Ukraine: Forcible Removal of Children

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I cannot imagine that that would be the case. I know that the noble Lord has a personal close interest in this, and I understand completely why he is pushing me on it, but I am not going to get into what we would or would not do and what other people may or may not accept as an outcome. I am happy to say again that I think the return of these children is not something on which anybody wishes to compromise.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister, recognising how sensitive it is at the moment to ask questions, say something about where we are with a coalition of the willing? Given that periodically the USA indicates that it will not allow NATO to go in certain directions, there is a case for the coalition of the willing to be around and even to be able to deal with other issues that might come along. Given that we have so many younger people unemployed, could we conceivably try to make a link between the two?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am not sure that I understand the very last point that my noble friend made about young people being unemployed, but on the coalition of the willing, that has proved useful and will continue to be vital as we move this forward because the discussions that are taking place at the moment are between the USA and Ukraine, but it is vital, for this to be lasting, that there is a broad network of support around whatever is agreed and, as I say, that must be agreed primarily by the Ukrainian leadership and actually by the people of Ukraine.