Ukraine

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

I did not know it had done that. The actions of the sporting authorities around the world have been admirable thus far. I do not think it would be appropriate for me to comment on particular instances where that has not been the case.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, will the Minister draw to the attention of his noble friends in the Foreign Office the report this morning from the World Food Programme suggesting that 29% of all the grain and wheat sold to countries in the Maghreb and Middle East—the poorest of the poor—comes from either Russia or Ukraine, and that this is likely to be severely disrupted? There is also its figure that 400,000 people have already left and that it is now making preparations for some 3 million refugees in neighbouring countries. What more can we do to support the World Food Programme and the International Committee of the Red Cross?

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

That question obviously goes back to something that my noble friend Lord Benyon was discussing earlier on food security. Clearly, it is an issue not just for any particular part of the world but for us all. I have tried to go through some of the details on the humanitarian responses but there is another thing I should have mentioned earlier—I picked it up when I was googling before I came in here. I noticed that this morning, or during PMQs, the Prime Minister also announced that every pound donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine appeal by the public will be matched by the Government, starting with £20 million. I also reference the fact that we have given an additional £40 million of humanitarian support. I appreciate that that does not fully answer the noble Lord’s question but it is a go at it.