John Baron MP intervenes in Ukraine debate

MP: British Council should not have to be closing operations

During yesterday’s general debate on Ukraine, John Baron MP twice intervened on the Shadow Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon David Lammy MP.

In the Chamber, John said,

“…do those on the Labour Front Bench accept that, for too long, the west has basked in the peace dividend following our victory in the Cold War? Democracy needs nurturing and protecting, because sometimes it is a fragile concept. Does he therefore agree that, having taken that for granted in the past, we need to do more to build our hard and soft power to ensure that in the coming battle for democracy, it is those who believe in the concept who actually win through?”

The Shadow Foreign Secretary said John was completely right.

John then said,

“I completely agree with what he [Mr Lammy] has just said, but there is a balance to be sought between offering essentially defensive weaponry and offering offensive weaponry, which is why some Conservative Members were concerned about talk of a no-fly zone or, indeed, the donation of Polish MiG jets to Ukrainian forces. Does the Rt Hon Gentleman agree that, in this age when soft power is important – the old adage is ‘talk softly but carry a big stick’ – we should not consider any further cuts to our soft power capability, including the British Council?”

The Shadow Foreign Secretary said he entirely agreed with John.

Afterwards, John said,

“Whatever its eventual outcome, the Russian invasion of Ukraine shows that we need a complete reset in our attitudes to our security. For too long European countries have underspent on defence, which must be remedied, and we must appreciate that the soft power arena is just as tightly contested and that it is very valuable. Cutting the British Council’s resources, as the Government may be about to do, and requiring it to close down overseas operations is entirely the wrong thing to do.”