King’s Speech

Baroness Mobarik Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Mobarik (Con)]

My Lords, we were once unquestionably a leading military and economic power. Today, our role is less clearly defined. We still have significant soft power through our institutions, global networks and cultural reach, and His Majesty the King embodies that soft power in a way that no one else can, but soft power cannot rest on individuals alone. It has to be reinforced by national confidence and a clear foreign and defence policy.

Britain has often been defined by its pragmatism, yet at times we have alienated and ostracised certain nations and peoples, to such an extent that meaningful dialogue and peaceful negotiation have become almost impossible. Trust can be earned only through openness, honest endeavour and a willingness to engage without prejudice. I fully endorse the Prime Minister’s decision not to join the United States in what most regard as an unlawful war in Iran. That restraint was right and showed judgment, for escalation is not the same as leadership. However, that in itself is not enough. We do not want to be drawn into conflict, but where is our diplomatic leadership? Where is the active effort to convene, influence and lead from the front in the pursuit of peace?

Britain’s soft power should be at its most effective in that gap between stepping back from military action and stepping forward with diplomatic influence. To remain a country of consequence, we must shape the conditions for peace, not merely react to them. But as someone who believes that every effort must be made in the pursuit of peace and in preventing the troubling proliferation of arms and ever-more destructive technologies across the globe, I also believe that soft power alone is not enough.

There must stand an unquestioned degree of hard power too, so that our words carry credibility and weight, as laid out in the strategic defence review. However, that strength must be grounded not in aggression but in defence and the protection of stability. Our laws should not just be ink on some document. I remind noble Lords that we are a signatory to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, recognising that attacks on heritage are often attacks on people, history and humanity itself. That is why damage to historic sites and cultural assets in Isfahan in Iran is so deeply concerning. A city of immense historical and architectural significance, Isfahan represents centuries of artistic, cultural and intellectual achievement. Whatever the wider politics or military circumstances, the protection of civilians and of cultural heritage must remain a principle upheld by all sides because, once heritage is lost, it cannot truly be replaced.

We must use our diplomatic influence, including with our allies and partners, to help safeguard cultural heritage wherever it is under threat and to uphold the principles that we have committed ourselves to under international law. These treasures do not belong to one nation alone. They form part of the shared inheritance of humanity and reflect the very values of civilisation, respect and continuity that we seek to defend.

Strategic Defence Review 2025

Baroness Mobarik Excerpts

Friday 18th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Mobarik (Con)]

The excellent strategic defence review of the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, rightly recognises that space is now a crucial and critical domain, one that underpins modern defence, national security and civilian infrastructure. What was once a metaphor for aspiration is now a domain of competition; and in that competition, space access is vital to our national defence, energy and national resilience.

We often talk about strategic threats, economic resilience and levelling up as if they are separate challenges, but space—specifically the UK’s ability to launch and manage its own satellite infrastructure—brings all three together. The Government’s integrated review, national space strategy and defence Command Paper all state that space is a vital national asset for security, sovereignty and growth. We now have UK Space Command and a clear ambition to become a meaningful player in the global space economy. There is recognition that without access to space, modern defence, global influence and protecting our satellites are all at risk. Ukraine’s reliance on Starlink is a case in point.

If we are serious about building sovereign launch capability and prosperity, what are we actually doing to deliver it? The recent SDR clearly acknowledges the strategic necessity of space access. It supports the development of enhanced military space systems, calls for greater civil-military collaboration and rightly positions space as central to modern defence operations. However, it does not explicitly commit to developing a UK sovereign orbital launch capability. That is a striking omission and a missed opportunity to align words with action.

Let us take Sutherland as an example. This is a proud and remote region in the north of Scotland, but one of the most economically fragile. According to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, it faces a 26% population decline by 2041. Youth outmigration is accelerating, and average weekly incomes are over 20% lower than the UK average. These are the long-term symptoms of underinvestment, and yet it is the site of one of the UK’s most forward-looking projects: a vertical-launch spaceport spearheaded by Orbex and backed by the UK Space Agency. This is not just a symbol; it is a serious potential sovereign capability.

The problem is that we still have no active vertical-launch capability in the UK. While the US, India and even New Zealand are launching from their own soil, the UK remains dependent on foreign providers. Over the last decade, the Ministry of Defence has spent £1.4 billion on space-related capabilities, yet the vast majority of this is still outsourced abroad.

If we want to support private investment, grants alone are not enough. We need to offer contracts and long-term, reliable military and civilian government procurement for launch and satellite services as a signal to markets that the UK backs its own capability. This should be an opportunity for regeneration and economic growth as well as national security.

Sovereign launch enables faster response times, secure ISR—intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance—and independence in crisis. Crucially, it allows us to root that capability in regions such as Sutherland, giving people new futures in sectors they once thought were out of reach. We have a chance to turn remote regions into critical infrastructure hubs and to turn industrial strategy into something people can see and feel in their communities. Launching from the highlands would be not only a technological statement but a national statement, one that says we believe in sovereign capability, in economic transformation and in the people and places that have for too long been overlooked. Why does the defence review place such important groundwork for UK sovereign launch but stop short of making it a core national objective?

To be truly sovereign we must be resilient, and that means developing multiple launch sites across the UK—real, tangible support for a plurality of options. In today’s world, leadership in space depends on the ability to launch from our own soil. Without access to space, modern defence and prosperity are at risk. If we are to secure our future in this domain, sovereign access to launch must become a national imperative.