COP 29: United Kingdom Delegation
Debate between Lord Robathan and Baroness Chapman of Darlington(4 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Lord Robathan
To ask His Majesty’s Government how many people were in the United Kingdom delegation to COP 29 in Baku, what work they did, and what was the total cost of attendance including air fares.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)
My Lords, the UK’s COP 29 delegation is smaller than that for COP 28, but our delegation is planned to ensure a productive summit that will progress UK strategic outcomes. The carbon footprint of this travel is outstripped by the benefits of delivering this agenda. As well as Ministers, diplomats, thematic experts and negotiators, overall UK attendance at COP includes businesses, arm’s-length bodies, devolved Administrations, those from Crown dependencies and overseas territories, parliamentarians and external event speakers from businesses and civil society. Because COP 29 is still ongoing, it is not possible to provide a final number of participants or a cost of attendance.
Lord Robathan (Con)
I thank the Minister for her Answer, although it did not really increase the sum total of human knowledge. My understanding is that the delegation was 470 strong, which is over four times the size of the French delegation and larger than the American delegation—the size of a small army battalion, actually. Can the Minister now confirm whether that is the number? What were they doing? What did they achieve? How much did it cost? She says that she cannot tell us, but she can give us a guess. And what was the carbon footprint?
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
The noble Lord, with respect, might wish to retable this in a couple of weeks when COP has actually concluded. At the moment, although we know how many people we have accredited, we do not know how many of those attended, how many attended in person or for how long they attended. We will obviously be able to provide full information, which I am sure he will enjoy reading, once COP concludes, but we are not in a position to do that today.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the noble Lord, Lord Robathan, has scored an own goal with his Question? Although the Labour Government sent fewer to COP 29 than the Tory Government sent to COP 28—
Ukraine: North Korean Troops
Debate between Lord Robathan and Baroness Chapman of Darlington(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)
My Lords, it is highly likely that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has begun to send troops to Russia. This is a deeply concerning development that risks prolonging the war and augments DPRK’s already significant support to Russia, including munitions and arms that are being used by Russia in its illegal war against Ukraine. This further illustrates Russia’s growing reliance on third-country support and the deepening military co-operation between Russia and DPRK, which has security implications for Europe, the Indo-Pacific and the wider world.
Lord Robathan (Con)
My Lords, I doubt anybody in NATO would wish to see a shooting war with Russia, far less, God forbid, a nuclear conflict. The aggressor, Putin, threatens the West throughout with dire consequences unknown if there is any escalation of the war, yet he is now apparently bringing in thousands of North Korean troops to assist him, from an ally in the axis of evil. Putin is already waging war against the West. In the UK, Litvinenko was murdered 18 years ago, we had the Salisbury poisonings and only last month we had the warning from Ken McCallum of MI5 about Putin’s intention to disrupt British life. Will the Minister please go back to her colleagues in the department so that we can further assist Ukraine in defeating the aggressor? In particular, will she lobby for allowing Storm Shadow missiles and other weaponry to be used for attacks on Russia, because the best way to maintain peace in Europe is to defeat the aggressor, Putin?
Ukraine
Debate between Lord Robathan and Baroness Chapman of Darlington(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
As the noble Lord can imagine, our sanctions team has never been busier. We have sanctioned over 2,000 individuals. For very good reason, we are determined to tackle illegal money laundering and kleptocracy across the world wherever we find it and we will take whatever action we need to within the UK’s legal framework.
Lord Robathan (Con)
My Lords, does the Minister not agree that we should not accept the red lines laid down by the aggressor, Putin? His red line is apparently NATO weapons being used against Russia. Hold on; he is the aggressor. Should not we, the US and others say that Storm Shadow missiles would be of great value to the Ukrainians in fighting and winning this war? We should press the US to allow us to give them to them.
Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)
My Lords, we could not be clearer in our support for Ukraine. We provide a huge amount of support and weaponry to Ukraine, which is consistent with the approach of our key allies. That situation will not change.