NATO and European Political Community Meetings - Statement

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 7:04 pm on 23 July 2024.

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Photo of Baroness Smith of Basildon Baroness Smith of Basildon Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal 7:04, 23 July 2024

I do not have full details of all the programmes yet; we will try to update the House as we go on. However, work will be around the issues that drive those people to leave their countries. There will be some work on climate change, which we have spoken about, but also on issues such as trying to ensure that people have a future in their own country—for example, on provision of skills and education. Just look at how bad girls’ education in particular is around the world—I pay tribute to the work Gordon Brown has done on this. Those are the kinds of issues that force people to try to seek a better life somewhere else. There has to be hope in their own countries for them as well. The kinds of projects that we will be working with are around access to clean water and to a decent standard of living. We will update the House as more information becomes available.