Russian Maritime Activity and UK Response

Lord Fox Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I do not know what the noble and gallant Lord would say to me if he disliked me.

Having said that, he raised a number of really important points. He heard what I said about funding in response to the noble Baronesses, and we are looking to set out the pathway to that. Others will have heard his call for more resources. There are issues around what capabilities we have and how we take them forward; we have heard demands not only to provide traditional capabilities but to be prepared for the changing threats we face and to establish how we develop the capability to deal with them.

My reading of the view that other countries have of us does not entirely accord with that of the noble and gallant Lord. In many respects, the NATO countries that I have met, notwithstanding the debates about capabilities, often look to the UK to see what we think about what we should do and for leadership.

I have already outlined the NATO response to what is happening in the Baltic with Baltic Sentry. That is a group of allies from NATO: eight countries coming together to provide maritime capability and do other things, and we are providing the reconnaissance for some of that. That is a NATO project, a NATO alliance acting together to deliver security. Of course, the whole point of NATO is that each country comes together to do that. We are looking at the capabilities that the noble and gallant Lord mentioned, but also as part of that, we have the JEF, which is a complementary part of NATO specifically looking at the Northern region, and the UK set that up; the UK is the lead for that. The Nordic Warden campaign that has been set up is run from London, based at Northwood, and the JEF countries are looking to us to provide that leadership, because we are the only country that has the necessary artificial intelligence which allows us to track some of the vessels that we may be concerned about.

Yes, there are issues, and the noble and gallant Lord laid them out very articulately. I just say to him that we are developing abilities, and I would say that, in my view, our role and status within NATO, and the view that many other countries have of us, are perhaps higher than the noble and gallant Lord set out in his remarks. Certainly, that is what people say to me when they say, “Where is the UK on this, because we want to see them there with us?”

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, whether one signs up to the noble and gallant Lord’s view or the Minister’s, I think it is safe to say that the NATO theatre is becoming ever warmer and the requirements from the United Kingdom are getting greater. But it is not only in NATO that we make commitments. As the Minister will know, we are set to join the US-Bahrain Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement—a very long name—which cements us into quite considerable naval activity based in Bahrain. Does the Minister share my concern that we are cementing and placing resources that we cannot move back into the European theatre by signing this treaty, and it puts another strain on already strained resources?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I understand the point the noble Lord is making with respect to Bahrain, but let me say this. The UK acts wherever it needs to to protect its interests. I often make the point about the indivisibility of conflict. I went to Vietnam recently. Vietnam is concerned about Ukraine, because it has brought Russia and China closer together in a way that it never expected. I am proud of the fact that, notwithstanding Bahrain, later this year, we will lead a carrier strike group out into the Indo-Pacific to demonstrate that the law of the sea, the international rules-based order, is something that is important to us. There are numerous countries, both in Europe and in the Far East, including our allies Australia and New Zealand, that will stand with us in delivering that capability. Defending the rule of law in those areas is important. You cannot divide peace and security in one part of the world from peace and security in another, and I for one am pleased that the carrier strike group is going out into the Indo-Pacific later this year.