Tag: NATO

Bishop of Southwark speaks on value of treaties placing limits on use of landmines and cluster munitions

On 3rd April 2025, the Bishop of Southwark spoke in a debate on the withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty on anti-personnel landmines and the Convention on Cluster Munitions by several NATO allies:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, for setting out this important matter so clearly and to other noble Lords for their very evident expertise in this area.

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Bishop of Exeter asks about warship maintenance and repairs

The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 5th September 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the announcement of the £55 million contract to regenerate HMS Quorn, a former Royal Navy mine-hunting vessel, what plans they have for further refurbishment of naval vessels to bolster NATO’s maritime capability.

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Bishop of Manchester asks a question on Finland and Sweden

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question during a debate on the war on NATO Accession for Sweden and Finland on 7th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, Manchester, and specifically my diocese, has a long and close relationship with the Tampere diocese in central Finland. My friends there leave me in no doubt about how much it meant to Finland to gain its independence from Russia a century ago. Tampere itself has even more recent experience of Russian aggression: it was on the receiving end of considerable bombing in 1939. In welcoming from these Benches the decisions of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, it is noteworthy that they both do so from previous positions of neutrality. Could I invite the Minister to tell us what wisdom, experience and skills, building on that historically neutral perspective, he believes Finland and Sweden will bring to strengthen our vital defensive alliance?

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Bishop of Leeds asks about potential conflict in Ukraine

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on the response potential conflict in Ukraine on 15ht April 2024, during a debate on the amassing of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds [V]: My Lords, given the relative ineffectiveness of the western response to the invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, what assurance might Ukraine assume, should conflict or further invasion ensue? Also, could the Minister comment on any prognosis for the future of the Minsk accords and the prospects for Normandy?

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