I might suggest that the noble and gallant Lord defines “near term”. Clearly, there is a great deal of work to do, but that should not put us off. If it is our position, which it is, that we want to see a two-state solution and that the Palestinian Authority is the only viable leadership for the sta…
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, for bringing the SDR to debate to this House, and I look forward to continuing to hear this House’s wide-ranging expertise. I also look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord McCabe.
George Bell, formerly the Bishop of Chiches…
That is a very good question, and it is very important. We are deeply concerned at the attempts of external actors to exploit instability, spread misinformation and destabilise the situation in Syria. It is something that we need to be mindful of. We need to take steps as and when we can, and we do.…
My Lords, it has been stated again and again that the person responsible for the loss of data thought that the spreadsheet contained a small number of names, whereas it actually contained a very large number of names. Surely this is irrelevant. It is the fact that it was used on a non-departmental s…
My Lords, I rise to support Amendment 106, to which I have attached my name. For decades now, I have seen at close hand the deficiencies in service families’ accommodation. They range from an inability to get things fixed to serious problems with damp and mould. They are always irritating, and too o…
I agree that getting it right too late would be an issue, but we need to work through all the consultation responses properly. In preparation for this, I asked officials how fast they could do it, and they pointed out that it would not necessarily be appropriate for them to use AI to go through over…
At that point, I should declare my status as an honorary captain in the Royal Navy, before I get myself in trouble. Obviously, I would always want to hear from the senior service and the First Sea Lord. I think it is really clear that there is no such restriction. This is about how we do the griddin…
I agree with what the noble and gallant Lord has just said. It is an important point to make, and I should have made it to the noble Lord from the Liberal Benches: of course our alliances matter and are important. We have a shared interest in the geopolitical threats that we face, and the noble and …
I fully understand the comments by the noble and gallant Lord. I was listening to the “Today” programme this morning, and I thought there was pretty unhelpful speculation about motives and intent. The simple fact is the reality in the world when we look. People mentioned Syria: there was an internal…
I have not noticed any reticence on behalf of the Russian leader in that regard. I repeat that we talk frequently and in great detail about how we work together with our friends and allies, including the United States, to bring about peace.
I agree very much with what the noble and gallant Lord says. The Government have made it very clear that we consider defence an ethical investment. We do not see a conflict between sustainable investment and investment in our world-leading defence sector.
I thank the noble and gallant Lord for his service and for holding the Government to account on this. The new contract is an important and significant change in the recruitment process: a single recruitment service operating on behalf of the services and the reserves that will make sure we are recru…
I can confirm that. The noble and gallant Lord knows better than most that Russia’s actions, particularly in Sudan, have been to ensure the war continues. It has been actively engaged in both sides. He is absolutely right; we know what Russia is doing, and we are ensuring that we focus on those inst…
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to add a voice from one of the smaller corners of our national story; and I do so among so many moving and powerful speeches today, including from my noble friend the Minister and the impressive maiden speech from the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of P…