Strait of Hormuz: Merchant Shipping

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point. We continue to speak to the Americans and discuss with them how we can see an operational and functioning ceasefire restored. The memorandum of understanding worked for a time and we saw an increase in the number of ships using the Strait of Hormuz. From memory, I think that, before the conflict, some 130 ships were using the strait per day; after the memorandum of understanding was signed and was seen to be operating for a number of days, between 20 and 30 ships were using it. That has reduced for obvious reasons—yesterday, there was one ship. Getting a situation in place which has the confidence of all the nations that use the Strait of Hormuz, as a functioning arrangement between Iran and the United States, is clearly in all our interests. We have certainly talked to the Americans about how we might support them in the re-establishment of that.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, on the “Today” programme I heard an American former defence expert saying that the US-Iran war had got to such a point that the only thing for the Americans to do was to bomb for the next month. What is the Minister’s view?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

We have always said that any support that we have given to the Americans has been for defensive purposes. As the noble and learned Baroness will know, we have continually called for a ceasefire, as it initially was, the maintenance of the memorandum of understanding and the de-escalation of activity by any nation. We stand by that.