Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 11) Regulations 2022

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Wednesday 12th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, the Minister knows that these measures are supported by the Liberal Democrat Benches. As when we have debated previous sanctions, I am grateful for the Minister maintaining contact and keeping us informed. He knows of our strong support for measures which aim to ratchet up the pressure on Vladimir Putin and, as is included in these elements, the wider circle of his support.

We would support moving beyond the regulations to include the United Russia party and wider elements of the Russian regime in this part of the sanctions regime. We support the Government in the extension on state entities but, as the Minister knows well enough, there has been considerable state capture of the Russian economy by the Putin regime over recent years. This means that we should include in our sanctions regime not just the political actors but, increasingly, those in the wider economy. Therefore, the banning of certain exports and the wider inclusion of some state entities is to be welcomed.

I also welcome the work of officials on the impact assessments. They are useful tools to look at what the impact could be on the wider Russian economy. This leads to my first question. We have debated many sanctions but are yet to receive what I have asked for previously: an overall assessment of the net impact of the UK sanctions on the Russian economy and regime. I understand entirely that that document will be sensitive, but we must understand what the impact has been; otherwise, we cannot judge what could well be a situation where, in the long run, we want to move away from the sanctions regime. However, that is premature, as we want to increase the pressure.

That leads to my second question, on implementation. I noted that we have seen the first prosecution in the UK of what is effectively sanctions-busting. Can the Minister indicate whether that is an isolated case or if he is aware of more areas where there are active prosecutions of UK citizens and residents who have been acting against the sanctions regime in the UK? We need to know that these sanctions are being actively policed and implemented. They are pointless unless they are implemented in full.

This leads on to my third question: no doubt the Minister will have noted, as I have when I have been travelling, that the number of Russian nationals who have been using other transport routes through the Gulf—and Istanbul in particular—to access the UK and the European Union seems to have markedly increased since the sanctions regime was put in place. Is the UK monitoring passenger levels of individuals who are coming to the UK? I know that there is live debate on visa access for Russian nationals, both to the UK and to the European Union, but I would like the Minister to reassure me that this is being actively monitored.

Turning to the particular measures, I hope the Minister will forgive me for reflecting on one of the elements in the Explanatory Notes on the No. 11 regulations, but it is connected with yesterday’s debate which he and I participated in. On Regulation 7, the Government say:

“Failure to join the international community would undermine the UK’s reputation as an upholder of international law, human rights, freedom of expression and democracy.”


The debate that we had yesterday is relevant to what we are arguing for here in relation to upholding international law, and I wanted to stress that point.

With regard to the No. 12 regulations, the Minister said that our regime is now going beyond that of the European Union. I wonder if he could say a little more, with regards to energy, on where we have departed from the European Union and have now got a stronger regime. I am not opposing this, of course, but it would be helpful to have a little more information.

With regard to the No. 13 regulations, it is helpful that there is now clarification on shipping; this was raised in previous debates, and I welcome it.

Finally, I have a broader point on which I would like the Minister’s reflections. As he will know, the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and I have asked how we are working with our allies to ensure that our sanctions regime is not circumvented by friends and colleagues around the world, especially with regard to Russia accessing the very technologies and goods that we are now banning. The Minister knows well enough that Russia is very active in the wider Gulf, in Africa and in India in sourcing some of the materials that we are now banning. I previously raised the issue of concern with regard to the Indian rupee/rouble swap for purchase of energy. When I raised that question, the Minister said it was premature, but that arrangement is now in place. We are apparently only a fortnight away from signing a free trade agreement with India. At the very same time that we are banning the selling of certain goods to Russia, India seems to be increasing the selling of those goods to Russia. Could the Minister say what work we are doing with our allies to ensure that, whilst we are seeking to limit the sourcing of some of these materials to Russia, our allies are not increasing them? If the Minister could respond to these points, I would be very grateful.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I too would like to start by reiterating the backing of the Opposition for the Government’s support for the people of Ukraine, and of course these sanctions are a vital element of that support. I am pleased to see such a wide range of issues being covered in today’s measures, which the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, has mentioned. We support these sanctions and measures, but it is only right that this House can scrutinise and understand whether the Government are properly resourcing them. It is one thing having the law; it is another thing to be able to ensure full compliance. I think a lot of my questions will echo those of the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, regarding that question.

In the other place, the Minister Jesse Norman stressed —and I accept this—that

“the first instinct in a war situation is to get sanctions on the books as quickly as possible.”

I noticed what the noble Lord said regarding the Joint Committee, and of course we even had amendments to our Standing Orders to ensure that we could get these in place as quickly as possible. I reassure the Minister that the Opposition will do whatever they can to ensure speedy implementation and adoption of these sanctions.

Jesse Norman also argued that the sanctions

“have been effective because the Treasury Committee has reminded us of that, and we have plenty of other evidence that it is the case.”

I would echo the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, that it would be good to have that assessment in a more political context so that we can properly understand it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I can certainly share some of these issues, on the wider and general impact, this evening. However, particularly as we are working in very close alignment with our partners, I shall be certain to provide updates and private briefings in that respect.

I again thank all noble Lords for their strong support. The noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, raised a question on the reach of SI 11. I confirm to him that we are co-ordinating the lists of goods covered by our export prohibitions with our G7 allies, and we are working very closely on those lists. To summarise, SI 11 covers an export ban on defence and security goods and technology, including products for internal repression; an export ban on maritime goods and technology; an export ban on additional energy-related goods and oil refining; an export ban on sterling or EU-denominated bank notes; an export ban on jet fuel and fuel additives; an import ban on revenue-generating goods, including metals, wood and chemicals, among others; and a ban on technical assistance, financial services and funds. So the SI is pretty comprehensive.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

On that specific point, Stephen Doughty asked at the other end about goods for internal repression and how we are introducing that ban now, when surely we should have adopted it much earlier, particularly with the invasion of Crimea. Have we been exporting equipment for internal repression before?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

As I said in my opening remarks, there are areas where SIs are already present and there may be a degree of overlap in the application, but what we are seeking to do with all these SIs is to ensure that our regulations are fully comprehensive. It is not that we were in the market to suddenly start exporting items which add to the suppression of domestic populations—I think we have known for a long time the challenges that the people of Russia face. As we evolve, go forward and progress our sanctions, it is important that we are as detailed as we can be. Previous sanctions may have covered aspects of those limitations, but we want to make sure that we are covering every element that we can.

Both noble Lords highlighted how those who are having sanctions imposed on them are looking at innovative pathways to overcome them. We have to be dynamic in responding to that. The noble Lord, Lord Purvis, raised the issue of other partners beyond our key G7 partners, and that is important. I fully accept that there will be issues; different countries have different perspectives, as we can see from looking at votes taking place within multilateral fora, including the one on the sham referenda. It is noticeable—I am being very up front here—that some countries are now not as forward-leaning as they were previously, and it is important that they get a consistent and consolidated sense from both your Lordships’ House and the other place of unity and purpose. Of course questions are there, but I cannot emphasise how important it is for them to see this unanimity. There are partners who are looking at this as the war continues with regard to their own domestic challenges as well. Therefore, the more aligned we can be with those partners who have sanctions regimes, the more effective we will be. However, I fully accept that there will be ways and means in which those having sanctions imposed on them will look to circumvent them.

The noble Lord, Lord Collins, asked about the McFaul group. The working group is an independent group of sanctions experts. Government officials have regular contact and close exchanges with the group, but if there are specific points perhaps the noble Lord will raise them with me and I will seek to answer them more specifically.

The noble Lord, Lord Purvis, talked about circumvention, which I have already addressed in part. These regulations seek to close the gaps. I come back to the whole issue of how we work with key partners. I will seek to provide more detail on the specific examples that the noble Lord raised.