Queen’s Speech

Lord Walney Excerpts

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walney (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I will briefly preface my prepared remarks by urging the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, who is almost in his place, to spend a little more time studying the Christian Bible. This is not simply because I hope he would be challenged to greater tolerance by the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, as set out in the gospels, but to show him the inconsistency of taking the passages in the Koran that justify violence as representative of that great faith, while ignoring similarly troubling passages in various parts of the Bible, which is similarly viewed by many Christians—I count myself as one—as the literal word of God. If he genuinely wants to combat the very real threat of Islamism in the UK, and across the world, rather than to rabble-rouse and sow division, I urge him to reflect, though I do not imagine that he will.

I also express my real discomfort at the way that many are choosing to discuss the Israel/Hamas conflict that is continuing to unfold. Much of the commentary from people in positions of influence and responsibility, including disproportionately from members of my former party, implies an equal legitimacy between the armed forces of the democratic state of Israel and the Islamist terror organisation that is dedicated to murdering Jews and wiping Israel off the map. Hamas deliberately embeds its forces in the densest civilian areas in Gaza and its rockets are targeted to maximise civilian casualties. Both of these are clear war crimes. Commentators imply that Israel is less legitimate because it has—thank God—developed the means to defend itself from many, though sadly not all, of the rockets raining down on its cities. We then hear some of the same voices having the hutzpah to express shock at the sickening anti-Semitic violence and harassment unleashed on British streets—anti-Semitism which they themselves have fanned. We all have a responsibility here, and I am afraid to say that Labour is, unfortunately, showing that it still has a long way to go to get its house in order after the rampant anti-Jewish racism of the Corbyn years.

I turn to the gracious Speech, with less time that I originally envisaged. I urge Ministers to be bold and sustained in the measures that they bring forward to

“shape the open international order of the future”—

as they put it—and defend and rebuild a global consensus on the primacy of the rule of law. This is a major undertaking that will require the laudable increase in defence investment to be sustained and increased further in the years ahead. It requires dedicated and focused leadership, as well as sustained diplomacy, which has been sadly lacking for much of the last decade. The commitment to developing the global anti-corruption sanctions regime outlined in the gracious Speech is an important example of this. A new sanctions regime is very welcome, but it will only make a real difference if the UK shows that it is prepared to apply sanctions widely, not only to well-established kleptocracies such as President Putin’s Russia but to deter China from continuing down the road of mass persecution, harassment of lawmakers and the trashing of its international agreements.

The commitment to counter state threats is also welcome, and I hope that due consideration will be given to extending this to the disinformation capabilities that are an established and increasingly sophisticated element of state-led campaigns to disrupt our lives and weaken our democracy. As noble Lords would expect, this is an area that I am examining as part of my review for the Prime Minister and Home Secretary into political violence and the anti-democratic fringes of UK domestic politics.

I did have more to say, but I will respect the five-minute limit and save it for another day.

British Armed Forces: Global Britain

Lord Walney Excerpts

Thursday 21st January 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Walney (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, it is hugely welcome that the Government define global Britain as a commitment to uphold the international rules-based system. That is not a given, as it might have seemed only a decade ago. There are daunting and growing challenges on that front. The Armed Forces’ capability is vital, so all eyes are on the integrated review, particularly the ability to project a naval and cyber deterrent into the Indo-Asia-Pacific region in the decades ahead. What is important is not simply the Armed Forces’ capability, however; this is about the will to act. Recent episodes such as Syria have shown that, if that is not there from the United Kingdom, we can allow nations with far inferior capability to become dominant. Global Britain must be about being a committed, enduring global leader, right from the very top.

Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill

Lord Walney Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 20th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walney (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Earl and, by coincidence, to almost mirror his opening in saying that it is a privilege to listen to the weight of expertise and experience in your Lordships’ House on this profoundly important matter.

We have heard from three former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, the noble and gallant Lords, Lord Stirrup, Lord Houghton and Lord Boyce; a former Chief of the General Staff, the noble Lord, Lord Dannatt; a former First Sea Lord, my noble friend Lord West; and a former Secretary-General of NATO, my noble friend Lord Robertson. All of them have raised serious questions over the constitution of this Bill as it currently stands, and I hope that that alone will prompt Ministers to pause, reflect and reconsider before we enter Committee.

I will focus my brief remarks on consideration of the potential impact of these measures on Britain’s wider national security and place in the world. In other settings, a number of noble Lords who have contributed today have set out the view that the chief threat to the United Kingdom in decades hence will come from hostile powers seeking to loosen and subvert the rules-based order that binds the international community together; to sow disharmony and despair among those who built up the multilateral system after the Second World War; and to build a new world order governed not by the consent of member states but by naked authoritarian power and fear, in which honour and the global rule of law is swept aside as a naive irrelevance.

There is a clear need for legislation, as has been compellingly set out again today, and the Government should be commended for maintaining their commitment to bring forward a Bill and get something on to the statute book. Yet this is not a case of simply choosing between practical measures to protect our troops and an academic debate over the strategic drivers of geopolitics. Those in our Armed Forces who deserve increased protection are of course the same men and women who will be placed in harm’s way in any future conflict.

The laws governing such conflict are but one part of the rules-based framework over which there is an ongoing struggle, but they are not an insignificant part, so we should be aware of the potential for significant change, as several of these measures would currently constitute, and the way in which this could influence what may be a fragile balance of power between ourselves and our adversaries in the years ahead. We should proceed only if we can be confident that what we propose will not produce a damaging ripple effect, weakening vital global safeguards such as the Geneva conventions, which have been mentioned a number of times today, and indeed the threat of opening up the United Kingdom to the International Criminal Court.

Professor Michael Clarke, formerly of RUSI, who was mentioned by a recent speaker, put it well recently when he warned that, if we overstep the mark with this Bill, malign actors may gleefully seize on the precedent that we set, dragging our reputation down as part of a tactic to avoid international sanctions and condemnation for significantly worse and more damaging measures. The way that the United Kingdom projects itself matters greatly. We should not disavow or diminish the impact of our determination to uphold vital international norms on the battlefield and beyond.

So let us test the arguments thoroughly in Committee to ensure that the final Bill presented to Her Majesty is one in which we can all genuinely take pride.