Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has a strategic framework for the application of sanctions against hostile states relating to the (a) types of sanctions deployable and (b) escalation plan for those sanctions.

The Government uses our sanctions regimes as part of an integrated approach to promote our values and interests, and to combat state threats, terrorism, cyber-attacks, and the use and proliferation of chemical weapons. We have already put in place the largest package of sanctions in our history in response to Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. The UK's sanctions have been strategically coordinated with international allies to impose a severe cost on Putin and his regime. We have agreed that the vast majority of Russian banks will be removed from SWIFT. Our collective action against Russia's Central Bank will prevent them from deploying their international reserves to mitigate the impact of our sanctions. As the Foreign Secretary announced to the House on 28 February, the Government laid two new pieces of sanctions legislation, including powers to prevent Russian banks from clearing payments in sterling and legislation that will ban exports to Russia across a range of critical sectors. More legislation will follow in the coming weeks to sanction Russian-occupied territories in the Donbas, extend more sanctions to Belarus, and limit Russian deposits in UK banks.

The government has also brought forward the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The new legislation will help the National Crime Agency prevent foreign owners from laundering their money in UK property.

We will continue to ratchet up the pressure on Putin and his war of choice.