King’s Speech

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a privilege to follow the right reverend Prelate and to participate in the debate on the humble Address, my first since I joined your Lordships’ House. I refer the House to my registered interests, and specifically my roles with Index on Censorship, the Royal Navy and AJEX.

Time is short, the world is large and the challenges we face are numerous, heart-breaking, complex and all too often deadly. Dangerous global actors, from Iran to China and Russia, are making our world less safe every day and rogue states and terrorist organisations, which we have heard about in such detail tonight, are exploiting every weakness in the global order to impose their own world view. As I speak, armed conflicts are under way in at least 44 countries. Since the beginning of this year, tens of thousands of innocent lives have been lost due to conflict and war. Our collective hearts break at the images we have seen emerge from Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, but devastatingly, these are not the only conflict zones.

In 2023, there have been more than 12,500 casualties in Myanmar; more than 12,000 in the Maghreb; more than 12,000 in Sudan; more than 8,500 in Somalia; more than 5,000 in Syria; more than 4,000 in Nigeria; 3,000 in Yemen; 3,000 in Ethiopia and more than 900 in Afghanistan. And of course we cannot ever forget the reported 95,000 civilians who have been killed in Ukraine and the 13,000 who have lost their lives in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. These numbers are stark, but behind each one is a family grieving and too many more to count who have been seriously injured and emotionally scarred due to armed conflict: we must never forget the human cost behind each headline.

However, war zones are not the only place where tyrants, despots and extremists are making their mark. We need only consider the plight of the Uighurs in Xinjiang, the Rohingya in Bangladesh and Myanmar, women in Iran, democracy activists in Hong Kong, and dissidents in Belarus, Russia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Cuba and far too many other nation states. As chief exec of Index on Censorship, I have the privilege of supporting and publishing the work of political dissidents who challenge repressive regimes around the world. They are some of the most inspirational people I have ever met and they give me hope even in the darkest of times—and right now, it is dark. But my exposure to them has graphically highlighted for me the fact that the democratic values that we in this Chamber hold so dear are not just under threat but in too many corners of the world completely disregarded.

In the last 17 years, Freedom House has documented a clear increase in repressive actions both by tyrants and by those we consider to be allies and fellow democracies. This brings me to the defence and security aspect of this debate. The constantly changing global reality is challenging the very geopolitical strategic framework within which the UK seeks to leverage influence and secure global stability. As my noble friend Lord Coaker made clear, this means we have to leverage every tool at our disposal. We need to be nimble and invest strategically. As a leading NATO partner and a P5 member, our soft and sharp power is as relevant as the hard power which enables us to fulfil our global commitments, because with these roles come significant responsibilities.

This means we need to reassert ourselves on the global stage with renewed confidence. We need not just to invest in our conventional Armed Forces—although, to be clear, we must—but to accept and embrace the fact that technology is changing the ways we engage, deter and fight. As we have seen, the war in Ukraine is being fought in five domains: land, sea, air, cyber and space. Drone warfare is now a daily reality, but it is low-tech and high volume. Space has provided key communications tools and, by the time Ukraine has won this war—because win it must—we will have much to learn.

We must also reinvest in defence diplomacy, our alliances and those institutions which promote and share a worldview anchored in democratic values. AUKUS is an incredibly important part of this process, but we need to make sure that we deliver. The BBC World Service and the British Council have never been more crucial to our global standing and our ability to offer an alternative worldview to the repression offered by tyrants. We simply cannot afford for them to have to retreat from key strategic countries due to lack of resource.

At the moment, the world can feel bleak. The onus is on all of us to find hope and provide the global leadership required to make the case for peace and our value system. Listening to tonight’s debate has given me hope that, at least in your Lordships’ Chamber, we are on the same page.