My Lords, I was impressed by two points that arose in the debate in another place last week. First, the Statement itself said that

“if Putin prevails, he will not stop at Ukraine”.

Secondly, Rishi Sunak said that we must have

“credible and durable security guarantees

”.—[Official Report, Commons, 7/1/26; col. 390.]

I very much...

My Lords, I was impressed by two points that arose in the debate in another place last week. First, the Statement itself said that

“if Putin prevails, he will not stop at Ukraine”.

Secondly, Rishi Sunak said that we must have

“credible and durable security guarantees

”.—[Official Report, Commons, 7/1/26; col. 390.]

I very much...

My Lords, I want to talk about NATO. I had the honour of serving until recent years on the UK delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly over a period of rather over 30 years. Of course, for nearly all my adult life, we have seen NATO as a highly successful...

My Lords, I want to talk about NATO. I had the honour of serving until recent years on the UK delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly over a period of rather over 30 years. Of course, for nearly all my adult life, we have seen NATO as a highly successful...

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of gross domestic product each member of the NATO Alliance spends on defence.

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of gross domestic product each member of the NATO Alliance spends on defence.

To ask His Majesty's Government which military assets, such as airports, the government of Saudi Arabia has made available to other members of the NATO Alliance currently mounting operations against the Houthi.

To ask His Majesty's Government which military assets, such as airports, the government of Saudi Arabia has made available to other members of the NATO Alliance currently mounting operations against the Houthi.

To ask His Majesty's Government what reservations have been made by the International Board of Auditors for NATO in their most recent annual report with regard to the organisation's financial management.

To ask His Majesty's Government what reservations have been made by the International Board of Auditors for NATO in their most recent annual report with regard to the organisation's financial management.

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to send Challenger II tanks to assist the Government of Ukraine; how many shells will be provided that are suitable for a rifled barrel; and whether any other government has those shells available, given that Challenger II is the only battle...

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to send Challenger II tanks to assist the Government of Ukraine; how many shells will be provided that are suitable for a rifled barrel; and whether any other government has those shells available, given that Challenger II is the only battle...

My Lords, I begin by making a point which the noble Lord, Lord Taverne, made a little earlier: if, following the referendum, we had opted to stay within the single market but at the same time to leave the European Union, we could have avoided the current, totally predictable problems...

My Lords, I begin by making a point which the noble Lord, Lord Taverne, made a little earlier: if, following the referendum, we had opted to stay within the single market but at the same time to leave the European Union, we could have avoided the current, totally predictable problems...

My Lords, have the Government given any attention to the close parallels between the situation in Ukraine and the one in Georgia? Both states have adjoining boundaries with Russia and in both cases Russia has already attained illegal footholds, in Georgia through South Ossetia and Abkhazia. We have been supplying...

My Lords, have the Government given any attention to the close parallels between the situation in Ukraine and the one in Georgia? Both states have adjoining boundaries with Russia and in both cases Russia has already attained illegal footholds, in Georgia through South Ossetia and Abkhazia. We have been supplying...

My Lords, I cannot think of a greater shift in geopolitical world power in my lifetime than the rise of China over the last 50 years. I remember visiting China for the first time in 1973 with Lord Shaw of Northstead, who sadly died a few months ago. There we...

My Lords, I cannot think of a greater shift in geopolitical world power in my lifetime than the rise of China over the last 50 years. I remember visiting China for the first time in 1973 with Lord Shaw of Northstead, who sadly died a few months ago. There we...

My Lords, it is all very well for the Government to tell us that there will be opportunities for the British defence industry. Does the Minister agree that sometimes, contracts have been awarded strongly influenced by political or industrial pressures,

which sometimes leave our forces with unbalanced structures and indeed...

My Lords, it is all very well for the Government to tell us that there will be opportunities for the British defence industry. Does the Minister agree that sometimes, contracts have been awarded strongly influenced by political or industrial pressures,

which sometimes leave our forces with unbalanced structures and indeed...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of defence spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (1) currently spent by members of NATO, and (2) spent by each member of NATO at the time of the 2014 Wales NATO summit.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of defence spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (1) currently spent by members of NATO, and (2) spent by each member of NATO at the time of the 2014 Wales NATO summit.

My Lords, it is 55 years almost to the day since I was first elected to serve in this building. While making allowances for myself as a grumpy old man, I am bound to say to your Lordships that never in peacetime—and I remember the war very well—have I been...

My Lords, it is 55 years almost to the day since I was first elected to serve in this building. While making allowances for myself as a grumpy old man, I am bound to say to your Lordships that never in peacetime—and I remember the war very well—have I been...

My Lords, I begin by declaring an interest in that—except for a four-year break in the years after I came to your Lordships’ House from another place—I have served as a member of the United Kingdom delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly for 32 years, if noble Lords can believe...

My Lords, I begin by declaring an interest in that—except for a four-year break in the years after I came to your Lordships’ House from another place—I have served as a member of the United Kingdom delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly for 32 years, if noble Lords can believe...

My Lords, I strongly welcome this debate. It could not come at a more timely moment, and I am grateful to the Government for finding the time. I begin by declaring an interest, first, as a member of the International Relations Select Committee, over which my noble friend Lord Howell...

My Lords, I strongly welcome this debate. It could not come at a more timely moment, and I am grateful to the Government for finding the time. I begin by declaring an interest, first, as a member of the International Relations Select Committee, over which my noble friend Lord Howell...

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest public expectation of the percentage of GDP to be devoted to defence spending in 2024 for each member of the NATO Alliance, in pursuit of their unanimous commitment, made at the Wales Summit in 2014, to move towards two per cent.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest public expectation of the percentage of GDP to be devoted to defence spending in 2024 for each member of the NATO Alliance, in pursuit of their unanimous commitment, made at the Wales Summit in 2014, to move towards two per cent.

My Lords, I am sure this debate has been immensely enhanced by the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Levene, who has just sat down, whose huge experience is of massive value to all of us. I begin by reminding the House that for many years I have been a...

My Lords, I am sure this debate has been immensely enhanced by the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Levene, who has just sat down, whose huge experience is of massive value to all of us. I begin by reminding the House that for many years I have been a...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the most recent figures for the percentage of gross domestic product spent on defence for each NATO member state; and where figures are available, what those percentages are expected to be in two years' time.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the most recent figures for the percentage of gross domestic product spent on defence for each NATO member state; and where figures are available, what those percentages are expected to be in two years' time.

My Lords, I am sure we are all grateful to the noble Lord for having instigated this debate. I congratulate him on that and would like to follow on from some of the points that he has helpfully made. It is timely that we should have this debate so

soon...

My Lords, I am sure we are all grateful to the noble Lord for having instigated this debate. I congratulate him on that and would like to follow on from some of the points that he has helpfully made. It is timely that we should have this debate so

soon...

It might be helpful to have what the noble Lord suggests, but also let us point out that if defence spending is 2.21%, which the Library says it is—that same figure appeared in the Times only a few weeks back—it is worth roughly £4 billion, which is a massive amount...

It might be helpful to have what the noble Lord suggests, but also let us point out that if defence spending is 2.21%, which the Library says it is—that same figure appeared in the Times only a few weeks back—it is worth roughly £4 billion, which is a massive amount...

My Lords, realising the need for brevity, I must begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, for his admirable speech. I will make just one point. I endorse the initiative by NATO to move battalion-size battle groups into each of the three Baltic states and Poland. It is a...

My Lords, realising the need for brevity, I must begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, for his admirable speech. I will make just one point. I endorse the initiative by NATO to move battalion-size battle groups into each of the three Baltic states and Poland. It is a...