United Kingdom: Global Position

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Howell for tabling this important and timely debate, and for his wide-ranging and insightful introduction. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Pitkeathley, to his place and look forward to his future contributions.

With events moving at the pace they are and the related dynamics of established alliances and partnerships being severely tested, the United Kingdom’s position in the world remains both crucial and pivotal. Therefore, I found myself really willing on the Prime Minister when he met President Trump. That was difficult for me—I am sure my noble friend Lord Howard will relate to this. Imagine a Liverpool fan cheering on an Arsenal one, particularly with current events, but it shows the importance of leadership.

To me, we see our place in the world through key pillars: in our positioning and the strength that it brings to the global stage; and in foreign, defence and development policy. It remains my absolute firm belief that, with vision, leadership, investment in relationships, the leveraging of experience and the conviction to exercise strength and independence when it matters, we have an extremely important role to play. We play it as an economic power within the G7 and the G20, and as a strategic dialogue partner. I agree with my noble friend Lord Vaizey on this. We have been a dialogue partner with ASEAN since 2021. Our trade stands at £46 billion and the CPTPP was agreed in 2023. These successful new partnerships provide opportunities in this changing world, and I look forward to the Minister’s update in this respect.

The second pillar is our role as a defence power within key multilateral organisations, our status as a P5 member of the UN Security Council and a central role in the Commonwealth of Nations. Yet, sadly, the role of the UN has become marginalised and diminished, at times watching from the sidelines. The recent General Assembly vote on Ukraine showed, for the first time, countries such as the US and Israel voting with Russia, not with the UK. It showed that post-Second World War norms no longer hold. I would welcome again the Government’s perspective on this.

Regarding our development power, may I welcome officially the noble Baroness to her new position as Development Minister? I feel this also strengthens the voice of the Lords around the Cabinet table. Over many years, the UK has led on a broad spectrum of relief and development initiatives. The current change in budgets, which I fully understand, poses the question: what does it mean for our initiatives? I would welcome the Minister’s perspectives, particularly in areas that I led on such as PSVI, where survivors benefited in areas such as DRC, Ukraine and Sudan.

Finally, on soft power, as others have said, we brought a focus in challenging misinformation, providing important news and empowerment through the English language. In the area of human rights, I was proud to serve as the first Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief. I say to other noble Lords that, yes, I worked with the first Trump Administration; it was then that we established the international alliance on freedom of religion, and I pay tribute to my dear friend Ambassador Sam Brownback in that respect.

We also established the human rights sanctions regime. I say to the Minister quite directly that there are individuals and groups responsible for egregious abuse of human rights. While I know that the Minister cannot speculate, can she reassure your Lordships’ House that those levers will continue to be used against such groups? They include, to give one example, the Tehreek-e-Taliban in Pakistan, which targets minority faith communities in vile, hatred-fuelled attacks.

To conclude, we must play our part in finding solutions and leading on convening parties, whether on Ukraine or the Middle East. It is a real strength of our country, and we are recognised and respected for this. The world is changing, and I pay tribute to our partners, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on recent initiatives. Such examples also show a shifting of power and a realignment of alliances. The UK must embrace new partnerships and continue to play our part as a leader among nations.