Landmines and Cluster Munitions

Earl of Effingham Excerpts

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

My Lords, just this week, Finland announced that it will be the latest state to withdraw from the Ottawa treaty, following in the footsteps of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The fact that so many states, all on Europe’s eastern flank, feel threatened to the degree that they believe this step is necessary clearly demonstrates that we are living in a very different world from when the Ottawa treaty was signed. This was highlighted by comments from the Finnish Prime Minister:

“Withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention will give us the possibility to prepare for the changes in the security environment in a more versatile way”.


Given the time limit, I will ask a number of questions to the Minister. Poland, Finland and the Baltic nations are all members of NATO, and NATO members regularly operate in joint combat units. If the worst were to happen and the United Kingdom found itself dragged into a conflict with Russia, we risk a situation where British troops could operate in the same units as NATO allies who are not members of the Ottawa treaty or the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Given that the UK remains party to these treaties, what is His Majesty’s Government’s assessment of the impact on our troops of not being able to deploy the same weapons as the allies they are fighting alongside?

Equally importantly, what liability would our courageous and valiant British soldiers have for the planting of such weapons that are prohibited for use by British Armed Forces under these two treaties? How would His Majesty’s Government protect any British soldiers from being held liable?

Finally, as I believe the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, was implying, we must be prepared to adapt our position on such treaties and agreements as circumstances change, so what assessments and scenario analyses have His Majesty’s Government made, and what are their actionable conclusions?