Lord Peach, a retired Air Chief Marshal, was the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Western Balkans and the military adviser to the Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council. He became a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords in November 2022.
On his visit he spoke at a Guernsey Finance round table event about defence, and spoke of his career experiences with about 30 local sixth form students.
The round table discussion brought together individuals from industry, investment, legal and fiduciary services, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, Guernsey International Business Association and Guernsey Finance.
The discussion built on the regulatory approval of defence-related investment structures in Guernsey, which was highlighted at the Guernsey Finance annual industry update event in January.
Economic Development vice-president Andrew Niles chaired the discussion and said it was an ‘excellent and timely’ conversation.
‘There is growing recognition that public funding alone will not meet the scale of the challenge, and that private capital will increasingly form part of the solution,’ he said.
‘We thank Lord Peach for his engagement and look forward to progressing discussions.’
The proposed Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, a multilateral financial institution backed by democratic nations, aimed at financing defence, security, and resilience projects for NATO members and allies, was among the points of interest raised.
In the past year the GFSC has authorised three defence funds which plan to contribute to rebuilding NATO capabilities through their investment in defence tech,’ he said.
‘In an uncertain world, Guernsey is pleased to welcome proposals for high quality and responsible defence investment platforms which help Europe and the NATO alliance enhance defences against emerging threats,’ said Deputy Niles.
General Sir Richard Barrons, a retired soldier who went on to become Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, was in the island earlier this year raising similar discussions.
He raised the importance of ‘resetting deterrence in order to avoid the horror and the costs and the consequences of deterrence failing’.
The alternative, he said, was having to fight in wars.
In his presentation and conversation with the students, Lord Peach highlighted the relevance and importance of international organisations such as the UN, NATO and the WHO, and said that international negotiations were most successful when based upon common values and principles.
Students asked researched questions on negotiation advice, the evolution of intelligence gathering and how international law is interpreted and applied by different state actors.
‘This has been an excellent opportunity to hear from someone so experienced in leadership and current affairs,’ said Elizabeth College student Ben Davidson.
‘I have learnt a lot about NATO and the relationship between geo-politics and geo-economics.’
The discussion was primarily focused on the ongoing war in Iran.
n Commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1974, Lord Peach qualified as a nuclear, weapons and electronic warfare instructor. His operational service includes Belize, Hong Kong and Germany in the 1980s, and then he served as Air Commender for deployments in Kosovo, before moving on to NATO Intelligence and then commanding all UK Force elements in support of NATO operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
He was knighted in 2009.
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