Lords Debate on the King’s Speech on Defence and Foreign Affairs - 6.12.2026

 A unifying message given by my brother—Lord Singh of Wimbledon (a life peer in the UK House of Lords).

Lords Debate on the King’s Speech on Defence and Foreign Affairs

The folly of dividing the World up into Friends and Enemies

Lord Singh of Wimbledon

My Lords, I speak from a Sikh perspective on common concerns for peace and justice in our strife-torn world of today. The poet reminds us that rivers and mountains interpose to make one people implacable foes. It is not only geography that divides our one human family but human greed, prejudice and bigotry, including religious bigotry.

Seeing ourselves as superior and others as lesser beings has been a source of conflict throughout history. In 1937, in a speech justifying the proposed uprooting of Palestinians to create a Jewish state, Winston Churchill said:

“I do not admit … that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldl- wise race … has come in and taken their place”.

Rivalry between the “higher-grade” races resulted in the horror of the First and Second World Wars, atrocities against the Jews and the incineration of hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The suffering and devastation of war shocked world leaders into a new realism and a common desire to work for a more peaceful world. Victor nations agreed that the only way forward to lasting peace would be a recognition of the equal rights of all members of our one human family—imperatives for peace and justice first put forward by the Sikh Gurus more than two centuries earlier.

Jesus Christ wisely warned that the sword should not be used automatically to resolve difference, but today politicians and retired generals constantly call on the need for bigger and better weapons to defend ourselves against those we call our enemies. We show righteous indignation when those who are not our friends abuse human rights, but we show less concern when a friendly country fires on innocent children and aid workers in Gaza, and at the threats by an eccentric friend and ally to obliterate all life in Iran. Powerful nations exploit smaller nations’ conflicts by selling arms to impoverished people in places such as the Middle East, or by direct involvement in conflict in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. India buys oil from Russia to help fund Russian aggression against Ukraine. Unbelievably, Russia sells arms to Pakistan for use against India.

In a speech in this House a year or so ago, the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, a former Defence Minister, made clear what politicians mean by defence. He spoke about countries such as China and Russia threatening the existing world order. He was right: they too are also trying to acquire crude political and economic power. However, the briefest glimpse at world history shows that the existing world order is built on racism, slavery and gross economic exploitation. Conflict is inevitable in a world built on such insecure foundations.

What do we need to do to make it a fairer world? Religious teachings were meant to provide the answer, but today rivalry between different religions and absurd claims of exclusive and favoured relationships with the one God of us all has made the distortion of true religion a major cause of conflict and suffering. Guru Nanak was a witness to such bigotry in India some 500 years ago. The Guru, like Jesus Christ in the parable of the good Samaritan, openly challenged this irreligious view of religion. He taught that the one God of us all is not the least bit interested in our different religious labels, but in what we do to create a fairer and more peaceful world.

At the same time, Guru Nanak recognised and highlighted the ethical commonalities between our different faiths. Our holy book contains writings of not only the Sikh gurus but parallel ethical perspectives from Hindu and Muslim saints. I believe that this approach of looking to the good in others and building on common values and interests is the only way to lasting peace and justice.

Today, we are in a smaller, interdependent world. Our destinies are inextricably entwined, and we face common environmental and other challenges. We have to realise now that there is no “us” and “them”; there is only “us”. We all have a common responsibility to change old-fashioned mindsets about exclusive and superior religions, and the belief that force is the only way to conflict resolution.