Defence Readiness

Melanie Ward Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

I rise to speak in support of His Majesty’s Speech and to call for our Government to take bolder action on many of the challenges faced by our country, and indeed our world. We are living through global instability on a scale not seen for decades. The power shifts are real. Now more than at any time since world war two, we must stand up and defend our values on the international stage. To do that, we need more hard power—much more—but we should also protect and wield our soft power.

After 14 years of Tory neglect, our Government’s commitment to defence investment is vital not only to our national security, but to communities like mine in Fife. From the £340 million invested in Rosyth dockyard to support for Methil-based Navantia, now with 120 new jobs and 20 new apprenticeships, this investment is creating skilled jobs and driving the local economy. It comes alongside a new Government support package for defence sector SMEs such as Viper Applied Science in Aberdour and PowerPhotonic in Dalgety Bay. UK Government backing is helping to strengthen our local economy for the future. After two decades of wilful neglect by the SNP on defence skills, Fife and Kirkcaldy in particular stand ready to play our part in rapidly scaling up the next generation of workers in the defence industry.

We must heed the warnings on the defence investment plan and rapidly make it a reality—I am sure the Defence Secretary will agree with that. As we strengthen our nation’s ability to protect our people, we must work with our allies and form new relationships, including stronger relations with our European allies and friends. Our collective defence is a cause of the utmost urgency, but so is the defence of our common values: democracy, the rule of law and human rights. Make no mistake—they are under attack.

We must act faster to build the UK’s national resilience, too. Our country and our people are not yet ready to face the kinds of turbulence and crises—even conflict—that may lie in our future. Comparable European nations are well ahead of us in building their resilience, and it is time to turbocharge that work in the UK. As we build our hard power and our own resilience, it would be a mistake to allow our soft power to fall away. DFID, a proud achievement of the last Labour Government, is a body that we miss today amid so much conflict and global health crises, such as the latest Ebola outbreak.

As defence chiefs said this week, recent cuts to the aid budget are a source of deep pain to many of us, but to no one more so than the children going to bed hungry because of them. In north-east Nigeria, where I once served as an aid worker, more than 1 million people affected by the conflict with Boko Haram risk being cut off from food and nutrition support because of cuts to the World Food Programme. What happens when the world cuts aid at a time of greater global conflict than any other since world war two? Already displaced people will be further displaced. They will migrate in search of survival.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an informed and well-made speech. Does she agree that we need to look at not only how we can expand international aid to deliver for the world’s poorest, but how we can regain moral leadership? A crucial part of that, as she and my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) have said, is the BBC World Service. Those frequencies have been taken over by Russia and other anti-democratic nations. The World Service must be a key part of supporting that goal, not just in the future, but right now.

[Melanie Ward]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about soft power and why it is such an important complement to hard power.

It has become common to say that the rules-based order is dead or dying, but we must stand with our allies to preserve and defend all that was built to protect humanity from evil in the ashes of two world wars and the cold war. Data shows that since 2012, there has been an increase in the number of countries where mass atrocity crimes are occurring, and action is needed. Let us remind ourselves that we are talking about genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity from Sudan to Sinjar. These are the most heinous crimes that exist—mass identity-based violence. Where is the UK Government’s strategy to work with like-minded countries to prevent that? There is not one. We need to change that, and fast. Doing so would be an obvious complement to the important work that the Foreign Secretary is doing on women and girls in Sudan.

The United Nations and the International Criminal Court—two imperfect but vital institutions designed to protect humanity and respond to it at its worst—are under enormous pressure, not least from the US Government, whose sanctions are designed to hobble the ICC. Our Government are supporting the UN and the ICC, but we should be making the case for them loudly and globally, working with like-minded allies to protect and defend their very existence. It is time to act at the pace required by global events. The time for incremental micro-steps is over. We must act at a scale appropriate to the urgency of the moment we are in. On Iran and Ukraine, the Government are doing the right thing, but the world can see for itself what is happening in Palestine and Lebanon. Experts say that there has been genocide in Gaza. Israel continues to bomb and kill, including doctors, hospitals and aid workers in Gaza and Lebanon. Israeli settlers in the west bank are trying to ethnically cleanse Palestinians with the support of their Government.

[Dr Zubir Ahmed (Glasgow South West) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a thought-provoking contribution, and I thank her for her leadership on international aid, both before she came to this place and now. With Gaza in mind, does she agree that although the cameras have turned away, we cannot? As a British and UK Labour Government, we have a moral responsibility to continue to provide whatever medical assistance and expertise is required in that area.

[Melanie Ward]

My hon. Friend is right. He is a doctor himself, and I know how well he understands and how much he feels the need for the world to do better—to make change in this area, and stop just talking about making change.

It is time for much bolder action from our Government. It is time for them to stand against what is happening, and to influence events. We need not more words, but more action. To start with, we need comprehensive sanctions on Israeli officials who are responsible for human rights violations and the denial of aid, we need a ban on settlement trade, and we need to outlaw the funnelling of money to settlements by British charities. It is not good enough to say that it is difficult to do these things. Civilians need us to act, and both history and the public are judging us now. Incremental change does not cut it in this time of massive global shifts. We must be bold in our global action, just as we must be bold here at home.

Ukraine

Melanie Ward Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

One of the signals that the coalition of the willing underlines to President Putin is that a large number of deeply committed democratic countries are willing to stand with Ukraine in its fight against his invasion, and are willing to stand alongside Ukraine in any peace to secure a long-lasting and just settlement. The single message that Putin should take is that Ukraine will keep fighting, that we will keep supporting it, and that the best way for him is now to accept that he needs to come to the negotiating table to talk and put an end to this fighting.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his important update. It is clear that Russia’s growing aggression undermines our security at home. Does he agree that the outcome of the war in Ukraine matters deeply to every one of my constituents in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, as much as it does across the whole country and, indeed, all of Europe? Can he update us any further on the measures he is taking to counter Russian aggression?

[John Healey]

My hon. Friend’s constituents in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy share the sentiment across the UK of strong support for Ukraine, three and a half years into this war. [Interruption.] There is a recognition that this matter rises above party politics, and a recognition in general that the UK not only needs to say that we stand with Ukraine, but needs to demonstrate that through our actions. I hope her constituents will support the Government in what we are doing.

Afghanistan

Melanie Ward Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I think that I reported earlier to the House that the incident under previous Ministers was reported to the Metropolitan police. It was also reported to the Information Commissioner. The Met police deemed no criminal investigation or further action to be required. The Information Commissioner still has the case—we are working closely with them—and I would expect some conclusions and judgments from the Information Commissioner’s Office before too long, but I simply cannot say when.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

I ran an aid agency when the Taliban came to power in 2021 and vividly recall trying to get the then Government to help with the evacuation of brave Afghan colleagues, aid workers and human rights defenders—people who had served humanity—under huge threat. I remember the confusion that reigned in the UK Government. To hear that the lives of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians were further put at risk by this data breach is deeply shocking. The Defence Secretary will know that under the Taliban, Afghan women and girls are enduring the world’s most severe women’s rights crisis. Does he agree that the UK must do all it can to support the women and girls of Afghanistan in realising their right to equality?

[John Healey]

I do. Where female Afghans are eligible for the schemes, it has been important that they have been able to apply, and we have been able to offer them the same relocation and resettlement as others. My hon. Friend speaks with great authority and passion about that period in Afghanistan four years ago, when the Taliban were taking over as Kabul fell. I am sad to say that her characterisation of policy confusion and programme failure is exactly what was going on in the British Government at that time.

War Memorials

Melanie Ward Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the role of war memorials.

It is a pleasure to lead my first Westminster Hall debate under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I thank colleagues from across the House for joining me in this important discussion on the role that war memorials play in our communities and country. This Friday marks the centenary of Kirkcaldy’s war memorial and galleries, with commemorations running from the end of this week to a ceremony next Wednesday, with a military parade and some very special guests. I am leading the debate to pay tribute to those who have maintained Kirkcaldy’s memorial, galleries and gardens over the past century, as well as providing Members with an opportunity to raise important memorials in their own constituencies.

All of us in this House represent areas with war memorials. While our country has huge regional diversity, war memorials form a thread that runs through our national landscape, from the Cenotaph on Whitehall, just outside this place, to North Ronaldsay, the most northerly island of Orkney. Those quiet monuments to sacrifice bring us together and bind us. They remind us that no city, town or village has been spared the pain and loss that conflict has brought to the families of the fallen.

What we most admire about the more than 100,000 war memorials in Britain are, of course, their quiet beauty and the opportunity they afford for contemplation and remembrance, but it is also their inherently egalitarian nature that makes them so respected. Prior to the Boer war, our memorials celebrated great victories and leaders. Just up the road from this place, Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column serve as a reminder of that. Yet after the Boer war and the devastation of the first world war, it was widely accepted that we needed a new, more sombre and respectful form of remembrance, which did away with class and military rank, listing each soldier equally as an individual who had given their life for our country.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. In my constituency, I am proud to have a number of war memorials, such as Upper Gornal on Kent street and Woodsetton on Sedgley road. Does my hon. Friend agree that memorials are not just places for quiet reflection and paying our respects, but a physical site for learning and sharing knowledge with residents, so that we never forget the sacrifices that they made?

[Melanie Ward]

I thank my hon. Friend for her important point. I agree completely, and I will say some more about it shortly. There are a few who argue that war memorials, and our ceremonies and rituals around them, glorify war. I stand here as a former humanitarian aid worker who has served in war zones. I strongly believe that remembering the fallen does not glorify war. In fact, the opposite is true. It serves as a reminder of the human cost of war, the sacrifice of individuals and groups, and the devastating gaps that their deaths leave in the places where they lived and within the people whose lives their presence enriched. That is why, all these years on, we choose to remember them.

Of course, I want to talk about some of the beautiful memorials in my constituency. In November, as many of us did, I attended Remembrance Sunday events. For me, they were at Cowdenbeath’s memorials, and I also laid wreaths in Burntisland, Aberdour and Inverkeithing, and I attended Kirkcaldy’s memorial. There are also memorials in Dysart, Dalgety Bay, Crossgates, Kinghorn and North Queensferry. The beautiful commemorative first world war stained-glass window in the now sadly closed Auchtertool kirk has a link to this place, as its designer, Ballantine, also designed windows in the House of Lords.

However, I give special mention to Kirkcaldy’s war memorial, galleries and gardens, which were unveiled 100 years ago this coming Friday. They were the gift of John Nairn, whose family’s linoleum-manufacturing business made Kirkcaldy the linoleum capital of the world. He paid for the construction in memory of his only son, Ian Nairn, who was killed in the Somme in 1918. The memorial in Kirkcaldy is a focal point of our town. It is one of the first things that people see as they leave the train station and head to the town centre, and its award-winning galleries have a large collection of paintings by William McTaggart and Samuel Peploe, and they have hosted exhibitions by Diane Arbus and Fife’s own Jack Vettriano, who was heavily influenced by the works on display in the galleries.

The centenary commemorations begin this Friday, when I will have the solemn honour of beginning the reading of the names of the more than 1,500 dead recorded on the memorial. Each name will be read out one by one over the weekend, from those who lost their lives in the first world war to Sergeant Sean Binnie who died in Helmand, Afghanistan in May 2009, while serving with the Black Watch.

Sean joined the Army in 2003 and served with his battalion in Iraq and the Falkland Islands. He was later deployed on Operation Herrick in Afghanistan, training Afghan troops to fight the Taliban. On 7 May 2009, Sean Binnie was killed, aged 22, during a firefight with Taliban insurgents in Helmand province, while serving as part of the battle group mentoring the Afghan national army. My thoughts, along with those of the whole House, are with his family.

On Wednesday next week, as we in Kirkcaldy hold the service to mark the centenary of the memorial, we will remember Sean and all those who died serving their country. We will think of the gaping holes that their loss has inflicted on those who love them most, and on our communities who raised them. The service would not have happened without the dedication of Kirkcaldy Royal British Legion Scotland, in particular its amazing chair, Bill Mason, and secretary, Ray Davidson, as well as our Deputy Lord Lieutenant Jim Kinloch, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that the names of the fallen featured on the memorial and Kirkcaldy’s veterans are remembered for their sacrifices.

The role that the RBLS Kirkcaldy and the Kirkcaldy United Services Institute, better known as the KUSI club, play in supporting veterans in our community is outstanding. I pay special tribute to the many volunteers in Kirkcaldy who, when asked to knit 1,500 poppies for the centenary, ended up knitting more than 8,000. Those poppies have been attached to nets that now cascade down the central tower at the memorial and dress the balcony. The ceremony will match the serenity and importance of our war memorial in Kirkcaldy. I pay tribute to all involved and ask the Minister, in her remarks, to join me in commending them.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Stuart. In my constituency, Bedworth is rightly called the town that never forgets. On 21 September 2021, the Bedworth Armistice Committee unveiled the Bedworth peace podium, to mark the international day of peace.

Hundreds of children submitted poems and words as part of the project, an important reminder that we must ensure that the next generation learns and understands our country’s history. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must continue to invest in war memorials, and ensure that our young people never forget the sacrifices made by our armed forces and the wars that this country has fought?

[Melanie Ward]

I thank my hon. Friend for her important remarks. There is also a peace part of the memorial in Kirkcaldy, which is an important way to integrate those values into the overall memorial.

I have said a lot about the importance of our memorial to our town of Kirkcaldy, but it has not been free of problems in recent years. In January, it fell victim to an arson attack, the third attack on the memorial in two years. That was not just reckless vandalism; it was an affront to those who gave their lives serving our country and our town. I am glad that an individual was charged with wilful fire-raising in the aftermath.

That raises another issue of how we protect and cherish our memorials, and how we prosecute those who seek to desecrate them. Although I understand that this is a justice issue and, therefore, devolved to the Scottish Government, I ask the Minister to outline how the UK Government plan to strengthen protections for war memorials across the country.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. Does she agree that the desecration of such memorials almost defies belief? It was reported to me today that a granite memorial to the men who died at the battle of Somme, which we commemorate next Tuesday on 1 July, was stolen from a small memorial garden in Coleraine in my constituency. Will she join me in condemning that? I hope that we can get across what the men at the Somme did to get freedom, and that that will have some minor impact on people whose knowledge of those contributions appears to be zero.

[Melanie Ward]

I thank the hon. Member for his important remarks, and I am really sorry to hear about that theft. It is completely unacceptable, and I agree completely that education has a really important part to play. There are so many organisations that play a part in that, including the British Legion and others. We have to educate the next generation so that they understand the importance of these memorials: they are not just pieces of stone; they are memorials to real people who gave their lives for something really important. They made a sacrifice for us all.

Of course, it was not just those in Britain who laid down their lives to fight for the freedoms that we enjoy today. This week we celebrate Armed Forces Day, and we also celebrate Windrush Day, when we celebrate the contribution of migrants to our country. Not only did those from across the Commonwealth fight and die for our freedoms, but they, their children and their grandchildren helped us in building the society, the economy and the public services that were created in the aftermath of the second world war. That is why Kirkcaldy’s war memorial stands alongside memorials in Delhi, Kingston and Sydney.

I have outlined the role that war memorials play in our civic life, our national identity and our national story. They remind us of those who came before us and why we are here: to enjoy the freedoms that many across the world do not currently enjoy. Every day, we walk past the memorial a few yards away that commemorates the parliamentarians, their families and their staff who lost their lives in both world wars. It is a poignant daily reminder in the centre of British democracy that we are here to maintain those freedoms and to care for those less fortunate than ourselves.

As Kirkcaldy’s war memorial marks its last 100 years, it is up to all of us to ensure that it is preserved for the next 100 years. My experience as an aid worker has proved to me that the 21st century is not immune to the bloody destruction that marked much of the 20th century, but we must always carry forward the names of those on the memorials in our constituencies and strive for a better and more peaceful world in their memory. They are, after all, the reason we are here today.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Melanie Ward]

I thank all the Members who contributed to this debate. The unified tone feels entirely in keeping with the fact that this is Armed Forces Week and with the message that we want to send out from this place this week in particular. It has been invaluable to hear the contributions of so many colleagues, and it is difficult to sum them up in such a short time. I will mention a few of the themes that people raised.

My hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor) and a number of other colleagues raised the importance of peace and the fact that war memorials can give space for reflection on peace. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) was absolutely right when he said that the British in particular do remembrance so well. It is so important to take great care over something that matters so much. A number of colleagues talked about the importance of diversity and of remembering our diverse communities at our war memorials, including the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam), my hon. Friends the Members for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) and for Thurrock (Jen Craft) and the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire).

The Opposition spokesperson spoke powerfully about memorials to fallen British soldiers in the north of France. I have also had the experience of visiting some of those, and they are deeply moving in their scale when one actually sees them and sees the loss that took place. A number of colleagues, including my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett), spoke about the place of war memorials in remembering our shared history and the variety of memorials across the country. Others spoke about the importance of education in war memorials, including the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) and many others. I thank everyone and hope that it has been a rich debate for everyone to take part in.

Royal British Legion

Melanie Ward Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Al Carns)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing the debate, and for giving hon. Members the opportunity to highlight the fantastic work of the Royal British Legion and its thousands of volunteers. As the hon. Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge) said, the number of hon. Members present today is a great reflection of British politics, as is the mix of political parties and the unity we have behind those who have served, their families and those who are still serving. It is important to champion them. They are what stands between us and tyranny, as they demonstrated many years ago, in 1939.

I think it is worth while to recognise that the RBL does a fantastic job at three levels. First, it does an amazing job at the national level. It ties society and defence back together. We have, perhaps, more of a societal and defence drift than ever before. For many of us, our grandfathers or grandmothers served, and we had an immediate connection to defence. That is not necessarily the case today. The RBL acts as a glue and a binding mechanism to pull us back together, and to help us remember why those who serve are so important to the nation.

Secondly, behind all the big events—whether that is Invictus, the D-day commemorations or VE Day, which is approaching—one organisation is always absolutely central, which is, of course, the RBL. It does so much of the heavy lifting. It is really impressive.

Thirdly, there is the local level. We have heard so many amazing stories today of individual RBL branches doing an amazing job not just to cohere councils and deliver support, but, importantly, at the personal level to change thousands of people’s lives. We owe a debt of gratitude to all those in the RBL.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. I know he is aware that this summer, we will mark the centenary of the war memorial in Kirkcaldy, and that the Kirkcaldy branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland is doing a fine job of organising a ceremony and a significant tribute that is worthy of the cause. I know the Minister is aware that he has received an invitation from me to attend that event, and I wonder if he might consider it favourably.

[Al Carns]

If I can be there, I definitely will. It will be fantastic and I would not want to miss it.

It has been mentioned that the Royal British Legion was founded in 1921 from the merger, interestingly, of four ex-servicemen’s organisations. I think that that has not been mentioned in a debate since 2013, so I would like to reflect on that. The RBL established the two-minute silence and the poppy appeal—remembrance traditions that endure today and, importantly, unite the nation. It has expanded its support to all those who have served for at least seven days, adapting to each generation’s changing needs. I will, perhaps, talk about that shortly. It is now the UK’s largest military charity, with 180,000 members, 110,000 volunteers—an army in itself—and a network of partners and charities.

There is an important point, which was mentioned more than four times by various speakers in the debate, about schools and educating people about why remembrance is so important. As we approach VE Day, yes, it is important to remember the sacrifice of individuals, but it is also important to remember the cause of the collective. Why were those people called to the front in the first place? To protect the freedoms that we all enjoy. Again, the underlying message is that freedom is not necessarily free. We can reflect that idea into the geopolitical situation of today—with North Korean troops fighting on the very edge of Europe—which has probably never been so fractious. There is an important role for the RBL and other charities in enhancing the lessons of the past and ensuring that the youth of the nation remember that.

The RBL is an organisation that makes an immeasurable contribution, from remembrance and representation to service and support. Its iconic annual poppy appeal, which I collected for in London last year, has become woven into the very fabric of our national identity. It is an organisation that also gives practical, life-changing support, day in and day out, seven days a week and 24 hours a day.

War in Ukraine: Third Anniversary

Melanie Ward Excerpts

Thursday 27th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Dinenage]

It is almost as if the hon. Member had read what I wrote on my bit of paper. It is miraculous. I want to know her lottery numbers for next week. She is exactly right. My own Ukrainian family —and I call them family, because they are now part of my family—have made lives for themselves in this country, and they have become an asset to our community.

In the event of a sustainable peace deal, Ukraine will of course want and need its brightest and best to return to rebuild the country, but so many of them simply do not have anything to go back to, such is the devastation that has been wrought by Russia in destroying 167,000 civilian buildings. UNESCO says that almost 500 cultural sites have also been lost as a result of Russia’s attempt to erase Ukrainian heritage, and so many of the communities that Ukrainians have fled just will not be the same. They will not have anything to go back to, and they will miss the familiar landmarks, meeting places and, most importantly and most sadly, the people they wanted to go back to.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

On the point that the hon. Member and the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) made about visas for Ukrainian refugees, do they recognise that the Government have already extended the visa scheme by 18 months? That decision was made this month, and it has been welcomed at least by the Ukrainian refugees in my constituency.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage]

Yes, that is very welcome. A lot of people from the Ukrainian community want certainty about what to expect and about the security of the world around them.

To follow on from an earlier comment, we hear a lot about planning for the war, but I want to know a little more about the Government’s planning for the peace and working towards a day when many Ukrainians will be able to return to their home country. What about those here under the scheme who have made homes, relationships and jobs here and are contributing to the economies and communities in which they live? Will they be able to stay indefinitely? People are beginning to ask that question, and as much as we understand that Ukraine will want its brightest and best back, there are some who simply do not have anything to go back to.

To conclude, contrary to the messaging coming out of the Munich security conference, there are values that we all share as European countries, which we must now pay to defend. However, we must not just use words; we must show action and we must show solidarity. I suppose I want to give the Minister, who I know cares about this very deeply, the opportunity to affirm the Government’s commitment that, as the geopolitical weathers change, our dedication as a nation—and as a Government and an Opposition—to Ukraine, its incredible and indefatigable people, and their democratically elected President, will never waver.

--- Later in debate ---

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

We in Reform stand united with the whole House in support of Ukraine and all brave Ukrainians against the monstrous tyranny of that most evil villain, Putin.

[Melanie Ward]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Richard Tice]

I have not even warmed up! I will make a little more progress.

Just over 13 months ago, I made a donation to acquire a 4x4 pick-up truck and to fill it with first aid supplies, and I drove it with other volunteers to Ukraine to give it to those brave soldiers on the frontline. I remember meeting the extraordinary technicians who were making the drones, including brilliant, bright children who were helping to develop new drone technology. Tragically, I stood in a cemetery and watched mums weep over the graves of their sons. That cemetery has almost doubled in size in just 12 months.

The maxim of peace through strength has stood the test of time—in history, today and in future. That is why in our contract at the election we had 2.5% of GDP on defence spending within three years, and 3% within six years. That is why we supported the Prime Minister earlier this week when he made those same commitments. I hope that that 3% will be a firm commitment within five or six years.

Peace through strength is vital. As others have said, we all want peace, not least the brave Ukrainians. It must be right to try for a peace deal, however difficult. Most wars and conflicts end up in some form of negotiation —however difficult, tough or tense.

[Melanie Ward]

Given how the hon. Gentleman started his speech, does he agree with the leader of his party, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), who is probably not in Clacton right now, who said in 2014 that Vladimir Putin was the global leader he most admired?

[Richard Tice]

Putin is a vile dictator. We all know that. My leader has also confirmed that Putin is the aggressor in this war. I was just moving on, in the time allotted, to the issue of how we get to a durable peace.

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[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to take part in such a well-informed and passionate debate. Three years on from Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the courage of the Ukrainian people is an inspiration to all of us. I was at the Munich security conference, where it felt like the world changed around us, and significant consequences flow from it. It is clear that any settlement negotiated solely between Trump and Putin would not be a dignified and secure peace for Ukraine. As democratically elected President Zelensky has said, there can be no peace in Ukraine without Ukraine, and no peace in Europe without Europe. European leaders, including our Prime Minister and our Parliament, rightfully stand in full solidarity with him.

With its war machine in full swing, we know that Russia would not stop with Ukraine, given the opportunity, and we must be clear that this is about security for the UK, too. Our Prime Minister is doing vital work in Washington DC today, with that in mind. The dramatic divergence of US and European approaches really matters, and we have to be clear about how many other countries now have an interest in Ukraine. With 12,000 North Korean troops on the frontline, Iranian drones being used and technology being provided by China, we are not just up against Russia in Ukraine; this is about a group of states that are seeking to disrupt an already fractured global order. Securing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine has become the defining test of who our allies are in the world, and how far we are willing to go to defend the values of freedom, democracy and sovereignty that unite us.

The last three years have seen 2,236 attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine—the most ever recorded by the World Health Organisation in a conflict. These attacks have increased in the last year and now occur almost daily.

[Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that when this conflict ends, we must examine closely the potential use of chemical weapons by Vladimir Putin during this conflict, as he has previously used them in Syria and other conflicts? Some of us who were on the trip that has been discussed saw that at first hand in hospitals.

[Melanie Ward]

I absolutely agree; accountability is essential.

More than a decade ago, Putin tested the tactic of attacking hospitals in his operations in Syria, and the world stood by. The message about impunity spread, and we have subsequently seen the same tactics used by other forces in Gaza and Sudan, and now by Putin in Ukraine. Children should never be targeted in war, and the International Criminal Court has an arrest warrant out for Putin for his deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The stability and prosperity that we have enjoyed in our part of the world for the last 80 years cannot be taken for granted. It was fought for, literally. Democracy does not just happen. We have to want it, value it, work to keep it and protect it, and we have much work to do in that regard. In my previous work in war zones across the world, I often returned home with the sense that conflict and disaster can happen anywhere. That is why we need to support our global institutions now more than ever—institutions such as the United Nations, and the framework of international law put in place after world war two. If we value those achievements, we must uphold and protect them.

Our Government are absolutely right to increase defence spending rapidly. I have seen too many times as a former aid worker what happens when Governments fail in their most basic duty: keeping their country safe. Of course, funding this increase in defence spending through the aid budget is painful, and I say to those in the international development community in this country and elsewhere that I and others feel the pain. Given the scale of external threats, we should all understand that further painful decisions of a different kind may come in the future.

I end by paying tribute to the Ukrainian refugees I met in Kirkcaldy in my constituency a few weeks ago. We owe it to those refugees, and to all who have fought for Ukraine, the UK and Europe’s freedom, to now do whatever it takes to defend our shared freedom and security.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)]

A pile of dark brown mud next to a hole in the ground; a hole framed by planks of wood covered tightly in smooth, matt-black sheeting; four rough wooden handles jammed in as the mud hardens around them, with invisible silver shovels buried beneath—a pile of mud and four shovels in the sharp, harsh, dry cold of Lviv: that is the image that I have had in my mind for every waking minute of every day since Saturday morning. It is the picture of a newly dug grave in the cemetery of heroes in Lviv, Ukraine, as mentioned earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West and Leigh (David Burton-Sampson). For me, that image encapsulated the four-day trip from which I and other MPs from across the House returned earlier this week. It might sound an unusual thing to say, but this graveside was not simply one of sorrow, nor just of pride, nor just of memory; it was one of defiance and resolve.

That image encapsulates for me the emotions of all of the people of Ukraine. They have taken the punishment dished out by a criminal dictator-bully for three years. They have not only withstood the daily bombardments, but thrived underneath their air defence umbrella. In a position where every day represents a struggle for survival to the next, Ukraine has been able not only to fight and reach the next day, but to plan for a prosperous future. In health, education, technology, cyber-security, the scaling of innovation and in culture, the Ukrainian people are shaping their long-term future even as they take to shelters every night. This is not just “Keep calm and carry on”; this is “Keep calm, win the present and build the future.”

The Ukrainian people want peace—of course they do—but they will not accept peace at any price. We asked over and over again, “What message do you want us to deliver back to our country and our Parliament?” The answer was always this, something so simple and obvious that it is hard to believe it has to be restated: “Russia has conducted an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine—Russia is the aggressor; Ukraine the victim.”

We have had 20 years of warnings, from the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 to the first invasions of Ukraine and the public poisonings in Salisbury, and then finally the full-scale invasion of our ally.

[Melanie Ward]

Does my hon. Friend agree that Russia’s past behaviour, with Putin seeming to sign up to agreements but then not following them, is precisely why security guarantees for Ukraine’s future are so important?

[Graeme Downie]

I could not agree more. I grew up in Berlin during the cold war and could hear Russian artillery and helicopters practising on a live firing range, so that has always been present since I was very young.

We must not misunderstand the gravity of this moment. Geopolitical stability and security will be the defining issue for this generation and this Parliament. It is incumbent on us to do whatever it takes to keep British people safe at home and abroad and to support our allies. That is why I fully welcome and endorse the decision this week by the Prime Minister on defence spending increases. However, as I argued in this House in December, 2.5% and even 3% should be seen as a floor for our defence spending, not the ceiling.

This Government have already taken one difficult decision and there may well be more to take in the future. I suspect that before long the Government may conclude that they must go even further or faster, or both. If they do so, they will have my full and total support. That is not to crave the spending; it is to accept the reality of the world we live in, not the world as we would wish it to be.

While the public clearly support the increased spending on defence, it is incumbent on all of us in the House to ensure that the reality of the danger and threat that this country faces is brought home, as is the fact that this might mean even tougher decisions very soon. While a war in Ukraine might feel abstract, as I saw over the past few days, that war can very quickly come to these shores, and in a variety of ways. The mission of all sides of this House is to maintain that unity and communicate that reality and to bring the public with us on a long-term journey that will be difficult.

With the 100-year partnership agreement signed by this Government, we have the foundation of a long-term relationship with a country with which we share so much, and with which we are standing shoulder to shoulder. On that foundation we can build a lasting peace.

I want to end with a quote by JFK. In the same speech in which he called for peace

“not merely…in our time, but peace for all time”

he said:

“There is no single, simple key to this peace; no grand or magic formula… Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts.”

Ukraine has taken several of those many acts and the UK is one of the many nations. It is incumbent on us to continue acting until we find the peace we all seek.