that the consultation looks at that. The noble Earl also raised a question about the NHS app which I did not explicitly address. That has developed very strongly, and it is very clear that that will continue. This will not be part of the NHS; it has never been planned that way. It is also about people having confidence that their medical records are kept absolutely secure, which is fundamental.

This is about a tool to access a range of services. I hear the noble Baroness. The noble Earl raised OneLogin. There are issues about that. There are different forms of identifiers. Digital ID could provide a consistent identifier that could be used across all Governments, so instead of having to produce hard copies and photocopies, we just have that one ID on an app. We are using it in the private sector, in banking in particular but in other services too. I think the consultation will produce a clear idea of what people’s needs are and how the Government should respond. My right honourable friend Darren Jones is absolutely right; this is about putting our public services on a 21st-century footing.