British Embassy in Damascus

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

There was a lot in that question. On the humanitarian question, we do not work directly on humanitarian issues through the Government in Syria, for reasons I think noble Lords will understand, but through NGOs and the United Nations. At the moment, that is the right approach to take. We look forward to a time when we can have a more normalised presence in Damascus and all the things you would normally associate with the government-to-government and diplomatic relations we seek.

On how we can spend the same in Syria while protecting Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza—and of course the Overseas Territories—the truth is that we cannot. But in a modern development partnership, the test of your effectiveness and impact is not the pound sign next to your ODA budget; it is the quality of your relationships, your diplomatic presence, your defence and security relationships, and your political links. All these things matter hugely. The volume of spend we are able to mobilise through the multilateral system, not least the World Bank and other multilateral development banks, far exceeds anything we could ever have put forward as a bilateral ODA programme.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, the US reopened the ambassador’s residence in Damascus some seven months ago. The UK Government, as the noble Baroness has said, are taking a somewhat more circumspect approach. Can she outline the reasons for that? Is it based on legal advice? For what reasons are Ministers hesitant to proceed?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It is not based on legal advice as far as I am aware; I think it is just about making sure we do things in successful and sustainable way. It shows the reason why we are so reluctant to withdraw from a city or a country; once you have withdrawn and no longer have an embassy, it is very difficult and always takes time to re-establish that presence.