Andrey Lugvoy and Dmitri Kovtun Freezing Order 2020

Peter Grant Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2020 General Committees

[Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)]

I am grateful to be able to make a few comments. I will certainly support the measure, which is appropriate and proportionate, and is likely to be effective. It is always important, when imposing sanctions on anybody, to consider whether they will be effective both in preventing individuals from continuing to operate and in serving as a deterrent to others. The order meets those tests and I will support it—I do not imagine the Committee will divide.

I will make a few comments about the Government’s approach to protecting not only our democratic process but, in some cases, the lives and property of UK citizens, from what is clearly a very real and present threat from some acting on behalf of the Russian state, because there are inconsistencies in the Government’s action.

We do not have an Intelligence and Security Committee just now, and that troubles me. The hon. Member for Bootle said how polarised discussions have been in respect of some serious incidents. In the wake of the Salisbury attack, some people immediately decided that it was all a stitch-up with the British security services, but I was as convinced as I could be that that was not the case. I had a good friend and trusted colleague who was privy to information I could not see; I trusted his judgment when he said to me, “I can’t tell you why, but—believe me—the evidence I have seen convinces me that these people were attacked by agents acting on behalf of the Russian regime.” I was happy to support the Government on that basis.

What if the order was a new proposal just now and there had been suggestions that, in some way, the information coming through in intelligence reports was flawed? We do not have any public accountability mechanism for our security and intelligence services because the committee has not been reconstituted since the elections. I hope the Government will take steps to get that done as quickly as possible. Apart from anything else, we can then stop the withholding of the report into Russian interference in our democratic processes. We do not know why it was withheld before the election—we know the official reason, but we also know that that reason carries no credibility at all.

We support the Government in taking action against these individuals and, indirectly, against their sponsors—there is not much doubt, and the public inquiry was convinced, that they were acting not on their own but under direction from agents of the Russian state. However, if that same Russian state is being allowed to infiltrate our democratic process or even if the report says there is no evidence to suggest that is happening, we surely have a right to see that sooner rather than later.

While the Government have correctly taken action against these individuals, we should remember that the first person to be the subject of an unexplained wealth order in the United Kingdom was in the country only because their application to live here was fast-tracked for no better reason than she had lots of money to invest in the UK. No one checked where that money had come from at the time.

We must ask ourselves: are we so keen to get money from anywhere invested in the UK economy? Are we protecting ourselves, and are the Government protecting us, enough against people whose money may have come from very dark sources indeed? When people, whose only justification for having their application fast-tracked was that they had a lot of money, can donate part of that lot of money into the UK political party system, we can understand why some who are not part of the political establishment begin to wonder whether we are really protecting ourselves in full from not only the physical threat that these two individuals clearly posed to UK residents but the real threat of the undermining of our democratic processes.

In supporting the Government’s draft order, I ask the Government to confirm that the Intelligence and Security Committee will be reconstituted as quickly as possible, that the report into Russian interference in our democracy will be released as quickly as possible and that they will take steps to close any loopholes that allow people, through the avenue of political donations, to undermine the safeguards we should have to ensure that anyone who donates money to influence our political processes has come by that money lawfully and through proper means.

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[John Glen]

I am grateful to Members from across the Committee for their support for the new order. I will come to address the points made, but we should focus on the key point here. Absent any progress in bringing Lugovoy and Kovtun to justice, denying them access to the UK financial system, in combination with the European arrest warrants and the Interpol red notices that remain in place against them, continues to send a clear signal about how fundamentally we disapprove of the actions that they took, which led to Mr Litvinenko’s death.

The hon. Member for Bootle, perfectly reasonably and appropriately, made some points about the review of the codes of practice and ensuring that they are up to date with various pieces of legislation. He spoke about the need to bring and ensure continuing clarity and lack of ambiguity, and for the Government to be open and transparent in this area. Those codes are the responsibility of the Home Office, but I am sure they will have noted the points that he made.

The hon. Member for Glenrothes spoke about wider issues involving the Intelligence and Security Committee and its report into Russia. That Committee will be constituted in the very near future; it is not for the Government to tell the Committee when to publish its reports, but it would be good to get these matters into the public domain.

[Peter Grant]

I accept that the Government cannot tell the Committee when to publish the report, but they did tell the Committee when not to publish the report. Does the Minister understand that that causes considerable concern to a lot of people—and not only on the Opposition side of the House?

[John Glen]

I think the Government have made their position clear. It will be for the new Committee, once constituted, to determine the timings.

My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton made some points about the mechanics of how the asset freezing process works and the definition of those assets. It would probably be appropriate for me to write to her on that matter, because that is a technical process that I am not privy to this afternoon, and it would be difficult for me to give her satisfaction.