G7 Summit

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Smith of Basildon) (Lab)]

My Lords, I looked with some wry amusement at my notes, which start: “Can I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the generous and constructive suggestions?” Perhaps I should not always believe the notes I am given. I want to start—which I am sorry the noble Lord did not do—by congratulating the Conservative Party on winning the seat of Aberdeen South. I had half expected him to congratulate the Labour Party on a fantastic victory in Makerfield, and the SNP, who held their seat in Arbroath. All of us who put ourselves forward for election know that it is never an easy time, and consequences follow from winning and losing. I think we should be generous in this House to those who put themselves forward. I also thank the noble Lord for his comments about me and the Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms—the Chief Whip. I am grateful for such support. He has not always shown such strong support for us, so I certainly welcome it at this moment.

Both noble Lords spoke passionately and rightly about Ukraine. I think all of us feel very strongly about this. You just have to think of how the Ukrainian people have for so long endured what Putin thought would be an easy fight and an easy defeat. Others may have seen President Zelensky’s statement on the Prime Minister’s resignation yesterday, in which he said:

“Here in Ukraine, we deeply value Britain, and every meeting and every conversation we”—


that is President Zelensky and the Prime Minister—

“have had has always been filled with real substance. Thank you for always being in touch, always engaged, and always striving to do what is needed and what will truly help ... Keir, you are always a welcome guest in Ukraine”.

I think all of us in this House want that to continue, whoever is in No. 10 and whoever has a majority of seats in the other place.

The noble Lord, Lord True, made some rather derogatory and unhelpful comments about the Member for Makerfield, who is standing to be the leader of the Labour Party, and therefore Prime Minister. I point out to him that, over the years, he has gained a lot more experience than many holders of that office have had. He is an experienced Cabinet Minister and an experienced mayor. I think we should see who takes on that position and give them all the support that we should in what are difficult times.

After praising the Prime Minister, the noble Lord then set about the reputation of the Prime Minister overseas. I have to say that, coming from the party opposite, I was not quite sure of the point he was trying to make. I am full of admiration for and very proud of the Prime Minister for the way he has engaged across the world in some of the most difficult issues there have been. Our international reputation was not high. I can think of previous Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries who did not enhance our reputation abroad.

On Brexit, which was mentioned by both noble Lords, the Conservative Party campaigned for Brexit without really having a plan of what Brexit meant; and after having an agreement on Brexit, there was no plan for growth following that. We have to ensure that we have a much closer relationship with the EU; that work will continue and is extremely important. It is obviously a disappointment that the EU summit is being delayed. There are important issues to be discussed, particularly the SPS agreement, which was not dealt with satisfactorily when the Brexit deal was done. It has had a terrible impact in those areas, so we want to have that summit as soon as we possibly can to address those issues, and I can give the noble Lord that assurance.

The noble Lord, Lord True, talked about instability in the Middle East. He is right to address these issues, as this House has done many times; the ongoing work on this is extremely important.

Regarding the defence investment plan, the Government have committed to publishing this before the NATO summit, but we have not waited for the plan to be published before getting on and doing some of the work that is needed. Typhoons are currently being built in the West Midlands. Ships are being built in Scotland. A whole range of investment is going on that is needed.

The noble Lord is right, however, that the plan has to be published and taken forward. It is not just about the amount of money. The amount of money has been of great interest, but let us look around the world, at how we work with our allies in other countries and at our interoperability—how we work together. There is no point in the UK spending x billion in one area if that does not work with money spent in France and Germany and by our other allies. That working together is a huge part of the important role that we take.

The noble Lord is right to raise the Strait of Hormuz; it is essential that it is opened and that it is toll free. Wherever the tolls come from, they are wrong; it must be a toll-free passage through there. The noble Lord also asked about Iran. He will be aware of the state threats legislation that is coming before this House. I hope that we will co-operate to make sure that is on the statute book so that we can deal with state threats there as well.

A lot of questions were raised. I have tried to answer as many as possible in the time that I have been given. I would like to say something more about the recent support for Ukraine, as both noble Lords asked about this. We are providing 150,000 drones and 350 air defence missiles. In answer to the question raised, they are funded from the frozen Russian assets; that is probably the best use for those assets.

We have also announced £210 million of export finance support for enriched uranium. That supports power for Ukraine; as we get into the winter, we will need to ensure that Ukraine has the power that it needs. There is also a new package of sanctions. In total, we have committed over £21 billion-worth of support for Ukraine. I think the whole House would join me in saying that we need to ensure that this money is spent in the best way possible, both for Ukraine’s safety and security and for ours.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

Before we move on to Back-Bench questions, let me respectfully say that they are Back-Bench questions, so we want questions and not statements. Bearing that in mind, I would ask the Conservatives to go first.