Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2022 to Question 139243 on Russia: Sanctions, whether shipping carrying Russian-originated cargo, but (a) owned, (b) operated, (c) controlled, (d) chartered, (e) registered or (f) flagged by or to countries other than Russia, including NATO countries, are banned from entering British ports; what representations she plans to make to EU and NATO countries to institute similar bans on all vessels carrying Russian-originated cargo; and if she will take steps, in conjunction with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury to ensure that Russia is excluded from all aspects of the London Commercial Insurance market.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government has banned all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged from entering British ports. We continue to consider further trade measures to support our policy of ratcheting up economic pressure on Russia. Nothing is off the table until Russia reverses its illegal invasion of Ukraine, stops undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and abides by international law.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish a consolidated list of all Russian banks and comparable institutions which (a) are and (b) are not being sanctioned, together with an explanation of the decision not to impose sanctions on all the organisations listed and an estimate of the extent to which those which remain unsanctioned undermine the effectiveness of the sanctions against the Russian banking sector.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
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. The UK is working with our international partners to ensure any action is coordinated and has the maximum impact on parties involved in the unlawful invasion of Ukraine. We will continue to work with allies to identify targets as appropriate.
We have made powerful designations including banking designations which will be the most significant financial sanctions in history. We have introduced asset freezes on major banks, a prohibition on clearing for Sberbank, and the removal of selected banks from SWIFT. We have cut off Russian banks with global assets of £348 billion as well as the central bank in Moscow. We are focusing on measures that have the greatest impact rather than the numbers.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the sanctions announced on 9 March 2022 jointly by her Department and the Department of Transport will apply to all aviation companies identified as Russian owned, together with their subsidiaries, whether or not those companies are based within Russia; whether a consolidated list of such companies and their subsidiaries has been (a) compiled and (b) circulated to relevant departments with responsibility for applying such sanctions; whether all merchant vessels (i) owned by and (ii) leased to Russians, or (iii) flagged to other countries but carrying Russian cargo will be banned from UK ports or seized if already under UK jurisdiction; and whether Russia has been excluded from the London insurance market such that existing cover for Russian items has been cancelled as of 14 March 2022.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
All Russian aircraft have been banned from British airspace and Russian shipping has been blocked from entering UK ports. It is a criminal offence for Russian aircraft to operate in UK airspace, including the export of aviation and space-related goods and technology to Russia and the provision of insurance to the Russian aviation and space industries. UK Government ministers have signed legislation banning all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged from entering British ports since 15:00 on 1 March 2022.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to take steps with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to increase the resources available to the BBC Monitoring Service in respect of (a) Russia, (b) Ukraine and (c) other European countries connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
As set out in the BBC Monitoring Agreement, the BBC is responsible for the funding, staffing and administration of BBC Monitoring. The Government, as a Key Customer of the service, is liaising closely with BBC Monitoring on prioritisation and surge resourcing requirements.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what advice her Department has given to representatives of (a) Linacre College and (b) Oxford University on the (i) proposed acceptance of £155 million from a billionaire (A) based in Vietnam and (B) close to the Vietnamese Communist Government and (ii) planned renaming of Linacre College after the chairwoman of the company offering the donation; and what consideration was given, in formulating that advice, to the adverse findings by Human Rights Watch regarding restrictions on freedom of speech, opinion, association, religion and the press.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Universities are autonomous and will have their own fundraising and gift acceptance policies in place. University due diligence processes should consider reputational, ethical and security risks when deciding whether to accept any donation.
FCDO Officials have given background information to Linacre College and the University of Oxford, at the request of these institutions, in line with the advice we offer UK organisations and businesses looking to work with Vietnamese entities.