Sudan

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Thursday 27th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leeds for his service to the House, for securing this important debate and for his excellent valedictory speech. We had quite a lot of interaction and debate during the Brexit years, when he was the Church of England’s spokesman. It is fair to say that we did not often agree on this subject, but he always conducted himself with great courtesy and had his say robustly, which is as it should be. I used to dream I was hearing his words in my sleep, until I realised that it was just because my radio alarm had switched on early and I was listening to him on Radio 4’s “Thought for the Day” programme. I hope he will continue to contribute to that.

As many noble Lords have said, the situation in Sudan is absolutely appalling. As many people have reminded us, we have had a number of opportunities to discuss the issues relating to the conflict in recent weeks, in Oral Questions, a ministerial Statement and now this debate. That demonstrates the level of concern felt across your Lordships’ House about the situation.

Given the short time that I have—I know we all want to hear from the Minister—I will confine my remarks to a few brief points. Save the Children estimates that 450 unaccompanied children have arrived in Tawila, the nearest safe town to El Fasher. We have previously discussed getting aid into Sudan. What steps are being taken to get aid to the towns where those refugees are starting to gather, including Tawila, as urgently as possible?

Last week the Minister noted the dangers associated with air drops of aid, which I am sure we can all appreciate, but can she update the House on the further work that her department has done to ensure that progress is being made to get aid where it needs to be? I think the whole House would benefit from an update on the amount of aid that has been able to reach those in Sudan to date. We are all very aware of the practical difficulties around that.

On weapons and equipment in Sudan, the noble Baroness confirmed last week that the reports of British-made equipment being used in Sudan have been investigated, and the equipment in question is not munitions but items related to engines. Can she commit to keeping this situation under review? Should there be verified reports of British-made munitions being used in Sudan, will she come to the House to report on that further?

I think I speak for the whole House when I say that the people of Sudan are constantly in our thoughts. In particular, I sincerely hope that the UK Government will continue to play a full and complete role—as supportive as possible of those desperate people in need—to get aid to all who need it in the region.