‘War and conflict is not something that is not familiar to me. It is not an essay title, it is not a theoretical exercise. It's very real.’

Campaigner Baroness Helic is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner as she warns that society has become numb to sexual violence in war.

Arminka Helic, Baroness Helic, campaigns to raise global awareness of rape as a war crime. Here she shares her extraordinary journey from fleeing the Bosnian war as a refugee to becoming special adviser to the then Foreign Secretary William Hague (now Lord Hague of Richmond) via a researcher job in the House of Commons library. 

‘It’s a weapon that is part of ethnic cleansing and genocide… Survivors are stigmatised. Perpetrators are not. That’s what we have to flip. Some of the victims are as young as two months old. And the world does nothing. We have become globally desensitised.’

While working for Lord Hague, she persuaded him to join forces with Angelina Jolie to highlight the proliferation of warzone sexual violence. The Hollywood actor and then UNHCR Special Envoy and actor had written, produced and directed a harrowing 2011 film ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, which underscored the pervasive nature of sexual violence in war.

Following this, the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) was created, which has continued across multiple governments and is now supported by Labour minister and special envoy Lord Collins of Highbury.

‘I heard reports of some of my friends from school being detained in what became known as rape camps. We need to understand that war is not just about armies - it’s about lives torn apart. Peace agreements don’t end trauma.’

In this episode, Baroness Helic warns that rising global conflict, weakened international institutions, and public desensitisation have dulled reactions to atrocities that once would have mobilised urgent action. She also discusses Israel/Gaza, and raises concerns about Russian influence in the Balkans, describing the region as a potential ‘second front’ of destabilisation through proxy actors. 

See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/ 

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‘The demand for journalism is unprecedented in the whole of human history. But what's got much harder is to work out what the best media for it is, and where the money lies and where the future lies.’

Former editor of the Daily Telegraph, Lord Moore of Etchingham, is the latest guest on Lord Speaker’s Corner.

Charles Moore, now Lord Moore of Etchingham, also previously edited the Spectator and the Sunday Telegraph and is the authorised biographer of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

‘For the Conservative Party, Thatcher is the ‘big one’, as Churchill was and still is. It’s been very difficult for women leaders - of whom there have now been three in the Conservative Party. Should you be like Mrs Thatcher or not like Mrs Thatcher, as a woman leader?’

In this episode, Lord Moore talks to the Lord Speaker about Britain’s first female Prime Minister, his career and journalism today. He also reflects on changes in the style of government and former Prime Ministers David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/

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‘The US is just so obsessed about being big, it doesn't understand that by others becoming bigger, the US can become wealthier.’

Jim O’Neill, Lord O’Neill of Gatley, is an ex-Treasury Minister, former Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs and Crossbench member of the House of Lords.

In this latest episode of Lord Speaker’s Corner, Lord O’Neill shares his perspectives with Lord McFall of Alcluith on a range of topics, from China and the USA to AI, the risks of rising antimicrobial resistance and why Manchester should be prioritised as Britain’s second city.

At Goldman Sachs, Lord O’Neill coined the term BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) to describe the group of emerging economies. In this episode he shares his thoughts on how that has progressed, as well as President Donald Trump’s current tariffs approach by the US. He explains ‘the path which Trump seems to have embarked on, of aggressive confrontation, is not likely to be sustained because it is in America's interests for China to continue to do well economically.’

He also shares his thoughts on the current approach to AI, warning against letting tech sectors self-regulate: ‘this idea that just let the financial sector regulate itself and there'd be no problem…that didn't turn out too well, did it? And there's a lot of these AI guys wanting to do the same.’

Lord O’Neill also calls for greater devolution, with powers for regions to raise local taxes, suggesting ‘people here (in Westminster) need to have excitement about giving responsibility to local people in these places to make a national difference.’ He also calls for devolution on welfare-spending with health-linked budgets for local authorities: ‘There's a serious case for exploring devolving aspects of the welfare support budget as it links to critical health illness’

See more from the series https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/house-of-lords-podcast/

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