International Relations and Defence Committee

LordsSelectest. 25 May 2016Email ↗● Actively Monitored
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Sessions analysed33
Commitments9
Positions157
Recommendations72

Latest Signals

05 Mar 2025US hostility to multilateralism could weaken shared institutionsformer British Ambassador to the United States (until February) and incoming UK Special Envoy to the Western BalkansConcern
“[Speaker: Dame Karen Pierce] I served at the UN, as you know, as well as in Washington. We do not always have the same interests in the multilateral organisations, but more often than not we do, even with the Trump Administration, and we work through that. I am afraid it will not be just the Ukraine resolution in the General Assembly. I suspect differences will start to show on some of the more social policy-related resolutions that will come, such as with the Commission on the Status of Women, and we will have to work through those as we did before.”
05 Mar 2025NATO, Article 5 and the Mutual Defence Agreement were centralformer British Ambassador to the United States (until February) and incoming UK Special Envoy to the Western BalkansLegislative
05 Mar 2025UK support for Ukraine and Europe remains firmformer British Ambassador to the United States (retired)Position
05 Mar 2025Intelligence sharing may be strained by trust and top-level appointmentsformer British Ambassador to the United States (retired)Concern
05 Mar 2025The UK-US relationship is unique but increasingly challengedformer British Ambassador to the United States (until February) and incoming UK Special Envoy to the Western BalkansPosition
05 Mar 2025Defence dependence on the US is seen as the key vulnerabilityformer British Ambassador to the United States (retired)Concern
05 Mar 2025The UK will not be forced to choose between the EU and the USformer British Ambassador to the United States (until February) and incoming UK Special Envoy to the Western BalkansPosition
05 Mar 2025Witnesses warn Trump-era politics may weaken trust and shared valuesformer British Ambassador to the United States (retired)Concern

Recent Sessions

View all (33)
22 Jul 2026Multilateralism: UK coalitions, reform and strategy
8 pos3 concern2 rec1 disag
15 Jul 2026UK multilateral strategy, reform and priorities
4 pos2 concern8 rec
08 Jul 2026Multilateralism, NATO and US power: Bolton evidence
7 pos1 concern2 rec
01 Jul 2026Multilateral reform and UK influence in the South
7 pos2 concern3 rec
24 Jun 2026China and the multilateral system
3 pos4 concern3 rec1 disag
17 Jun 2026SDR implementation: MOD procurement and innovation
4 pos2 concern1 rec1 disag

Recent Commitments

View all (9)

Recent Recommendations

View all (72)

Frequent Witnesses

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office4× · 45 insights
Chatham House3× · 9 insights
King’s College London3× · 7 insights
Atlantic Council2× · 16 insights
RAND Europe2× · 15 insights
University of Oxford2× · 13 insights

About this committee

The International Relations and Defence Committee of the House of Lords scrutinises UK defence and foreign policy, with particular focus on international agreements and strategic partnerships. Operating as a select committee, it regularly takes oral evidence from government officials, policy experts, and international witnesses to examine current challenges. The committee investigates defence capability, intelligence relationships, and the conduct of UK external relations across multiple regions and domains. Recent inquiries have examined US-UK defence ties in the context of Iranian nuclear policy and sanctions, explored implications of US policy towards Venezuela for UK interests, and analysed space cooperation frameworks between the two nations. The committee has also heard from Hudson Institute and German Marshall Fund analysts on the intersection of US national security strategy with British defence priorities, and conducted a dedicated panel inquiry into UK-US intelligence relationship governance. Most recent sessions in mid-2026 continued this examination through further oral evidence gathering on evolving transatlantic security concerns.