The Rt Hon. Sir Keir Starmer
The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street London
SW1A 2AA
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned, have come together to urge you to set out the Government’s strategy and commitment to resourcing civilian efforts to prevent and address violent conflict.
Violent conflict is now a global crisis, impacting more countries than at any point since the Second World War. From Ukraine to Gaza, Sudan to Myanmar, conflicts are fuelling mass atrocities and forcing families to undertake dangerous journeys to seek safety elsewhere. At a global level, they are disrupting economies and diverting the world’s attention away from human rights, climate change and gender equality.
To durably strengthen national security, therefore, the Government must invest not just in defence, but also in development and diplomacy. This includes vital initiatives that prevent, resolve and address the root causes of conflicts as well as those which help societies recover, such as Humanitarian Mine Action and stabilisation programmes. Yet we are gravely concerned that these initiatives may disappear amidst cuts to the aid budget.
This would be a false economy, as conflicts left to escalate and spread will lead to further insecurity, forced displacement and humanitarian crises to which the armed forces and aid agencies must respond.
It would also mark the UK’s effective withdrawal from agendas it once championed – from conflict prevention, where it helped bring about peace agreements in the Philippines, Colombia and Ethiopia, to the Women, Peace and Security agenda, which it helped establish. Doing so would be a loss to the UK’s international standing, and leave peacebuilders, women's rights activists and many vulnerable communities without vital support.
We urge you to make sure the Government and its partners have the resources to turn the tide on the spread of violent conflict. This will require a clear commitment and whole-of Government approach to address violent conflict within the upcoming National Security Strategy. Despite resource constraints, this approach will need to be adequately funded by a ringfenced budget, equivalent to 4 per cent of the remaining Official Development Assistance for civilian conflict prevention and peacebuilding work.
Without this, the UK might risk facing the global conflict crisis with one hand tied behind its back. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these issues further.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Ballinger MP, Chair, Conflict Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding APPG
Rt Hon. Lord Jack McConnell, Co-chair, Conflict Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding APPG, Former UK Special Representative on Peacebuilding
Tan Dhesi MP, Chair, Defence Commons Select Committee
Sarah Champion MP, Chair, International Development Commons Select Committee
Rt Hon. Baroness Janet Royall, Former Leader of the House of Lords
Baroness Helene Hayman GBE PC, Former Lord Speaker
Baroness Fiona Hodgson, Co-Chair, Women, Peace and Security APPG
Rt Hon. Sir Andrew Mitchell KCMG MP, Former Secretary of International Development
Rt Hon. Lord Des Browne, Former Secretary of State for Defence
Rt Hon. Lord Neil Kinnock, Former Leader of the Labour Party
Rt Hon. Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG KC, Former Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence
Rt Hon. Rory Stewart OBE, Former Secretary of State for International Development Rt Hon
Lord Peter Hain, Former Secretary of State for Wales and for Northern Ireland Rt Hon.
Lord Carwyn Jones, Former First Minister of Wales
Rt Hon. Baroness Hilary Armstrong, Former Chief Whip
Lord Jeremy Purvis, Liberal Democrat Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs spokesperson, House of Lords
Rt Hon. Menzies Campbell, Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats
General (Rtd) Lord Richard Dannatt, Former Chief of the General Staff
Air Chief Marshal (Rtd) Sir Michael Wigston KCB CBE, Former Chief of the Air Staff
Baroness Manningham-Buller LG DCB, Former Director General of MI5
Lord Jonathan Evans KCB DL, Former Director General of the British Security Service
Lord Mark Sedwill GCMG, Former United Kingdom National Security Adviser
Lt General (Rtd) Sir Andrew Graham CB CBE, Former Deputy Commander Coalition Forces in Iraq
Lt Colonel (Rtd) Tobias Ellwood VR, Former Minister for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel
Colonel (Rtd) Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE, former commanding officer of the UK’s Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment
Major General (Rtd) Tim Cross
Helen Maguire MP, Vice Chair, Conflict Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding APPG
Alex Sobel MP, Chair, Ukraine APPG
Blair McDougall MP
Alex Baker MP
David Smith MP
Dr. Beccy Cooper MP
Emily Darlington MP, Chair, Aid Match APPG
Paul Foster MP, Co-chair, Armed Forces APPG
Joe Powell MP
Jon Pearce MP
Kirsteen Sullivan MP
Patricia Ferguson MP, Chair, Scottish Affairs Select Committee
Polly Billington MP
Richard Foord MP
Tim Roca MP
Uma Kumaran MP
Right Reverend Dame Sarah Mullaly DBE, Bishop of London
Right Reverend Hugh Nelson, Bishop to the Armed Forces
Right Reverend Paul Williams, Bishop of Sewell and Nottingham
Canon Professor David Porter, Centre for Peace and Security, University of Coventry
Senior Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg MP
Imam Qari Asim MBE, Chair, Mosques and Imams Advisory Board
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Co-Chair, Christian Muslim Forum
Professor Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies, University of Bradford
Professor Stuart Gordon, Professor in Managing Humanitarianism, LSE
Professor Christine Cheng, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in War Studies, King’s College London
Professor Mats Berdal, Professor of Security and Development, King’s College London
Professor Jonathan Fisher, Professor of Global Security, University of Birmingham
Dr Hugo Slim, University of Oxford, former Head of Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy at the International Committee of the Red Cross
Professor Sir Hew Strachan, Wardlaw Professor of International Relations, University of St Andrews
Lord Raymond Hylton
Baroness Carmen Smith
His Grace The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry KT KBE CVO Lord David Anderson KBE KC
Lord Stewart Wood, Chair, Economic Affairs Lords Select Committee
Right Reverend Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich
Kolbassia Haoussou MBE, Freedom from Torture
Richard Reeve, Rethinking Security
