Shipping: International Maritime Law

Debate between Lord James of Blackheath and Baroness Warsi

Monday 4th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord James of Blackheath]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will issue any guidance to ex-Navy personnel or independent commercial organisations offering security and escort convoy services to shipping off the coast of Somalia regarding their rules of engagement and their compliance with international maritime law.

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi)]

My Lords, the Department for Transport issued interim guidance on the use of private maritime security companies in December 2011. This was updated in June 2012 and is periodically reviewed to ensure its relevance. The Government are working with industry to establish a national accreditation system for this industry; both stress the importance of compliance with international maritime law, including the principle of self-defence, which provides the only condition under which these privately contracted civilian guards may use force.

[Lord James of Blackheath]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that response, but I am a little disappointed not to hear that it is possible for us to ban altogether this independent commercial activity. It is seriously prejudicial to the interests of, perhaps, formerly redundant members of our services who find deliverance from their predicament by joining, given the extreme hazard that they will represent under international law, both to themselves and to this country’s reputation.

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, there are, of course, many members of the Armed Forces who take part in private security companies, including private maritime security companies: 90% of private maritime security companies are based in London. We have led the international community in providing the guidance and rules under which such companies can operate. My noble friend will be aware that these companies operated long before we issued the guidance; clearly, they now operate within a system for which there is guidance.

Syria

Debate between Lord James of Blackheath and Baroness Warsi

Thursday 8th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord James of Blackheath]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any information regarding the origin of weapons of mass destruction currently claimed by the government of Syria to be held by that country.

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi)]

My Lords, we are very concerned about Syria’s chemical and biological weapons, the existence of which the Syrian foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed on 23 July 2012. The spokesperson also threatened to use such weapons against external aggressors. There has been significant public speculation about the origins of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons, but I am unable to comment on the accuracy of this information.

[Lord James of Blackheath]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that response, but I wonder whether there is any case for pursuing this in greater detail. If it could be proven that these had originated in Iraq, would the original United Nations resolutions cross the border with the weapons of mass destruction? Secondly, now that we have the Syrian Government admitting widely to the use of drones that have been taken from Iraq, this would put every centre of government in Europe within a 4-metre radius of a payload of up to 10 kilograms of nerve gas.

[Baroness Warsi]

The noble Lord is quite right to raise these concerns. Although there have been numerous newspaper articles and think tank reports, including those from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to anecdotal reports about the origins of these weapons of mass destruction, we are not aware of any firm and credible evidence to support this suggestion. In any event, UN sanctions on Iraq would not apply to Syria; we do, however, share concerns that Syria has conventional weapons on which chemical weapons could be used.