Venezuela

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

The noble Lord started with Panama. I am not really sure what to say to him. I take his point to be in support of the Government’s pragmatic position and thank him for that.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, the “Bella 1” oil tanker, now labelled the “Marinera”, for which US officials have obtained a seizure warrant for allegedly breaking sanctions, and which they tried to intercept off Venezuela, is now reported to be in the north Atlantic, within striking distance of the US bases in the United Kingdom. The BBC is reporting that if any US military operation were to be launched against this vessel, Washington would be expected to inform us about what they are doing. Can the Minister reassure me that we would not just expect to be informed but that we would be informed? At what stage in the operation would we be informed: in the planning stage, as it was launched or afterwards? Would we have any say on the nature of that operation?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Noble Lords will understand that we talk all the time to our American friends about security issues, but we would not comment on specifics, as the noble Baroness is encouraging me to do.