Gaza Crisis

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The simple fact of the matter is that we have responded to the arms embargo based on an assessment of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law. In that assessment, we have made decisions on suspending export licences that we assess do not risk facilitating military operations. They include 60 military items—for example, trainer aircraft and other naval equipment—and other non-military items, such as food-testing chemicals, and telecoms and data equipment. On exports, the F35 programme covered in principle by this suspension is for parts that can be identified as going directly to Israel. However, this is an international programme where we cannot be absolutely certain where those parts are going. That is why we have covered it in relation to the F35. The noble Lord can be assured that we will be determined to comply with international humanitarian law and will take the necessary steps where appropriate.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, recorded history states that Palestinians were forcibly removed from the homes that they had lived in for centuries, by the Stern Gang, Irgun Zvai Leumi and others whom we then called terrorists, to create the State of Israel in 1948. Does the Minister agree that it is shameful and beyond belief that, in the 70 years that have passed, instead of helping displaced Palestinians to build a new life, the West has been selling arms to Israel to bomb schools, hospitals and even UN refugee centres in Gaza and the West Bank, killing tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in atrocities condemned by the UN and all human rights organisations?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord mentioned 1948. The State of Israel exists and was approved of legally under international law. There is a duty on us all to defend its right to exist. However, that is no excuse for any breaches by any party to international humanitarian law. I reassure the noble Lord that we as a Government will be determined to uphold international law and condemn whichever side commits offences against it. What we obviously need to do, as we have done since 1948, is to defend Israel’s right to exist and promote a two-state solution, whereby a Palestinian state can live in harmony with its neighbours. That is the vital next step, and I am sure that it will achieve peace and security for all.

Sudan

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Friday 13th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Collins, for bringing this important debate. The horrendous suffering in Sudan is rooted in the inflated egos of two power-hungry warlords. Their rivalry, however, does not explain their ready access to sophisticated and expensive weapons or the scale of destruction and suffering in a brutal civil war that has cost more than 1 million lives, with millions more fleeing their homes.

We are all moved by TV pictures of devastation, of bewildered children searching for food and drinking contaminated water, and of skeletal children suffering serious malnutrition. We see heart-rending appeals to relieve suffering. But our donations are, at best, like the placing of sticking plasters over deeper and festering wounds—wounds caused by a spiralling global arms trade.

The suffering in Sudan and other parts of the world is fuelled by an almost unending supply of arms to the warring factions. Nearly all states neighbouring on Sudan collude in this callous trade in arms by acting as supply lines for the transfer of weapons to rival factions. Expensive and highly sophisticated weapons are pouring into Sudan from countries such as Russia, China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Worse, the supplying countries in their turn get arms from countries such as the United States, France, Germany and Spain. Only a few countries have the ability to manufacture the sophisticated weaponry used in modern-day warfare, and the United States is by far the largest supplier, with Saudi Arabia, with its appalling human rights record, the largest purchaser.

The veteran senator Mitch McConnell justified the selling of arms by the United States with disarming honesty. “We replace older weapons with newer weapons, bring jobs to many parts of the country, rebuild our infrastructure and fight our enemies without losing a single American life. It is all win-win.” We are repeatedly told that the world is becoming a more dangerous place. It is, but upgrading our weapons by selling lethal arms to despots around the world does not make it any safer. Today, the global trade in arms is selling the means of killing hundreds of thousands of innocents, and the destruction of homes and livelihoods has spiralled out of control. We claim that we have one of the strictest controls on arms sales but, in the world of today, there is no way of preventing arms sold to friendly countries ending up in the hands of less-friendly ones. Part of a Russian drone recently shot down in Ukraine was made in the UK.

In today’s smaller, interdependent world, we can no longer afford to play the 20th century game of dividing people into “mortal enemies” and “friends whose abuse of human rights we are ready to overlook”. As Sikh teachings remind us, in working for the betterment of society, we must look beyond factional interests to underlying ethical imperatives for a just society. We have recently lived through a pandemic with immense suffering. Poorer countries in the world today are suffering from a manmade pandemic resulting from an unscrupulous pursuit of economic and strategic gain, in which India, the land of Mahatma Gandhi, boasts of a 30-fold increase in the sale of arms in the last 12 months.

Today, we look back with disbelief at the horrors of the slave trade, when the wealthy grew richer by enslaving and destroying the lives of innocents in their pursuit of greed. If we want to stop future generations looking at us with similar loathing and disbelief, we must drastically curtail the merchandising of the means of killing. Does the Minister agree that, by selling arms in this way—by expanding the greed in selling arms—we are causing and helping conflict? Does he agree that we have an imperative to curb drastically the supply of arms throughout the world if we want a fairer and more peaceful world?

Afghanistan

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Wednesday 18th August 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB) [V]]

My Lords, history records that the Indian subcontinent was repeatedly invaded by Afghan armies bent on looting and carrying off captives for the slave and sex trade. There was very little resistance until the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 1800s. He fought the marauding Afghans, freeing captives. After prolonged fighting, Sikh forces entered Kabul itself but, instead of acting vindictively, true to Sikh teachings, they showed respect for the Afghans and their places of worship. Trade and mutual respect led to the settlement of thousands of Sikhs in Afghanistan. Today, the latest figures show that there are fewer than 300 Hindus and Sikhs left, mostly huddled together in a Sikh gurdwara. Their lives are in great danger and I make an urgent plea to our Government to help them leave.

The West went into Afghanistan to fight extremism, but eliminating religious extremism requires us to pinpoint its causes, namely the bigotry of belief that the one God of us all has favourites and that my belief is better than your inferior belief. My reference to Sikh rule in Afghanistan was to emphasise the antidote to bigotry: that no one religion has a monopoly of truth and that showing respect for the ways of others wins hearts and minds and is the best way of fighting extremism. Today, although it hurts, we must extend this to the new rulers in Afghanistan, to move them to tolerance and respect for others.

Finally, a word on refugees and the negative connotations attached to them. The reality is that, in the main, refugees bring added value to their host country. This morning, I saw a clip about a young Afghan doctor who came to this country as a teenage refugee. Another, with family trapped in Afghanistan, who works with my daughter in a south London practice, came as an infant and is now a leading voice in primary care and a frequent contributor to the BMJ and other publications. Admission of 20,000 refugees over the years is vague. Will the noble Lord the Minister support my plea that this should be changed to 10,000 in the next 12 months to help those who are now in real and imminent danger of their lives?

Afghanistan

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Monday 12th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I am afraid that I am not going to speculate on issues like that. We strongly support efforts to energise the Afghan peace process. The Taliban have no military route to realising their political goals, so if they wish to play a political role in Afghanistan’s future, they must share the goals of stability and security for its population and engage meaningfully in the peace negotiations.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, many faiths—including a thriving Sikh population of many thousands—have had to flee Afghanistan because of the hardening of extremism, resulting from repeated invasions from Britain, then Russia and, more recently, America and the West. Bombs and missiles cannot change mindsets. Would the Minister agree with the statement by former Prime Minister Theresa May that Britain should stop being the self-appointed policeman of the world? It is a policy copied by others that creates ever more refugees in a suffering world.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

There has been significant progress in human rights in Afghanistan since 2001, as I said, in connection to women’s rights, the rights of minority groups, freedom of expression and access to education. We will continue to work with the Afghan Government and international allies to protect this.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB) [V]]

My Lords, His Royal Highness Prince Philip served our country with a rare mix of wisdom and boundless energy. His contribution was immense, particularly in inspiring the young by promoting initiative and commitment in establishing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. My children and grandchildren have benefited from the challenges and the sense of achievement in gaining a coveted Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. It is a scheme that takes youngsters away from their comfort zone in building resilience, new skills and new friendships.

I first met the Duke when I was visiting Buckingham Palace for some function. He was coming down the stairs as I was going up, and I began to greet him. I had said only couple of words when, to my amazement, he stopped me and with a huge grin said: “Indarjit, ‘Thought for the Day’. You bring us the wise words of Guru Nanak.” I met him on other occasions when he was chairing meetings of the Sacred Literature Trust, which used to meet at Buckingham Palace. He had a deep knowledge of other faiths and captivated us all with his wisdom and wry sense of humour.

You can get a full picture of a person by looking at their interests. The Duke’s included developing fitness and resilience in the young, caring for the environment and, like Her Majesty herself, understanding the common thrust of our different religions, which is something central to Sikh teachings. I join others in the Sikh community in praying for strength for Her Majesty and the Royal Family to bear their sad loss. The passing of Prince Philip is a loss to us all.

Covid-19 Update

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Wednesday 14th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I can certainly assure my noble friend that our priority is to ensure that we bear down on this. As I said, the number of people testing positive for Covid has quadrupled in the last three weeks, there are more people in hospital with Covid now than there were when we went into lockdown and, worryingly, infections among older people are rising. However, of course, part of this tiered approach is very much also to ensure that businesses such as hospitality can function in areas where the disease is perhaps not as prevalent in the community.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB) [V]]

My Lords, the Government’s overriding objective must be to reduce both the direct threat to life from Covid-19 and the indirect threat of an overwhelmed health service being unable to help those with other serious conditions. It is an affront to many that the risk to life and the hardship caused by pubs closing at 10 pm is talked about in the same breath. A short, sharp shock approach is clearly needed to reduce a rapidly rising reinfection rate to less than R1. Will the Government now urgently consider something like a two-week national lockdown to coincide with the half-term break?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

The noble Lord will be aware that these new measures came into effect only today, and we believe that they will have an impact. As I said in my initial answer to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, we have taken this approach because the disease is appearing at the moment more strongly in some areas and regions than others, which is a different situation from that we were in in March. That is why we have introduced this regional, tiered approach.

Business of the House

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Thursday 4th April 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean]

—yes, a rogue Speaker who allowed Dominic Grieve to amend an Act passed by both this House and the other place by a mere Motion, is what has created these difficulties.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Lord has said twice that the Prime Minister wants to get an extension of time. The passage of this Bill would give her additional strength in getting that time.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean]

I will say very gently to the noble Lord that he ought to read the excellent speech made in the other place by the Secretary of State, Stephen Barclay, in which he explained in great detail how this Bill actually makes it more difficult for the Prime Minister to achieve her objectives. At the end of the day, with the support of the noble Baroness, we are not in control here; it is the European Union that will decide the length of an extension. This Bill is making the Prime Minister’s task very much more difficult.

Anyway, there will be plenty of time to go into the ins and outs and the merits of the legislation, but I am moving a Motion that we should take consideration of this in Committee. I appreciate that it is an unusual procedure but, as the noble Baroness made clear in her opening remarks, these are unusual times and these are important issues. We need to be in Committee—

Universities: Freedom of Speech

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We have ongoing discussions with universities. All universities submitted the first self-assessment form following the introduction of the Prevent statutory duty in January, and this will be followed in the spring by detailed assessments of their policies and procedures.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, debate should always be conducted in courteous terms but does the Minister agree that words such as “antisemitism” and “Islamophobia” and those relating to any other type of religious phobia should not be used as shields to stifle legitimate debate?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I said, we absolutely want to support students and universities in ensuring that legitimate, lawful debate and the challenging of ideas happens in our universities. That is a tenet of our higher education system that we are proud of and want to continue. This Government will carry on supporting universities and students who want to continue to participate in such debate.

G20 and the Paris Attacks

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, if a killer disease was rampant, every effort would be made to find its causes and the environment in which it thrives. With Islamic extremism, we need to do much more to look at the ways in which radicalisation takes place. There are verses in the Koran that were written for particular circumstances 500 years ago, when the infant community was being besieged and its very existence threatened—words such as, “Kill them wherever you find them”, which are pretty direct. They were written for different circumstances, but they are being used today by those people who want to radicalise disadvantaged youths, or youths generally, to move them towards this extremism. Do the Government agree that they and the Muslim community need to do much more to ensure that young people in mosques understand the context in which some of these verses are written—and that, perhaps, the explanation should be in English?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, we published the counter-extremism strategy in October. It is very important to stress that it is about supporting mainstream and inclusive Muslimist voices, and showing that we actively back them. There are four strands to our counter-extremism strategy, and building cohesion among communities and ensuring that we take steps to prevent the radicalisation that is such a serious threat is very much part of that.

Caste Discrimination

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Wednesday 15th July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lester of Herne Hill (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Lib Dem Benches and then we have time to go to the Cross Benches.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I repeat once again that the Government will be actively considering this, and will take their view in due course.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, it has been said, I think misleadingly, that Hindu and Sikh organisations are against this legislation outlawing caste discrimination. Can the Minister note that the whole Sikh community and the whole thrust of Sikh teachings are totally against the notion of caste?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I duly note that.