King’s Speech

Baroness Anelay of St Johns Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Con)]

My Lords, in our increasingly dangerous and volatile world, there is one conflict which does not get much attention from the media. The brutal conflict in Sudan is moving relentlessly into its fourth year, with little prospect of resolution for the world’s worst humanitarian crisis this century.

In April, the UNHCR representative in Sudan stated that 14 million people are now displaced and at severe risk of violence and food shortages every day. The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, along with their respective coalitions, remain focused on a military victory. Control of Sudan remains divided between the SAF, holding the north and east of the country, and the RSF, which is largely in command of the west. The key battlefronts continue to shift, with fighting now concentrated in the country’s centre and south-east. There is no sign that either side can fully defeat the other.

Until the rains come in June to September, there is likely to be intensified fighting to make territorial advances. But when the rains come and fighters are bogged down, there will not be any respite for civilians, who will suffer indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure from the air, by drones sourced from outside Sudan. The UN fact-finding mission into El Fasher recently described the events as having “the hallmarks of genocide”, including mass killings, ethnic targeting and systematic sexual violence against women, girls and children.

The noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, who opened the debate, has been generous with her time in briefing Peers, humanitarian organisations and members of the diaspora on the policies and actions of the UK Government in their efforts to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis. Her work is appreciated—but there is a “but”. So much more needs to be done to bring a period of recovery to the peoples of Sudan and security in that region; security there is crucial to us all.

When the Foreign Secretary attended the third International Sudan Conference in Berlin in April, she pledged to preserve £146 million of UK aid to support front-line aid workers providing life-saving support to Sudanese civilians. But it is telling that the conference was criticised by the Sudan’s SAF-aligned de facto Government and faced objections from the RSF’s Tasis coalition. The ministerial session at the conference failed to agree a joint communique and had to settle for a co-chair’s statement instead.

Regional interests in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea continue to exert influence on Sudan’s fighting groups. What diplomatic progress have the Government been able to make in discussions with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE? The latter is often accused of providing military materiel to the RSF. Sudan has a troika, a quad and a quintet—groupings which lack co-ordination. What is the Government’s view about how to bring coherence to the discussions of those groupings?

When the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, replied to one of the Questions for Written Answer from the noble Lord, Lord Alton, in April this year, she supported the quintet’s launch of an intra-Sudanese political dialogue on the basis that it could pave the way to a civilian-led transition in Sudan once a permanent ceasefire had been secured. Will the UK play any role in providing financial or diplomatic support for that process?

The UK has a very influential position as penholder on Sudan at the UN in New York and Geneva. So, can the Minister update the House today about the steps being taken diplomatically by the UK to support brave front-line responders such as the Emergency Response Rooms, prevent further casualties and secure a ceasefire and, ultimately, what appears at the moment to be an impossible-to-secure peace?