Hong Kong
Lord Luce Excerpts(5 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Sassoon, who has great business experience in Hong Kong and China. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Alton, on setting the scene for us so well. I recall that it was exactly five years ago this month, I think, that I led a similar debate on Hong Kong following the so-called umbrella demonstrations, which were not as serious as the demonstrations in the past four months.
As a cosignatory to the international treaty, we clearly have a duty and a responsibility to the people of Hong Kong to take an interest and to express our views constructively about their future.
My mind goes back to a weekend in 1984 when I was Minister of State with responsibility for Hong Kong. The Prime Minister asked me to be on duty throughout the weekend because Geoffrey Howe, as Foreign Secretary, was having vital discussions in Beijing with Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping. I sat waiting for news, and late on that Saturday news came from the British ambassador. Deng Xiaoping, he said, had told him, “I trust Geoffrey Howe and therefore I have given an instruction that we will go ahead and draw up an agreement”. Trust was at the heart of the issue and it is what started the whole process moving forward, to the extent that by the end of the year we had signed the joint declaration. It is one of the most remarkable declarations in the history of any country, with the juxtaposition of two totally different and contrasting systems of government: one an autocracy; the other with a relatively free way of life and rule of law.
At that time, and I believe that it applies just as strongly today, there was a mutual interest among all of us—the people of Hong Kong above all, the Chinese Government and the British Government—in seeing the successful implementation of that treaty and the Basic Law that went with it.
It seems that Hong Kong is facing one of the biggest challenges in its history. It has been through the 1967 cultural revolution, the 1984 anxieties about its future, the transition of the 1990s and the Umbrella Revolution, but this seems to go even deeper. Clearly, the young people are frustrated and worried about their future, their freedom, their jobs, their housing and the contrast between the wealthy and the less well-off. Alongside that, as we have already heard, China today under President Xi has stronger political and security control over the country. In Hong Kong itself, there has been a lack of political leadership by successive Chief Executives, and therefore a lack of confidence and trust.
What needs to be done? First, it would be sensible for Hong Kong to have a sharp look at the way it chooses its Chief Executives. The Basic Law allows the system to be devised in such a way that it is possible to elect a Chief Executive who is directly accountable to the people. However, if, as is the case at present, the means of appointing and electing a Chief Executive is through a body of 1,200 people who largely lean towards Beijing, with candidates who have to have Beijing’s approval, there is bound to be a large element of mistrust. That, I believe, needs to be looked at.
Then there is the question of an independent inquiry into the police. I would hope that such an inquiry would restore confidence in them. For the young, there needs to be improvement in their housing and conditions and in their job opportunities. I hope that businesses in Hong Kong will help them in that respect.
On citizenship, I have only one point to make, not that we need to dwell on the broader issue. There is a group of 260 Hong Kong former servicemen who served in the Armed Forces under the British Crown and they are getting extremely nervous about their position and their security. This matter has been raised regularly in Parliament with the Home Secretary and I would be very grateful for the Minister’s view on whether they can be given right of abode.
I believe that what is needed and what we should encourage—we cannot dictate; all we can do is persuade —is sustained dialogue in Hong Kong so that it can strengthen all that is embodied in the framing of the joint declaration and the Basic Law with imaginative leadership, and with us encouraging the international community to support it. That is the least we can do for the people of Hong Kong.
Yemen: Giving Peace a Chance (International Relations Committee Report)
Lord Luce Excerpts(5 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, who speaks with enormous authority and experience on this issue, having served with such distinction at the United Nations and in tackling humanitarian issues. I too warmly welcome the report of the Select Committee and the excellent introduction from the noble Lord, Lord Howell. It is certainly refreshing to be talking about an issue outside the European Union, looking more outwards, which is what this country needs to do again. I hope that in due course we will follow this Select Committee report with other ones about our role in the rest of the world—the sooner, the better.
Four and a half months ago I put down a Question for Short Debate. We have since had the Stockholm agreement, as the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, referred to it; the efforts of the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in his tour of the Gulf countries, and I commend the efforts of Her Majesty’s Government; and the valiant efforts of Mr Griffiths and others. But we have to recognise the condition of Yemen before we decide how to move forward. It is a failed state. I have described it before as a kind of Dante’s Inferno for the people who live there. At the moment it does not have the makings of a nation state. I have to confess that I have watched this for over 60 years, since I first went out as a young student in the late 1950s when my father was governor of Aden. At that time there was the imam ruling north Yemen, and the British with the colony and the eastern and western protectorates of Aden.
Since then, after the unhappy departure of the British—it was a very unhappy situation indeed after we left—there has been civil conflict of major proportions between north and south. The unification of north and south under President Saleh was absolutely disastrous and has led to warring factions of one kind or another from the separatist tribal south to Aden, Hadramawt, Ta’izz, the Houthis and so on. It is a fragmented country with desperate humanitarian challenges.
The report and the noble Lord, Lord Howell, referred very fully to the Stockholm agreement. I agree with the recommendations in the report of the Select Committee, although I ask for more than just a review of export licensing. We are facing an extremely serious challenge there, and where export licensing may conflict with humanitarian law we should take action and suspend those licences.
There is no military solution whatever to the problem in Yemen, as the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, said, but I commend the role of the British Government. This is the kind of role we should be playing in different parts of the world. Our humanitarian contribution of over £500 million in four years has been outstanding, but I want to say a word about the role of diplomacy by the United Kingdom. Of course, the precondition for any progress at all is the fulfilment of the various first stages from Stockholm, and thereafter a ceasefire. But the people of Yemen want hope, and they need to link that with the prospects in the longer term—so even though the immediate situation is very grave, we need to think too about the longer-term strategy. We have to start by recognising the gravity of the fragmentation and considering how the various groups in that country will find a way of living with each other and what form of governance will emerge. I recently met a man called Mr al-Zoubaidi, the president of the Southern Transitional Council, which is strongly supported by the UAE. He said he is looking forward to an inclusive political process because the south has been marginalised for so long. The groups have to find a way of living and working together—obviously with the help and encouragement of outside powers.
The point I stress is this. The role of regional nations is critical; Europe is there to back up, but the front row of the scrum is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Our job is to back that up where we can, and to engage with Kuwait and Oman so that there is a very strong international effort behind finding a long-term way forward. To my mind, a key is the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It is vital that the international community does whatever it can to press those two nations to find a way of living together. The rivalry is doing an immense amount to undermine stability in the Middle East, and certainly in Yemen.
Then there is the question of the longer-term role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in their coalition. It looks as though Saudi Arabia’s interests are to see stability in the north of Yemen, whereas the UAE is already showing more than an interest in the south. The question is: how much are we and the international community engaging with those two nations on the kind of role they can play that would help to stabilise that region and not colonise it?
The last point I want to raise is the lessons of the wider region. The strategic importance of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb is obvious to the international community, but both sides of the seas are very unstable. In the Horn, you have Eritrea and Somalia and the work of al-Shabaab; by contrast, you have Yemen on the other side. It is worth reminding ourselves that we, along with other naval forces, have played a positive role through the naval task force in trying to reduce piracy in those seas, and that has been successful. We have also played an important role in helping to build up Somaliland as a more stable part of Somalia. There could be lessons to be learned here. For example, in the port of Aden, there could be areas in which we could work to help build up greater stability.
I hope the Minister will reassure me that the Government are thinking seriously about longer-term strategy as well as the immediate.
Yemen
Lord Luce Excerpts(6 years ago)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the urgent question of how to achieve peace in Yemen. I look forward to hearing from the Minister what action HMG are taking following the Foreign Secretary’s visit to the Gulf, and to the contributions of noble Lords to this rather delayed debate.
The 27 million people of Yemen face a kind of Dante’s Inferno; they are today’s forgotten people. It has become a failed state, which is exploited as if by piranhas by disparate groups in the country with a vested interest in continuing warfare through illicit trade and arms smuggling. It is also a breeding ground for al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
I must explain my interest in this country. My father, the late Sir William Luce, was governor of Aden in the late 1950s. The British ruled the southern part of Yemen forming a federation of Arab Emirates of the South, while the Imam led in what is now northern Yemen. Today, the Sir William Luce memorial fund based in Durham University finances, among other things, an annual fellowship. In 2016 Dr Helen Lackner, who lived in Yemen for over 15 years, gave her Luce lecture, providing a brilliant description of how Yemen’s tribal life and society had been transformed over 60 years. She demonstrated that the 30 years’ dictatorship of the late President Saleh seriously undermined Yemen’s society, creating a kleptocratic tribal military nexus riven by intra-elite power struggles. This has left Yemen with an unsustainable governance system, absolute water shortages, insufficient natural resources, low educational standards and the poorest people in the Arab world. Yemen today cannot be viewed in any way as a modern national state. We have to consider the rivalry of different groups within a fragmented country. These include the separatist tribal south, Aden, the Hadramaut, Taiz, the highland tribal territories and the land in the north and west, now occupied by the Houthis.
We can agree with our Saudi friends that Yemen as a failed state is a threat to their stability and that the Houthis are being encouraged by Iran to weaken Saudi Arabia, including by threatening it with missiles. We can see too that the Saudis would like access to the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb and the ports so that they can be less dependent on the Strait of Hormuz with its Iranian threat. At the same time our friends in the UAE are showing a different level of interest in establishing military bases in south Yemen and in ports on both sides of the Indian Ocean.
We need to be clear that the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and with which the US, France and the UK are associated, has been pursuing its ends through a cruel war which it cannot win. Moreover, the unmitigated rivalry between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran risks destabilising not only Yemen but many other parts of a region vital to the international community.
In Yemen itself, the coalition’s action has undoubtedly made a bad situation much worse. Since 2016, over 10,000 people have been killed and some 1,250 children have lost their lives through air strikes. The latest information from the UN humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, demonstrates that the country is on the verge of a massive famine. Some 14 million people are now entirely reliant on external aid to survive; 22 million are in need of support including 11 million children; 16 million are without access to safe water. Fuel imports are 25% of the requirements. Civil servants are not being paid. Health services are virtually non-existent. Prices of food and other products are increasing steadily due to devaluation of the currency, the rial. There is high unemployment except for those who are exploiting the conflict. This is truly a failed state.
At this stage I must welcome the Government’s support through DfID and the UN for the people of Yemen. In addition to general humanitarian assistance, I know that we are providing £170 million of support, much of which is helping malnourished children and providing vaccinations against cholera. Can the Minister clarify what else we are doing in this area?
Despite our diminished role in the world, and indeed our preoccupation with Brexit, it is surely very much in our interests to seek urgently a peaceful resolution in Yemen. Today we can achieve this only by working internationally with many other nations. I want to ask the Minister about our proposed next steps in the UN Security Council. We are the pen holders. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement of 5 November that we will work within the Security Council and ensure that Resolution 2216 is made more balanced and realistic, particularly in relation to the role of the Houthis. We must clearly work as closely as possible with the United States and respond to its lead in calling for a ceasefire by the end of November. But a ceasefire on its own is pointless unless there are clear proposals for starting discussions to end the conflict. I assume that we will work relentlessly with the UN through this month to ensure that the UN envoy, Mr Griffiths, is given an urgent remit to bring about peace negotiations.
This leads me inevitably to the issue of our relationship with Saudi Arabia. We have enjoyed a long-standing friendship with that country for over 100 years. Today, intelligence and counterterrorism are common concerns. We have major trade and economic interests in the kingdom, including of course our defence sales and military assistance. It is now abundantly clear, however, that the continuing of a war led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is not going to solve the Yemen problem and bring peace on its own. The Saudi Crown Prince is indeed trying to introduce many economic, cultural and other reforms, including more freedom for women, but he is using the pursuit of military victory in Yemen as well as dictatorial means to achieve this and to strengthen his position. This will be counterproductive. We must not only say so frankly, as friends, but also be prepared to use what influence we have, in conjunction with our western allies, to persuade the Saudis and their coalition to adopt a different approach. The Saudis should take seriously the very real pressures here and elsewhere to curtail the supplies of essential armaments and other military support, as well as the measures that the US Administration have already taken on aircraft refuelling.
The next few weeks will be crucial. The battle for the port of Hodeidah could have big implications. It is vital of course to ensure that food supplies continue to get to the people, but it will in the end be essential for the Houthis to see their self-interest in ending that battle and finding a peaceful resolution in which they play a role. This is one of those times when tragic events seem to be persuading the international community to change direction. It is in our interests not to ignore the rest of the world, but rather to take this opportunity to play a constructive role to achieve peace in Yemen. There could not be a more appropriate time to be peacemakers than the centennial anniversary of the Armistice.
In addition to the discussions that the Foreign Secretary has held in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, the Government need to show vigorous and visible activity at the UN and fresh new direction in their thinking, including revisiting Security Council Resolution 2216. We have to work internationally to assess the immediate emergency needs of Yemen and to prevent famine. We also have to work with the US, France and Germany and with constructive voices in the region, such as Oman and Kuwait, towards a fresh political approach, thinking where we can outside the box. We need too to think ahead about how we can realistically help the reconstruction of Yemen and end the famine. We have to address how in a fragmented failed state we can pursue, perhaps through the mediation of regional participants, movement towards some kind of a federal framework and system of governance.
I look forward to the Minister’s response and to reassurance that the Government are still willing and able to play a constructive role for stability in other parts of the world, not least in Yemen.
Sudan
Lord Luce Excerpts(6 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, I will give a slightly different perspective on this. I first went to the Sudan in the 1950s as the son of a British administrator. An indelible impression was left with me of a very decent people, for whom any British person who worked with them formed a great deal of affection. I recall Islam and Christianity existing side by side, living in peace with no difficulties at all. I recall also being taken to the opening of the first parliament of the Sudan in the early 1950s and watching the excitement of the Sudanese. Looking back over more than five decades, it is impossible not to express great disappointment at some of what has happened in the Sudan.
Among some leaders, there has been contempt for their own people. The country has now divided into two and there have been serious abuses of human rights—notably in Darfur and the Two Areas, as the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, mentioned. The humanitarian situation is bad, with displacement on a big level. There is poverty, with 50% of people earning just $2 a day or less. Corruption has been bad and there has been little respect for the eternal UN universal values.
Having said all that, I think the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, has done us a service by focusing attention on what we can do in a positive way and on what the Government are doing through the strategic dialogue between the United Kingdom and the Sudan. I want to reinforce the arguments for this, because, in an age when we are suffering internationally from immense problems of refugees and migration, we need to go back to the source of where these problems emerge and work with those countries to improve the situation and lesson the tensions. That is true particularly in Africa, where the population is increasing very fast. I suggest that there are an awful lot of countries which we would have no relationship with if we did not talk to leaders whose values and policies we did not always agree with. It makes sense that as we were the country with the most responsibility historically, in an imperial age, we should take responsibility and lead on this internationally through the troika and the African Union.
I support the strategic dialogue and it is right to make it comprehensive. As we have already heard from the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, it covers: human rights; freedom of religion; migration; extremism; how we develop cultural, educational and trade ties, which are very important; and, importantly, how we help them to develop their economy. Getting the balance right, and making a sustained effort to talk and to make progress on a comprehensive scale, is very important. You cannot, of course, talk about human rights if you do not also talk about the participation and consent of the people, and the rule of law. All these things go together. I support, therefore, Government-to-Government dialogue but, alongside that, it is essential that we develop a strong people-to-people dialogue. That is as important as anything. After all, I think that the diaspora here in this country numbers 50,000 and many of those people have great skills, professional knowledge and experience. They can contribute an enormous amount to their country of origin; indeed, I hope that one day conditions will be good enough to enable them to return.
The British Council can do an immense amount. Education and scholarships have been mentioned but I would have thought that when developing trade, helping to teach business skills and other skills is just as important as the bigger scholarships. Then there is civil society. Although it may be difficult in terms of rapport with the Government, that needs to be developed as strongly as we possibly can.
Will the Minister, from time to time, report on the progress of these talks and the benefits they may bring to both the Sudan and our relationship with it? We need to be clear about the benchmarks for measuring progress in this dialogue so, if he could say something about that, it would help. For example, will there be international monitoring of the 2020 elections? That could be treated as a benchmark, which might contribute to more stability in the Sudan. I look forward to the Minister’s response. The people of the Sudan deserve better.
Palestinian Territories
Lord Luce Excerpts(6 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, I agree with every word that has been said by the noble Lord, Lord Steel, and find it hard to disagree with any of the speeches that have been made since then. It is an endless cycle of violence when we meet in this Chamber, year in and year out. Of course, we are absolutely right to condemn it, but at the same time we all know that, until there is a political settlement, this cycle will go on, will grow and will get worse.
It is easy to condemn and much more difficult to build. What are the prospects? They do not look good, as everyone so far has said. There is no will among the parties to talk and settle. The Palestinians are divided and weak. The Arab states are preoccupied by the Iranian problem. The Israelis are following the status quo, which means more and more settlements. I remember meeting Mr Shamir back in the 1980s and recording in my diary what he intended as a fait accompli: allow it to happen and then the whole of the West Bank will be settled by Israelis. We are fast moving to a one-state situation, rightly highlighted by the noble Lord, Lord Hain, with all the dangers that follow from it. The United States has undermined its own mediating role by moving its embassy to Jerusalem. The international community is supine. The European Union and, of course, the United Kingdom are preoccupied by Brexit. It is not a good situation.
In these circumstances, what should we do? I suggest three things. First, at a people-to-people and community-to-community level, we should help to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians on the ground. Admirable organisations such as Forward Thinking are getting Israelis and Palestinians together to talk about practical problems and to impart our experience in Northern Ireland, which is very valuable to many of these people. Other organisations, including a new one called Tracks Of Peace, are creating projects on the ground between Palestinians and Israelis. The noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, plays a leading role in that and I certainly support him. These are practical things that are long-term and intended to build trust between people.
Secondly, I come to Her Majesty’s Government. Here, I agree with everyone who has said that we have a major responsibility to keep the flames of hope alive. That is our role. We helped to build and recognise Israel in 1948; we must now work vigorously to recognise a new Palestine. That is not happening at the moment. We must certainly do everything multilaterally, working with other countries such as France, Germany and elsewhere to ensure that all the Security Council resolutions are not eroded but maintained, including Resolution 242.
Lastly, we must prepare the ground for the recognition of a Palestinian state. I see no alternative to our leading the international community towards helping to create conditions among the Palestinians that mean they are more unified and we can recognise them internationally. It was a great Finnish mediator for the UN who said:
“Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal”.
It might help, however, if some leaders of the quality and vision of Mandela and de Klerk emerged to help the process forward.
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018
Lord Luce Excerpts(6 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, it is a very great privilege to follow my noble friend Lord Geidt in his Maiden Speech to this House. For four years early in this century—it sounds like a long time ago, but it is not that long—I had the great pleasure of working with him when I was Lord Chamberlain of Her Majesty’s Household and he joined us as an assistant private secretary to the Queen. Before that, he had served for many years in international affairs of one kind or another, most notably in the Balkans, of which he has great knowledge. It was no surprise to me when he followed my noble friend Lord Janvrin as private secretary to Her Majesty in 2007 and served her for no less than a whole decade. Like his predecessor, he showed immense wisdom and common sense in serving the Queen. I suspect that historians will judge that he showed great skill too in the advice he gave in 2010 when there was a hung Parliament.
Many people know that he worked tirelessly to promote and strengthen the Commonwealth and thus reinforce the remarkable role that Her Majesty has played as Head of the Commonwealth over 66 years. I believe that he will be remembered as an outstanding private secretary to the Queen and a great public servant. I have to warn him that he has more to offer to this country in the years to come, not least in this Chamber, where we shall all look forward to his contributions.
I reinforce the congratulations to the Minister on his commitment to and enthusiasm for the Commonwealth. I hope that commitment and enthusiasm is now being reflected by other Ministers in the Government. Almost every single department—not just the Foreign and Commonwealth Office—needs to be committed in a collective sense to the Commonwealth. As always, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Howell, who has been a tireless reminder of the potential of the Commonwealth. He has done this with a broad perspective of what value it can and must be to us.
I reflect what the noble Lord, Lord Anderson, said. There have been many occasions in the past when there has been great anticipation for summits and CHOGMs, when people have expected great success. In my view, we have been disappointed many times that they have not moved forward as we would have liked. Now we have yet another—very important—opportunity to revitalise the Commonwealth. I am sure that I shall be challenged by historians, but I wonder what other empire over the centuries has managed to transform from an empire into a commonwealth of equal nations in the way in which it has happened in our Commonwealth. We have evolved as a kind of family club or voluntary association. As the noble Lord, Lord Howell, said, we are not a substitute or replacement for the European Union; we are something quite different. This is thanks to Nehru, who arranged and persuaded the Commonwealth that Her Majesty should be its head, as she has been for 66 years. She has demonstrated this culture of personal rapport with people and Heads of Government that is at the heart of the Commonwealth. We have seen the emergence of India, which is absolutely central to the future of the Commonwealth. I hope that we shall see it play an increasingly important role in the future. We have this opportunity to translate ideals into action. We need more action and a greater battery of measures transforming these ideals into something practical. I hope this will emerge from the summit.
Many noble Lords have referred to the role of professional bodies. They have a vital role to play. There are one or two—I would say perhaps 10 or 12—very successful ones, such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, the Commonwealth Press Union Media Trust and, of course, the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, led by the noble Lord, Lord Marland. The Commonwealth Foundation, of which I had the privilege of being the chair in the 1990s, deals with the non-government side of the Commonwealth and must give as much encouragement as it can to the proliferation and strength of these bodies. The non-government side of the Commonwealth matters as much as the government side.
Lastly, I want to touch on young people. As we have heard, 60% of men and women—two in three—are under 30. I feel that we have failed our children and our school students in this country. There is a remarkable lack of knowledge and understanding of their own history—transforming from an empire into a commonwealth—and what it must mean for them. I hope that we shall be able to strengthen the curriculum and teach our children more about the Commonwealth. Things such as the Commonwealth Class—a practical, technological way of linking up schools throughout the Commonwealth—as well as Commonwealth scholarship and fellowship schemes, must and I hope will be strengthened. Maybe the Minister will comment on this at the summit meeting
There is the whole question of youth and the emphasis on business creation and entrepreneurship and training for employment skills. Here, I want to express my pleasure at the Commonwealth of Learning to which the noble Lord, Lord Howell, referred. It is putting forward proposals for teaching employable skills to 15 to 25 year-olds in the Commonwealth. Skills and reskills are essential to getting jobs in Africa or on the Indian sub-continent. I hope that distance learning technology is something that will be pursued at the summit. We have a fresh opportunity this time. Let us take it.
Sudan and South Sudan
Lord Luce Excerpts(6 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, if you put the two Sudans together, we face probably the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, ranging from the Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur to South Sudan. Like other noble Lords, I have nothing but admiration for my noble friend Lady Cox and the remarkable work that she has done consistently and with great courage over many years to expose the gross abuse of human rights in both Sudan and South Sudan. I also greatly support Her Majesty’s Government, who have been persistent in their work in support of the Sudanese people, through the UN, through the contribution of troops, through DfID and humanitarian aid and through the excellent work or Mr Trott, who is our UK special representative.
Thinking about and listening to this debate makes me feel hugely privileged for the fact that when I was in my teens and my father was a British administrator in the Sudan, I had a chance to see it in better times, whether in Khartoum, the Blue Nile province or the south of Sudan. That makes me realise that Sudan can be a wonderful place—because it was in those days, under a framework of the rule of law. But in the last year of British rule, the first signs of civil war and conflict started in the south. It was a rebellion against having northern, Arab officers in the armed forces working in the south that sparked the start of a very long and drawn-out civil war.
I want to make a very general reflection. Many people have rightly highlighted the abuses of human rights, but of course there can be no end to these humanitarian crises until the countries have a framework for peace and stability, which should be buttressed by strength and the support of the people at local level. The dilemma that we face the whole time is how to persuade elites, dictators and regimes that it is in their interest to go. That really turns out to be a battle between realism and hope.
Sometimes there is a small ray of hope. Last week we debated Zimbabwe, where we saw the people, with the support of the army, persuade Mugabe to go. We have seen that with a vote in Gambia its dictator, who was an army officer, was turned out in democratic fashion. In Angola we have seen President dos Santos turned out and now the dismantling of his family empire. We even see in Uganda today—others such as the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, who has been there recently, will know this better than me—that there is an upsurge of public opposition to Museveni renewing his term as president through legislation.
How do we seek the dismantlement of these dictatorships and the rebuilding of these countries? We have heard from many noble Lords about the atrocities committed by President Bashir, and of course we know the ICC has a warrant for his arrest. There has been a national dialogue that he instituted but it was not inclusive, and all its recommendations have been rejected. We now see in the President’s foreign policy that he is veering between the US and Russia. He has fallen out with the leading Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia. He seems like a cornered animal, and one has to ask oneself whether it is the fear of arrest if he is no longer president or whether it is simply the love and corruption of power, or both. We do not know the answer but it is a serious question because elections are due in 2020. A group of highly intelligent Sudanese have made representations to me to ask that there should be moves towards a new constitution with a transitional period and a truth and reconciliation commission, but none of that can happen unless the President and his regime are prepared to make a move in that direction. There have to be incentives given by the international community.
Ghana is an interesting example. In former times it was in a deep mess but it managed, through a carefully worked-out transitional period, to move towards a much happier condition today.
If we look at South Sudan, we see a manmade disaster with the outside world firefighting the whole time, its politicians having created a failed state. As we have heard, there is a peace process, the high-level revitalisation forum, but the question is how we help them to rebuild and create a framework of institutions that will enable peace and stability to return, buttressed of course by work at local level. Here, the civil societies and churches of the south are very strong and can do a lot.
We have a precedent in Sierra Leone, where the UN, the regional powers of Africa and the UK played a leading role in the early part of the century in restoring order and stability. We see even in Somaliland an oasis of stability. It is possible in Africa, and we must not give up hope. It is a great credit to the British Government that we help to keep the flame of hope alive. There must be African solutions for African problems, but the whole of the international world must be ready to give our support if we are asked to do so.
Saudi Arabia and Iran
Lord Luce Excerpts(7 years ago)
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The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)
My Lords, we urge the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East. The Foreign Secretary condemned the attempted missile strike on Riyadh and expressed concern that Lebanon should not be used for a proxy conflict. He has spoken to the Saudi Arabian, Iranian and Lebanese Governments. The Minister for the Middle East, my right honourable friend Alistair Burt, expressed concern over reports that Iran provided the Houthis in Yemen with ballistic missiles. We are encouraging the Saudi-led coalition to ensure that humanitarian access remains open.
Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, bearing in mind that Iran and Saudi Arabia are important regional powers, does the Minister agree that their present relationship, involving proxy wars, could at any moment spark a wider conflict in the whole region, between Yemen and Lebanon, thus bringing hell on earth to an even greater number of long-suffering people in the Middle East? Bearing in mind Britain’s long-standing relationship and friendship with the Gulf countries and our active participation in the Iran nuclear agreement, will the Government take a much more vigorous lead with the international community, including countries such as Germany and France and perhaps Asian countries, to persuade these two important countries that it is in all our interests—including that of the United States—that Iran and Saudi Arabia should embark on a sustained dialogue to help build a more peaceful Middle East?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I agree with the sentiments of the noble Lord, who knows the region well. I think I speak for everyone in your Lordships’ House and beyond when I say that we wish to see a resolution not just of the conflict in Yemen, where innocent civilians in particular are suffering, but of any conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which is worrying not just to the region but to the whole world. This conflict is tribally based and has not just arisen since the regime took over in Iran in 1979; it is a deep-rooted, embedded conflict which goes back to the division in Islam between the Sunni and Shia communities. I assure the House that Her Majesty’s Government are using all means available to us to make bilateral representations. We remain very supportive of the nuclear deal with Iran. We are using all good offices to ensure, first and foremost, that the suffering of those in Yemen can be brought to a halt. Ensuring free access for United Nations and other agencies will be a first step in providing humanitarian relief to civilians in Yemen.
Middle East (IRC Report)
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice. I know, as the House does, how much he has done in fostering dialogue and co-operation at a local level between Arabs and Israelis and passing on his experience of the peace process in Northern Ireland. Organisations like Forward Thinking can do an enormous amount to help in the dialogue and discussion on how to find peace between Israel and the Palestinians in the longer term. I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Howell, and all members of the committee who clearly worked extremely hard at this report, which makes us think again—which we need to do in the Middle East—and think afresh. I agree with the broad thrust of the report—there are parts of it with which I do not totally agree—and believe that it is making an important contribution.
As we have all discussed, the Middle East today is going through its own dark ages. We have been through ours in Europe centuries ago. Today, the Middle East is tearing itself apart with Arab versus Persian, Sunni versus Shia and dictators versus citizens. All this is exploited—as it will be, of course, so long as it lasts—by extremists such as Daesh and al-Qaeda. There is a collapse in Arab self-confidence and a deep anger and frustration, particularly among the young. We should all be very grateful for the discussion on young people as they are critical for the future of the Middle East. The shockwaves from extremism and migration are transmitting outwards, affecting us all. They have now become everybody’s problem.
We should pause and reflect for a moment and remind ourselves a little of the history. In the two centuries after the Prophet Mohammed, there emerged a great Arab empire which extended from Baghdad and Asia to north Africa and Andalusia. It was driven forward by innovation, scientific learning, a great diversity of races and culture, even freedom of travel—a contemporary issue—and a great deal of tolerance. This empire brought about advances for humanity through architecture, textiles, commerce, art, astronomy and mathematics. We have only to look at Andalusia today to see that extraordinary historic achievement. That so-called Arab enlightenment of that period all that time ago demonstrated a separation between faith and reason. There were fierce philosophical debates at that time but since then we have seen centuries of crusades, the Ottoman Empire and the colonial empires. This has led to a hardening of views, sometimes of both religions, and certainly to a growth in fundamentalism and a collapse in self-confidence at the end of the day. Today, in the Middle East we see poor standards of governance, lack of confidence, no internal capacity to escape oppression, economic mismanagement and the great frustration of unemployment, particularly for young people. We need to learn some lessons.
I want to reflect for a moment on this history. First, it is in keeping for Islam to have a separation of politics and religion. Conservative theocracy is not a necessity for Islam. Secondly, there is no case for having a clash of civilisations between Islam and the western world: 13 million Muslims live in Europe and 3.5 million live in the United States, many of whom live there happily. Thirdly, against the background of this collapse of Arab self-confidence we must remind ourselves that they should not wait for outsiders to solve their problems—exactly the point that the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, made. It is for them to solve their own problems. I understand that the Arabic interpretation of the great British saying, “God helps those who help themselves” is, “Trust in God but tether your camel”. They need to tether their camels a bit more.
My fourth reflection is that the West has no interest at all in trying to run the affairs of the Middle East. I have seen it all myself. I am the son of a former governor of Aden and political resident in the Gulf. Those days are over but we have a role in supporting and helping these countries to resolve their conflicts where it helps them and where it responds to their wishes.
On the United Kingdom’s role, I broadly agree with the report. We have to work multilaterally to help those countries find political resolutions to their conflicts. We have to use whatever influence we have, given our present post-colonial resources. We have to work multilaterally—I agree with the report that we should try to work as closely as possible with France, although with a sense of realism about that, trying to avoid the Sykes-Picot rivalry of the past. We should also have a comprehensive approach to the Middle East, not just trade or security but education, healthcare, culture and other areas as well, working in areas that we know something about and others may know less well. We should recognise the emerging powers of the Middle East—Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. We need to work with them and strike our own position with regard to the United States but be consistent in our advice and the views which we express to their Administrations.
I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, that the rivalry of Saudi Arabia and Iran is absolutely key. It is a tinderbox which could lead to much wider conflict including in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. They are both important regional powers. Saudi Arabia has its 2030 vision of a way forward with which we can work and co-operate. On Iran, we should keep that nuclear agreement which prevents a nuclear weapons capability. What point is there in withdrawing it other than to exacerbate the tension? However, we need to take seriously the proxy wars that are going on, and I like the committee’s recommendation that we should use the same multilateral group for dialogue with Iran on proxy wars and try to help both those powers to move forward. We should certainly work with Iran in developing trade links and easing banking services and regulations. However, at the end of the day, only those two regional powers can find a solution to the regional conflict.
On the Gulf, I first visited that area in 1959, and today it is unrecognisable. With the change in oil prices it will change again, and we will see a different Gulf in 10 years’ time. We have some long-standing friends there, such as Oman and Kuwait—the two rulers of those countries—but we are moving on to a new age. The monarchies have survived although many forecast that they would not, but if they want to be stable, as we want them to be in the future, they have to evolve into their own form of a kind of Arab constitutional monarchy. We have critical links with the Gulf—£30 billion of trade in the last year—and we need to develop that relationship.
As to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, this has happened before—it is not the first time, although the situation is tenser this time. I suggest that the new GCC-UK strategic partnership which the Prime Minister formed in Bahrain last December should also provide a framework, not for us to interfere but for us to have a dialogue with the Gulf countries about the definition of the groups and individuals that cause instability in the Middle East and to try to help them reach a common view about that.
Lastly, on the Arab-Israel issue, I would like to see—one day, in 10, 20 or 30 years—that remarkably vibrant nation of Israel have a closer and closer rapport with some of the Arab countries, to the benefit of the Middle East as a whole. I do not want to give up on the idea of a two-state solution and I support the recommendations of the report that we should try to help by recognising the Palestinian state internationally.
It will be a painful and long haul. We cannot yet see the framework for the future post Daesh. I would like to echo to the Government the advice given by that excellent journalist, Jeremy Bowen, in his recent broadcasts: “Don’t make things worse. Try to make things better”. The report certainly helps in that regard.
Queen’s Speech
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Lord Luce (CB)
My Lords, I echo the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, as at this stage in the debate one feels rather mesmerised and I am intrigued to know exactly what I am going to say. Certainly I cannot speak or wind up on behalf of Cross-Benchers, because that would be a contradiction in terms.
A theme has come through the debate today: deep concern about the condition of this nation and the fragility and the uncertainty in our country. I am very glad that the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken about the need to review and think again about values in this nation. The gracious Speech referred to the need to build a more united nation and to the need to ensure that the United Kingdom plays a leading role on the world stage. But, of course, to have influence abroad we have to be strong and united at home.
One thing that has given me great inspiration and hope has been the reaction of the public to the incidents that we have faced in the last three months in Manchester and London. The reaction has been overwhelmingly moving, positive and human. Indeed, at local levels we have seen inspiring leadership that many of us would do well to follow. But the nation is fragile, uncertain and divided, and the election result reflected just that with a minority Government. That is exacerbated by the uncertainty over our future role in Europe and our role in the world. The nation has been wounded, certainly, after nearly a decade of austerity. Many parts of our community have been alienated and are worried about their future.
As a student back in the late 1950s, I was very fortunate to meet Dean Acheson, who had been Secretary of State in the United States. His famous words were:
“Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role”.
However, like many other people I had thought that perhaps when we eventually joined the European Union we would begin to find a new role in the world. But somehow after the war our minds were on our desperate economy and our preoccupation still with the Empire, and in the 1950s we failed to take an interest in the European Union. We took a long time, until the 1970s, to commit ourselves. Despite many individuals who have been deeply committed to the European Union, it seems to me that as a nation we have been a reluctant and half-hearted participant in it. Thus, we have not been able to influence the way in which the European Union has evolved and the way in which it has become more and more bureaucratic. Whatever happens in the next two years, we need a strong relationship with Europe. I want to be convinced that whatever the outcome is it will bring us greater prosperity and security and more influence in the world if it is to be of any value at all.
It is totally wrong to say that in the post-war years we have not had considerable influence on stability in the world. We have shown considerable skill in the way in which we have dismantled our empire. This country has been a member of the largest number of institutions —more than any other country in the world. We have retained much good will and our humanitarian work has been effective. But now we face a powder keg in the Middle East. Incidentally, the excellent report by the Select Committee led by the noble Lord, Lord Howell, should be debated separately before the Recess. We are sitting on a powder keg that could easily blow up at any moment because of the proxy wars in Syria and other parts of the Middle East.
The United States has a dangerously unpredictable President. Our relationship with the people of the United States is a natural one, as I see it. It is not a special relationship; it is a natural relationship. Our job is not to fawn to the President but steadily to give our views as a Government to those in the Administration who are prepared to listen to us.
Back in the 1980s, when I was Minister in attendance on a state visit to Jordan, King Hussein asked me to take a message to Glubb Pasha, who he had sacked as head of the Arab Legion. I had never met Glubb Pasha before, but I discovered that he was a classical scholar who had studied the history of empires over the last 3,000 years: the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Greek Empire and, of course, the British Empire. What I found intriguing about this was the common strands that featured in every empire, starting with the setting out of pioneers and conquerors and leading to commerce and more affluence. But afterwards, in the period of decadence and decline, the empires became more defensive, pessimistic and materialistic, with more flippancy in public life and a weakening of religion, to give some examples.
After long periods of wealth and power, they displayed more selfishness and love of money and a loss of a sense of duty. It is worth reflecting on our experience in the post-war years and on the need from time to time—now is a good time—to think about what we owe in public service, to renew our sense of duty and service, integrity, and humility but also humour in our life, and to be more tolerant in our public debates and less coarse than we have been in recent times. We must realise that populism is about trying to suggest that there are simple answers to what are complex problems, and that it is the job of political leaders to lead our way out of those grey areas of complexity.
The most remarkable thing about our empire, distinct from others, is that no other empire led to the Commonwealth of Nations that we have today. Arnold Smith, its very first Secretary-General, said in 1981:
“100 years from now, I suggest, historians will consider the Commonwealth the greatest of all Britain’s contributions to man’s social and political history”.
We have quite a long way to go yet to achieve that. However, I end my remarks by saying that I am very glad that the gracious Speech highlighted the importance of the Commonwealth, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, on his new responsibilities for the Commonwealth, and I suggest that we have a golden opportunity to take a prominent lead as equal partners in the Commonwealth as we come to the summit in London next spring. I am glad that the Prime Minister is strongly committed and that she has set up a unit under Tim Hitchens, a distinguished diplomat, to work out advice as to the leadership we should give.
We must look for a coherent approach to the Commonwealth that will bring mutual benefits to all members, not just to the United Kingdom. Here, I hope that India will be persuaded to play a more prominent role than she has been able to play in past years, bearing in mind that it was in fact Nehru who led to the successful progress of the Commonwealth by urging that the Queen be made Head of the Commonwealth. There is a lot of work to do, but for my part I hope very strongly that one of our big priorities will be youth in the Commonwealth, both in this country and around the Commonwealth. This is something inspiring that we can work for while the Brexit negotiations are going on.