Strait of Hormuz

Baroness Deech Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It was fantastic to see President Zelensky welcomed so warmly here in London in a cross-party way, and I pay tribute to the noble Baroness and her colleagues for their steadfast support for Ukraine, both in office and since. She is right to remind us of the tremendous innovation that has come about as a result of the dreadful war in Ukraine. There have been some remarkable developments. I do not know how directly applicable they would be to the current situation, but I am sure that my colleagues in the Ministry of Defence will be looking very closely at this.

[Baroness Deech (CB)]

My Lords, when will the Minister and her Government end this air of detachment in relation to Iran? Some of us have just come from a presentation of a most comprehensive report by the historian, the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, setting out the horrors of October 7. Hamas carried that out; Iran funded, and still funds, Hamas, which has decided that when it can, it will do the same massacre again. It involved British citizens, who have complained that the Government did nothing to help them at all, at the time or after. This is a case of anticipatory self-defence. We have a moral duty to understand what is going on in Iran and the threat it poses to this country.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I do not accept the premise that the noble Baroness began with, which was about detachment. The positions that we have taken are ones in which we feel there is consistency with international law. Before you involve yourself in a conflict of this nature, history—and history from not even that long ago—teaches us that you must have a clear plan and support your allies and partners. That is how we will proceed. I agree with her on the abhorrent nature of the Iranian regime and its activities in the region that have cost the lives of many people we care about deeply, and its activities on the streets of the United Kingdom.