Venezuela Earthquakes

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Absolutely. Our international search and rescue capability—I think 58 team members went to Venezuela along with dogs to help with the search and rescue—is globally recognised; it is outstanding. My neighbour Jim is one of them and we should all be incredibly proud of them. I can confirm that it is our intention to continue to provide this service and this capability whenever and wherever we can.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware that 14 major hospitals have either been destroyed or very seriously damaged, and it will take a long time for them to be repaired. In the meantime, there is obviously a crucial need for tented hospitals. In this respect, it is obviously good news that the UK Emergency Medical Team, UK EMT, has deployed a team to set up one such hospital, but there is a need for much more to be done. Furthermore, is the Minister aware that Venezuela already suffered from a chronic shortage of qualified anaesthetists and orthopaedic surgeons? Are these two areas where the UK could provide more focus?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Venezuela lacks many things, not least the 8 million people who have removed themselves from the country in recent years because they did not wish to live under the regime of Nicolás Maduro. There are many gaps in the capability of the Venezuelan state. The right response to this is to not do what has happened in response to previous disasters. I point the noble Lord to Haiti and the response after that earthquake, where we saw a flooding of capability and equipment but a real lack of co-ordination, duplication, inefficiency and a failure to respond. It was of its time, and it is not how we want to do things now. It is good that we are now collaborating much more with international partners and local agencies on the ground, because that is the right thing to do for that population that needs that help so urgently.