Women, Peace and Security Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Earl of Courtown

3rd reading
Friday 14th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, I always like to hear comments from the noble Lord, Lord Collins. In all seriousness, I pay tribute to my noble friend Lady Hodgson for her inspiring passion and commitment to the women, peace and security agenda. I say from the outset that the Government fully support the ethos of the Bill and we are firmly committed to protecting and progressing WPS. The UK is a global leader on women, peace and security: we led the first UN Security Council resolution on WPS in 2000, and we continue to use our standing in the UN to champion the inclusion of women and girls in the work of the organisation and UN resolutions.

In February the Government launched our new women, peace and security national action plan, our most ambitious WPS strategy yet. It sets out how we will continue to put women and girls at the centre of our work on conflict and security, and it reflects the new global context, adding Ukraine, Ethiopia and Yemen to our list of focus countries and retaining Afghanistan as a priority. The national action plan forms part of the wider work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to challenge the global rollback of women’s rights around the world, as articulated by the Foreign Secretary in his speech in March.

This Government are fully committed to the WPS agenda. However, we have reservations about some of the proposals in the Bill, something that the Minister responsible for WPS, the honourable Leo Docherty MP, has discussed with my noble friend. We support some of the key principles of the Bill, particularly on increasing the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution, and we are delivering on that aim through our diplomatic and development work. However, we do not believe that the Bill in its current form allows for the wide scope of policies that we are seeking to deliver. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to engage with my noble friend to further strengthen our approach in this area.

To conclude, the Government are committed to progressing the women, peace and security agenda on the global stage. Our new national action plan, along with our international women and girls strategy, ensures that we will continue to put women and girls at the heart of everything we do. I look forward to further constructive dialogue with noble Lords as we advance our goals of gender equality and the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all areas of the women, peace and security agenda. I also note what the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, had to say.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, once again, I express how grateful I am to all noble Lords who supported this Bill. I thank the Minister for his remarks, but I have to confess that I am somewhat disappointed that the Government cannot at this stage support the Bill. I am not sure I understand their reservations in the slightest. At a time when rights for women and girls globally are rolling back, passing the Bill would send a strong message of commitment around the world and clearly demonstrate that the UK is leading on the women, peace and security agenda. Not supporting the Bill sends a somewhat different message. I very much hope that the Bill will be given some time in the Commons. I understand that at this stage it is very unlikely that there will be sufficient time, but I again thank everybody very much for their support.