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Debate on the Address

My Lords, the Queen’s Speech mentioned working for peace in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan; taking forward the WTO Doha round and focusing on Africa, including Darfur; and working together with the UN, NATO, the EU and the US. However, to take the last aspect first, it is frankly appalling to see how much the UK alliance with the Bush Administration has undermined our ability to do any of these things. We were seen as honest brokers in the Middle East, but that is simply no longer the case. It is difficult to say how many years it will be before we can be seen as such again. After the invasion of Iraq, with its incompetence and lack of a proper plan for reconstruction, we now see the country far from a stable democracy but close to civil war. The millions poured in for reconstruction benefited few but favoured contractors. Now, having alienated Iraq’s neighbours, such as Syria and Iran, we seek to woo them, leaving little room for putting pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Involvement in Iraq has taken from what we could have done in Afghanistan. Reconstruction and development programmes are underfunded in all areas; for example, there is a huge deficit in the Law and Order Trust for Afghanistan, which pays police salaries. There has been a decline in safe access to education for girls in Afghanistan, and there is the humanitarian suffering caused by the fighting in the south, where there are now an additional 80,000 to 90,000 internally displaced persons. Given that displaced people’s camps have traditionally fostered fanaticism, that is especially worrying. Elsewhere, we saw the disproportionate actions taken this summer in Lebanon, where the UK’s position of a ceasefire, but not yet, was like that ofSt Augustine on celibacy. Now the US appears to be talking of arming one side against the other in Palestine, while not allowing pay to go through to teachers, doctors, and lawyers. Could we follow the US on that? Just as we have to talk to Iran and Syria about Iraq, surely we must bring Hamas into the peace negotiations; it was, after all, fairly elected. We should not seek to radicalise Palestinians further. Many Palestinian Authority public sector workers have gone unpaid for six months. Over half of Palestinians are now unable adequately to feed their families. There has been a dramatic worsening in the past year. Meanwhile, Israeli settlement expansion has continued. On 4 September, another 690 housing units were announced for the West Bank and east Jerusalem. We must get it across to the Israeli Government that their future security depends on a negotiated settlement that includes all sides. We have been playing into the hands of those who wish to condemn everything western. Like the noble Lord, Lord Ahmed, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, I have just returned from Pakistan, where those who wish to see the country move forward, to strengthen the position of women, extend education, and to see the country forge ahead at the rate of India and China, believe that the UK should shoulder some of the blame for the situation they feel they are in—a state from which terrorism emanates. I am sure that this will have been made very clear to the Prime Minister over the past weekend. Our Government, with others, neglected the Middle East and we count the cost now, both in that region and in our own country. What is happening there deflects us from problems elsewhere. We see neglect in Sudan, where the international community seems incapable of standing up to the Sudanese Government or of properly equipping and financing the AU mission. We see neglect in Uganda, the DRC and in the WTO talks, where the Doha round runs into the dust and bilateral agreements are made with the poorest countries around the world, to their great detriment. We see neglect to tackle AIDS, where the enormity of what we face has not been properly grasped. We should be aware of the huge social and economic impact this pandemic already has caused, and will surely cause. At Gleneagles it was agreed that all who needed it should be on treatment by 2010, but in many parts of Africa only about 5 per cent of those with AIDS are on treatment. How will that gap be closed? The emphasis used to be on prevention, but it is now recognised that treatment, too, must be part of the equation, , not least so that children are not orphaned. You only have to see the enormous increase in the number of street children and child soldiers in the DRC to see that. I note that only 3 to5 per cent of DfID expenditure on AIDS is on treatment, whereas 32 per cent is spent on prevention. I welcome the moves the Government made—under pressure and too cautiously—in the Companies Bill in the last Session. Will they now bring forward regulations for directors which make very clear that the alleged actions of, for example, a company such as AngloGold Ashanti, involving environmental and human rights abuses in Ghana, are unacceptable? Will the Government’s proposed Climate Change Bill be tough enough to make a real difference to the poorest countries, which will be hit the hardest? Britain used to pride itself on playing a role internationally way beyond its size. Its profile internationally is certainly very high, but hardly for the right reasons. I hope that the first steps will now be taken to put the UK, with our European allies, at the forefront of working to resolve conflict. What we do in development policy is undermined by our foreign policy mistakes. Might we see a sea change? We have to hope so.