Venezuela Earthquakes

Lord Roe of West Wickham Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord. It has been devastating, dreadful and heartbreaking. A country that should be prosperous and successful and that should provide a good place to live and succeed for its population has been badly led by a corrupt regime. I suspect we agree on much of that analysis. What needs to happen now is the physical rebuilding and the support for the population, but the Venezuelan state really needs to look to itself. It has some serious questions to answer about how it has allowed the impact of this to be more devastating than it could have been, and about what it needs to do next to rebuild its economy, society and the country more generally.

[Lord Roe of West Wickham (Lab)]

My Lords, as London Fire Commissioner, I deployed international search and rescue responders many times to a series of catastrophic international events ranging from Nepal to Turkey, with considerable loss of life. As ever, London firefighters and many other firefighters from services around the country have acquitted themselves with great courage in very difficult circumstances. Can my noble friend the Minister confirm that with the change of ownership from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, there has been a proper conversation between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and that department to ensure the sustainability of that model, which the UK should take such pride in?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Absolutely. Our international search and rescue capability—I think 58 team members went to Venezuela along with dogs to help with the search and rescue—is globally recognised; it is outstanding. My neighbour Jim is one of them and we should all be incredibly proud of them. I can confirm that it is our intention to continue to provide this service and this capability whenever and wherever we can.