Deep Sea Mining in International Waters

Viscount Stansgate Excerpts

Monday 30th June 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Viscount Stansgate]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the International Seabed Authority and the government of the United States of America about plans to enable deep-sea mining in international waters.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Collins of Highbury) (Lab)]

My Lords, the United Kingdom supports a moratorium on the granting of exploration contracts by the International Seabed Authority until sufficient scientific evidence is available to assess the potential impact of deep sea mining on marine ecosystems and strong, enforceable regulations are adopted by the ISA. The Government note the US executive order. As a party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the United Kingdom is committed to the continued work of the ISA.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that Answer. As the House knows, the demand for critical minerals is growing fast. They are needed because of their place in modern technology, on which our current and future lives depend. The International Seabed Authority has been trying to develop governance for the use of international seabed mining. The problem, as my noble friend has alluded to, is that the President of the United States has issued an executive order that allows the United States to develop what he has called “the next goldrush”. Do the United Kingdom Government continue to support the International Seabed Authority? If there is to be seabed mining, will they use their best endeavours to ensure that it is done within the framework of the United Nations?

Given that later today we will be discussing the Chagos Islands, I invite my noble friend to reassure the House that the United Kingdom will preserve the right to prohibit deep sea mining around Diego Garcia.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, as a party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the United Kingdom fully supports the work of the ISA. The UK has been fully engaged in the work of the ISA since it was established, following the entry into force of UNCLOS in 1994. There are strong protections in place against deep sea mining around Diego Garcia. Under the agreement, the United Kingdom has the right to exercise rights and authorities required for the long-term secure and effective operation of the base out to 12 nautical miles and is responsible for environmental protection on Diego Garcia. Additionally, we negotiated a further 12 nautical-mile buffer zone out to 24 nautical miles, in which Mauritius cannot place any maritime installations, sensor structure or artificial island that might be required for subsea mining without UK consent.

Conflict in the Middle East

Viscount Stansgate Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I of course recall many exchanges with the noble Lord in 2015, when we discussed the JCPOA. I also acknowledge the incredibly hard work that my noble friend Lady Ashton put into securing that agreement. However, we are where we are now, and the most important thing is not to look back but to think about what President Trump is determined to do now. Our diplomatic efforts are focused on bringing all our allies—particularly, as the Lord, Lord Ahmad, said, all regional allies—into focus to ensure that we get a deal that ensures compliance with the principles that were originally in that agreement and that we stop Iran obtaining and developing nuclear weapons. That is what we are absolutely determined to ensure does not happen and why we support President Trump.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My noble friend the Minister is absolutely right when he says that this is an incredibly dangerous moment. I declare an interest, as I have very close family members who live in north Tel Aviv and who have spent the last two nights in a bomb shelter. Can my noble friend say more to the House about the conference, sponsored by Saudi Arabia and France, to advance a two-state solution? In what way will the UK Government support it, and will they take part in it?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

As I indicated on Friday, President Macron announced the postponement of the conference—for obvious reasons, not least because many of the participants who would make that conference a success would not be able to get there. However, I reassure my noble friend that, as I have said on previous occasions, we are absolutely committed to ensuring that the conference is a success, that we focus on the importance of the two-state solution and that we look at the means to help deliver that. That is why we will work closely with President Macron and the Saudis to ensure that the conference is reconvened when it is safe to do so. It gives me the opportunity to say again that it will be safe to do so when we can ensure that the situation that we currently face is de-escalated and that people step back.

Parliamentary Commercial Department

Viscount Stansgate Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

Well, I am not quite sure why there is such a delay. The minutes of the meeting that took place this week were approved yesterday, and they will be available this week. I think the noble Lord may have been misinformed, but they are available as they have been approved. We have changed the process because they used not to appear until the next meeting, which is unacceptable, so in recent times they have been made available online ASAP. I shall check, but the noble Lord can find them on his computer, on the intranet. The minutes will appear later on, but the decisions are available as a matter of course and, if he does not get them, he should come and tell me and I shall make sure that he does.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, may I raise one issue that is not about the door? In the joint workings that my noble friend will be taking part in, will she try to develop what I might call the spirit of comity before the two Houses? The nature, membership and workload of both Houses is different; nevertheless, we represent Parliament as a whole. Some of the other issues raised in these exchanges show that we need a better working relationship with each other. I hope, as I said, that in the spirit of comity my noble friend will be able to achieve that.

NATO and European Political Community Meetings

Viscount Stansgate Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

I do not have full details of all the programmes yet; we will try to update the House as we go on. However, work will be around the issues that drive those people to leave their countries. There will be some work on climate change, which we have spoken about, but also on issues such as trying to ensure that people have a future in their own country—for example, on provision of skills and education. Just look at how bad girls’ education in particular is around the world—I pay tribute to the work Gordon Brown has done on this. Those are the kinds of issues that force people to try to seek a better life somewhere else. There has to be hope in their own countries for them as well. The kinds of projects that we will be working with are around access to clean water and to a decent standard of living. We will update the House as more information becomes available.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome my noble friend to her position as Leader of the House. I am glad she emphasised the Prime Minister’s comments about President Biden. When he leaves the stage on 20 January next year, a very important phase in post-war Anglo-American relationships will in some ways come to an end.

I want to ask a question arising out of this Statement, which refers to the resetting of relations with Europe. As has been pointed out, the EPC meetings provide the opportunity for informal discussions. Can the Leader of the House give any encouragement to those of us who hope that discussions will now be able to take place on a youth mobility scheme or, as the Minister of Science said yesterday in this House, the greater movement of scientists between the US and Europe, and, if I can add this, musicians, especially youth musicians?

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

It is early days to give my noble friend some of the assurances that he is looking for. At this stage, we are looking to establish those relationships and get structures in place to see what outcomes we can produce going forward. The kind of co-operation we want is an EPC that, from all those countries, wider than the EU—which I think part of his question relates to—ensures that we can have co-operation across a range of issues, which will benefit all those involved.