United States: Withdrawal from International Organisations

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

There is a lot more involved in this than peacekeeping, but it is a very important element of what the United Nations and other multilateral organisations involve themselves in. The point about value and efficiency is critical. We are being quite forward-leaning, as they would say in the Foreign Office, about our desire to see reform and change. It matters that this money ought to find its way to the front line, be that in support of a peacekeeping mission in Somalia or for maternal health in Kenya. Efficiency and value for money matter in their own right, but also because we want to sustain and grow public confidence.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, the Minister just needs to look behind her to see that faces behind her know that this is the wrong thing to do. While the Minister might suggest that it is for the United States Government to make this decision, which it is, the Government of this country can have a view. Do the Government support the US Government withdrawing from these 66 organisations as a matter of policy?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I think my relationship with my colleagues on this side of the House is pretty good, actually, so I am not overly worried about that. They will have their own views, too, by the way. It is not really for the United Kingdom to make a fuss with the United States about withdrawing from organisations that we are not a part of and some regional groupings that we are not involved with and demand that it should stay engaged. We have to keep a bit of perspective here—this is 3% of the UN budget we are talking about. On our ability to make progress with certain agencies to do with health, women’s health in particular, we have always been at the forefront of this and that is not going to change.