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Clause 1, discussed with amendments, new clauses 1 to 3, and clauses 2 and 3 stand part. Clause 1 agreed to. Amendment to clause 2 negatived on division (161 votes to 272). Clauses 2 and 3 agreed to. New clause 2 negatived on division (156 votes to 273). New clause 3 negatived on division (77 votes to 280). Bill reported, without amendment. Third reading agreed to on question and the Bill passed.
Clause 1, discussed with amendments, new clauses 1 to 3, and clauses 2 and 3 stand part. Clause 1 agreed to. Amendment to clause 2 negatived on division (161 votes to 272). Clauses 2 and 3 agreed to. New clause 2 negatived on division (156 votes to 273). New clause...
Last year, the Russian Government introduced a new law that requires all businesses, including foreign businesses that have any footprint in the Russian Federation, to assist in the war in Ukraine. That means that any British businesses that are still doing business in Russia are complicit in the war crimes that Russia is perpetrating against the Ukrainian people. Will the Minister make it absolutely clear that all British businesses should completely and utterly desist from business in Russia immediately?
Last year, the Russian Government introduced a new law that requires all businesses, including foreign businesses that have any footprint in the Russian Federation, to assist in the war in Ukraine. That means that any British businesses that are still doing business in Russia are complicit in the war crimes that Russia is perpetrating against the Ukrainian people. Will the Minister make it absolutely clear that all British businesses should completely and utterly desist from business in Russia immediately?
One of the extraordinary things we saw only last year when the war broke out was the positive attitude of British businesses and their willingness to take financial pain immediately. They pulled themselves away, not only where we imposed sanctions and prohibitions but beyond that, from Russian markets and activity. We continue to work with businesses, but I take the hon. Gentleman’s point and we will continue enforcement using the tools that we have. We work closely with our business sector, as does the Department for Business and Trade on trading questions, to ensure that that is understood. However, I have always found British businesses to be incredibly positive in stepping beyond what is asked of them in support of Ukraine.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for Iran’s state hostage-taking.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for Iran’s state hostage-taking.
The UK will never accept our nationals being used as political leverage. Working with our international partners, including the USA and European Union, we continue to press Iran to end this abhorrent practice. In December 2022, the UK sanctioned ten officials connected to Iran's judicial and prison systems. This includes six individuals linked to the Revolutionary Courts which have been responsible for egregious sentences on British nationals. In January, we sanctioned Iran's Prosecutor General and deputy Prosecutor General, two of the most powerful figures in Iran's judiciary and responsible for the trial process and sentencing. The UK sanctions over 300 Iranian individuals and entities, including in relation to human rights violations, counter-proliferation, regional activity and terrorism. This includes 60 new human rights designations since October 2022. We do not speculate on future designations as doing so could reduce their impact.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the US Administration and (b) EU counterparts on the imposition of sanctions on (i) Ali Ghanaatkar, (ii) Ali Rezvani and (iii) Amened Sadat Zahbipour for their role in Iran’s state hostage-taking;...
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the US Administration and (b) EU counterparts on the imposition of sanctions on (i) Ali Ghanaatkar, (ii) Ali Rezvani and (iii) Amened Sadat Zahbipour for their role in Iran’s state hostage-taking;...
The UK will never accept our nationals being used as political leverage. Working with our international partners, including the USA and European Union, we continue to press Iran to end this abhorrent practice. In December 2022, the UK sanctioned ten officials connected to Iran's judicial and prison systems. This includes six individuals linked to the Revolutionary Courts which have been responsible for egregious sentences on British nationals. In January, we sanctioned Iran's Prosecutor General and deputy Prosecutor General, two of the most powerful figures in Iran's judiciary and responsible for the trial process and sentencing. The UK sanctions over 300 Iranian individuals and entities, including in relation to human rights violations, counter-proliferation, regional activity and terrorism. This includes 60 new human rights designations since October 2022. We do not speculate on future designations as doing so could reduce their impact.
One of the people sanctioned in the UK is Roman Abramovich. His football club, Chelsea, was sold on 30 May, but the billions of pounds are sitting in his bank account because the Foreign Office still has not set up the fund to enable the money to be given to the people of Ukraine. Why is the Foreign Office taking so long, and when is it going to be sorted?
One of the people sanctioned in the UK is Roman Abramovich. His football club, Chelsea, was sold on 30 May, but the billions of pounds are sitting in his bank account because the Foreign Office still has not set up the fund to enable the money to be given to the people of Ukraine. Why is the Foreign Office taking so long, and when is it going to be sorted?
Although I cannot comment on specific cases, I point out that measures have been taken against 1,100 individuals, including 123 oligarchs and their family members with a global net worth of £130 billion, more than 120 entities and all the subsidiaries owned by them; and against 19 Russian banks with global assets of about £940 billion—more than 80% of the Russian banking sector. In addition, acting in conjunction with partners, over 60% of Russia’s central bank’s foreign reserves have been frozen. That demonstrates our commitment to do everything we can, applying our criteria set by this Parliament, to bring these people to account.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what Russian banks (a) have and (b) have not yet been sanctioned by the UK.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what Russian banks (a) have and (b) have not yet been sanctioned by the UK.
In close coordination with our allies, we are introducing the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced, including asset freezes on 16 major banks, a prohibition on clearing for Sberbank, and the removal of selected banks from SWIFT. The banks currently sanctioned represent the majority of the Russian banking sector. The UK Sanctions List, published by the FCDO on GOV.UK, is the comprehensive list of persons or ships designated. Additionally, there are entities listed in Schedule 2 of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which are covered by sectoral financial measures.
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow the seizure of assets of sanctioned Russian individuals.
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow the seizure of assets of sanctioned Russian individuals.
The Government is taking action against the billions of pounds worth UK property accumulated by the Russian state-linked individuals and companies. We have already frozen the assets of those individuals on the sanctions list. The new legislation in the Economic Crime Act will mean the Government can move more quickly to impose sanctions against oligarchs already designated by our allies, as well as intensifying our sanctions enforcement. These measures form part of a wider package of legislative proposals to tackle illicit finance which will be introduced in Parliament in the coming months. We will set out details in due course.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will introduce economic sanctions on Russian shipping.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will introduce economic sanctions on Russian shipping.
UK Government ministers have signed legislation banning all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged from entering British ports since 1 March 2022. These measures also include powers to detain Russian vessels already in port and to direct them out of British ports, as well as ensuring that anyone sanctioned by the UK can no longer register a vessel - and will have any existing registrations terminated - in the UK.
Does not Mariupol alone demand that we go even further on sanctions in relation to Russia? Could we not sanction all the Russian banks, rather than just 60% of them? Should we not be taking action against the oil and gas companies? Should we not be removing tier 1 visas from people in the UK who have them and have not yet condemned the war in Ukraine? Should we not be putting more pressure on companies—such as Infosys in India—that have big investments in Russia? Should we not make sure that all the family members and apparatchiks are also sanctioned?
Does not Mariupol alone demand that we go even further on sanctions in relation to Russia? Could we not sanction all the Russian banks, rather than just 60% of them? Should we not be taking action against the oil and gas companies? Should we not be removing tier 1 visas from people in the UK who have them and have not yet condemned the war in Ukraine? Should we not be putting more pressure on companies—such as Infosys in India—that have big investments in Russia? Should we not make sure that all the family members and apparatchiks are also sanctioned?
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that we should continually challenge ourselves. The most important thing, though, is that we are focused on and targeted at those either with direct links into the Kremlin or who fund or indirectly fund, to put the squeeze on Putin’s war machine.
We really must start seizing assets and not just freezing them. That is the only way in which we can make sure that the money goes towards the reconstruction of Ukraine. Would it not also be a good idea for us not just to look at the really famous people like Abramovich, but to look at the people who own £750,000 properties in the UK and who may be the cousins, brothers, sisters, parents or some other proxy of Russian oligarchs in the UK? Must we not also do far more to tackle the personal finance of President Putin, much of which, I am told, is in the UK?
We really must start seizing assets and not just freezing them. That is the only way in which we can make sure that the money goes towards the reconstruction of Ukraine. Would it not also be a good idea for us not just to look at the really famous people like Abramovich, but to look at the people who own £750,000 properties in the UK and who may be the cousins, brothers, sisters, parents or some other proxy of Russian oligarchs in the UK? Must we not also do far more to tackle the personal finance of President Putin, much of which, I am told, is in the UK?
As ever, the hon. Gentleman has made a powerful point about a very important matter. Work with our allies is ongoing to establish how we can deepen our response in a co-ordinated way in order to make a real impact on illicit finance.
Q8
.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab):
Putin is the only enemy, but I do feel ashamed. The United Kingdom signed the Budapest accord in 1994, guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Twenty-three men who once sat on these Benches gave their lives for plucky little Belgium, and they have shields on the wall down at that end of the Chamber. Twenty-two did the same for Poland, and they have shields down at this end. We are not guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine. I do not want war—no one wants war—but we are not yet even sanctioning Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Defence Minister, nor Igor Osipov, the commander of the Black sea fleet, nor Usmanov, Sechin, Peskov, Abramovich, Roldugin or the Members of the Russian Duma who voted for this war. Why do we not use parliamentary privilege to get this out there, so that the lawyers cannot attack the sanctions that we must surely bring rapidly today?
Q8
.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab):
Putin is the only enemy, but I do feel ashamed. The United Kingdom signed the Budapest accord in 1994, guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Twenty-three men who once sat on these Benches gave their lives for plucky little Belgium, and they have shields on the wall down at that end of the Chamber. Twenty-two did the same for Poland, and they have shields down at this end. We are not guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine. I do not want war—no one wants war—but we are not yet even sanctioning Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Defence Minister, nor Igor Osipov, the commander of the Black sea fleet, nor Usmanov, Sechin, Peskov, Abramovich, Roldugin or the Members of the Russian Duma who voted for this war. Why do we not use parliamentary privilege to get this out there, so that the lawyers cannot attack the sanctions that we must surely bring rapidly today?
I hear the hon. Gentleman, and I know that the whole House will understand his feelings and his frustration that no country in the west is going directly to the support of the Ukrainians with direct military assistance. That is a reality we simply have to accept, because the consequences of a direct confrontation between the UK and Russia, and indeed between other western countries and Russia, would not be easy to control. To repeat the point I made earlier, I think that would play directly into Putin’s narrative. He says that this is about him versus the west and him versus NATO. We say that it is about him versus the Ukrainian people, and that is the difference.
As for what the hon. Gentleman says about shame, I am proud of what the UK has been able to do so far. I am proud that not only have we given a lead on sanctions, where we insisted on the toughest measures, including for SWIFT, which had a dramatic effect, but we took the lead of all European countries in offering military assistance to Ukraine, and we will continue to do so. If I understand him correctly, he would like to go further, but I can tell the House that we will continue to go further, and not only with military assistance but by tightening the vice on the Putin regime.
Motion that this House has considered the matter of Magnitsky sanctions and human rights abuses. Agreed to on question. Sitting adjourned without Question put.
Motion that this House has considered the matter of Magnitsky sanctions and human rights abuses. Agreed to on question. Sitting adjourned without Question put.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to introduce (a) additional sanctions and (b) other measures in relation to (i) the Russian Wagner Group and (ii) other groups operating in Libya in violation of international law.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to introduce (a) additional sanctions and (b) other measures in relation to (i) the Russian Wagner Group and (ii) other groups operating in Libya in violation of international law.
The UK is deeply concerned about reports of Russian Wagner Group personnel and other external actors operating in Libya. We take seriously violations of International Humanitarian Law and breaches of sanctions, including the UN arms embargo. We continue to stress to all states the necessity of complying with and enforcing international law. The UK carefully considers all reports of sanctions breaches, including the reports of the UN Panel of Experts, and regularly reviews sanctions measures.
British Governments have repeatedly, and quite rightly, gone to European Council meetings and come back having persuaded their colleagues in other countries in favour of strong sanctions against Russia and the Putin regime. How will we be able to do that in the future when we are no longer sitting at the table or in the room?
British Governments have repeatedly, and quite rightly, gone to European Council meetings and come back having persuaded their colleagues in other countries in favour of strong sanctions against Russia and the Putin regime. How will we be able to do that in the future when we are no longer sitting at the table or in the room?
As the Prime Minister made clear in her speech in Munich, our commitment to collaboration and partnership with our European partners on security and defence is unwavering. We have made it clear that we want to develop a new framework with the EU that ensures we can continue to work together to combat the common threats that we face. Our position in NATO obviously remains unchanged, and that underpins our worldwide influence in security and defence.