My Lords, will the Minister confirm that, for nearly 30 years after the signature and entry into force of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—to which we all subscribe and

which considers the Strait of Hormuz to be an international waterway—it was possible to sustain that in...

My Lords, will the Minister confirm that, for nearly 30 years after the signature and entry into force of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—to which we all subscribe and

which considers the Strait of Hormuz to be an international waterway—it was possible to sustain that in...

My Lords, the report from your Lordships’ International Agreements Committee, on which I have the honour to serve, might seem something of a no-brainer in recommending support for the Government’s intention to join the Council of Europe’s Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine. Indeed, it is, and our...

My Lords, the report from your Lordships’ International Agreements Committee, on which I have the honour to serve, might seem something of a no-brainer in recommending support for the Government’s intention to join the Council of Europe’s Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine. Indeed, it is, and our...

Before the noble Lord sits down, I want to raise one point to which he referred: the large number of people who were compensated by the Iraq-Kuwait compensation commission set up by the UN Security Council. There were many hundreds of thousands of them, because workers from Sri Lanka, India,...

Before the noble Lord sits down, I want to raise one point to which he referred: the large number of people who were compensated by the Iraq-Kuwait compensation commission set up by the UN Security Council. There were many hundreds of thousands of them, because workers from Sri Lanka, India,...

Can the Minister tell us what, if any, explanation the Government have had of the killing of a general officer of the Lebanese armed forces, another officer and a soldier by the Israel Defense Forces? Presumably, that does not come in the category of strengthening the Lebanese armed forces.

Can the Minister tell us what, if any, explanation the Government have had of the killing of a general officer of the Lebanese armed forces, another officer and a soldier by the Israel Defense Forces? Presumably, that does not come in the category of strengthening the Lebanese armed forces.

My Lords, will the Minister comment on the attack yesterday on the Chernobyl civil nuclear power facilities by Russian drones? Is it the Government’s intention, with other like-minded countries—such as France, Germany and, I hope, even the United States—to raise this matter to the governing board of the International Atomic...

My Lords, will the Minister comment on the attack yesterday on the Chernobyl civil nuclear power facilities by Russian drones? Is it the Government’s intention, with other like-minded countries—such as France, Germany and, I hope, even the United States—to raise this matter to the governing board of the International Atomic...

My Lords, the debate we are having today is an essential one, and my noble friend Lord Alton is to be congratulated on bringing us back to it, as he does regularly and with good reason. It is also a rather paradoxical debate. While the appalling crimes being committed around...

My Lords, the debate we are having today is an essential one, and my noble friend Lord Alton is to be congratulated on bringing us back to it, as he does regularly and with good reason. It is also a rather paradoxical debate. While the appalling crimes being committed around...

To say that we live in a volatile and disrupted world is to state a truism. Truisms can get tedious, especially if too often repeated, but one ignores them at one’s peril. For no country is that truer than for Britain, a middle power in the Canadian Prime Minister’s perceptive...

To say that we live in a volatile and disrupted world is to state a truism. Truisms can get tedious, especially if too often repeated, but one ignores them at one’s peril. For no country is that truer than for Britain, a middle power in the Canadian Prime Minister’s perceptive...

My Lords, will the Minister tell us whether the Treasury has made any estimates of how much oil, in value, Iran needs to export before it drops below a way of maintaining any form of international economic viability? Has the Treasury estimated how Iran will cover its shortfall in foodstuffs...

My Lords, will the Minister tell us whether the Treasury has made any estimates of how much oil, in value, Iran needs to export before it drops below a way of maintaining any form of international economic viability? Has the Treasury estimated how Iran will cover its shortfall in foodstuffs...

My Lords, can the Minister say whether, in the discussion that the Prime Minister had at the weekend with the President of the United States, he drew attention to the talks that President Zelensky had with us in Westminster last week and emphasised the need to keep the pressure on Russia? Given President Trump’s capacity to change his mind, might it not be worth having another go at that?

My Lords, can the Minister say whether, in the discussion that the Prime Minister had at the weekend with the President of the United States, he drew attention to the talks that President Zelensky had with us in Westminster last week and emphasised the need to keep the pressure on Russia? Given President Trump’s capacity to change his mind, might it not be worth having another go at that?

My Lords—

My Lords—

My Lords, the Minister did not mention a joint statement last week by a number of middle-ranking powers, including the UK, calling for an end to the hostilities in the south of Lebanon and Beirut. That was very welcome. But what is that group of countries doing collectively, in addition to what they may be doing bilaterally, to enable the President of Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces to apply correctly the old ceasefire, which has now broken down?

My Lords, the Minister did not mention a joint statement last week by a number of middle-ranking powers, including the UK, calling for an end to the hostilities in the south of Lebanon and Beirut. That was very welcome. But what is that group of countries doing collectively, in addition to what they may be doing bilaterally, to enable the President of Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces to apply correctly the old ceasefire, which has now broken down?

My Lords, will the Minister agree that, for there to be any stability in the Gulf region and in the Middle East, there will have to be some kind of negotiated outcome on Iran’s nuclear activities, its missiles and its support for proxies? If that is so, what are the...

My Lords, will the Minister agree that, for there to be any stability in the Gulf region and in the Middle East, there will have to be some kind of negotiated outcome on Iran’s nuclear activities, its missiles and its support for proxies? If that is so, what are the...

My Lords, will the Minister tell the House whether the Government have had any indication from any Russian source that Russia would accept either British and French peacekeeping troops or troops deployed to uphold an agreement in Ukraine, or a ceasefire, which has been proposed on a number of occasions...

My Lords, will the Minister tell the House whether the Government have had any indication from any Russian source that Russia would accept either British and French peacekeeping troops or troops deployed to uphold an agreement in Ukraine, or a ceasefire, which has been proposed on a number of occasions...

My Lords, will the Minister accept my thanks for the emphasis she put on the United Nations? Does she recognise that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a fundamental breach of the United Nations charter agreed in 1945, and that the use of the Russian veto and some other vetoes on the Security Council to prevent it doing anything useful to bring an end to this war is, in political terms at any rate, an abuse of its position?

My Lords, will the Minister accept my thanks for the emphasis she put on the United Nations? Does she recognise that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a fundamental breach of the United Nations charter agreed in 1945, and that the use of the Russian veto and some other vetoes on the Security Council to prevent it doing anything useful to bring an end to this war is, in political terms at any rate, an abuse of its position?

My Lords, if we were holding this debate in normal times, I suspect that it would be something of a lap of honour for its three authors, led so ably by that veteran of defence reviews, the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, who introduced this debate in such a masterly manner....

My Lords, if we were holding this debate in normal times, I suspect that it would be something of a lap of honour for its three authors, led so ably by that veteran of defence reviews, the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, who introduced this debate in such a masterly manner....

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that the history of many centuries shows that Syria is crucial to the stability of not only its own country but the whole region, and that when there is instability in Syria, there is very often instability more widely? It surely behoves anyone within...

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that the history of many centuries shows that Syria is crucial to the stability of not only its own country but the whole region, and that when there is instability in Syria, there is very often instability more widely? It surely behoves anyone within...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Government’s Statement, which struck exactly the right note. I have two questions I would like to put to him. The first relates to the provisions of the United Nations charter on the use of force. Does he agree that the only possible...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Government’s Statement, which struck exactly the right note. I have two questions I would like to put to him. The first relates to the provisions of the United Nations charter on the use of force. Does he agree that the only possible...

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that the June conference that the French seem to be planning to convene, along with the Saudis, offers an opportunity to move forward on the two-state solution? Does he agree that our position would be much more credible if it were that, should the...

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that the June conference that the French seem to be planning to convene, along with the Saudis, offers an opportunity to move forward on the two-state solution? Does he agree that our position would be much more credible if it were that, should the...

My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the objective of President Putin in these matters is to bar Ukraine from ever being a member of NATO—in eternity—because were it to be encapsulated in an agreement under international law, Russia would have a veto on it? If that is the case,...

My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the objective of President Putin in these matters is to bar Ukraine from ever being a member of NATO—in eternity—because were it to be encapsulated in an agreement under international law, Russia would have a veto on it? If that is the case,...

My Lords, can the Minister tell the House whether the United States Secretary of State raised either the G7 becoming the G8, by the addition of Russia, or the G6, by the subtraction of Canada? If her answer to that question is “No” or “I don’t know”, can we stop...

My Lords, can the Minister tell the House whether the United States Secretary of State raised either the G7 becoming the G8, by the addition of Russia, or the G6, by the subtraction of Canada? If her answer to that question is “No” or “I don’t know”, can we stop...