Death of Alexei Navalny

Debate between Baroness Brinton and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Monday 19th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord. He has great experience and insight: indeed, he has dealt with Mr Putin directly and knows the individual concerned. On his latter point on communications—my noble friend Lord Howell also mentioned technology enablement—that has been a key feature of what we have seen in Russia directly. The fact that at this moment the death of Alexei Navalny was marked in several Russian cities demonstrably shows that, despite the coercion and suppression, people are ready and willing to come out.

We pay tribute to a number of the leaders within the opposition who have also spoken out against these events. If anything, Mr Putin should look to the example of Yulia Navalnaya and her courage and bravery, as pointed out by the noble Lord, Lord Collins. On looking at the sanctions that we have currently deployed and the broader nature of what can be done, I assure noble Lords that we are very much seized of this. Hopefully, we will be returning to your Lordships’ House in the near future to outline additional measures that we are taking. On additional measures and sanctions—the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and I have talked about this extensively on every sanction—I say that these are most effective when we act with our partners. That is why, I assure noble Lords, we are working very closely with the EU, the US and Canada in this respect.

[Baroness Brinton (LD)]

My Lords, I spoke yesterday to members of our sister party Yabloko in Russia. They are very grateful for the reference to all the people who came out on the streets. It was not just a few cities. They say that it was in towns and cities across Russia. For us, that has to be an important sign that there are people who care passionately about the state of Russia. Their concern is that their voices are not being heard outside Russia at all. I always try to refer to the Kremlin rather than to Russia, because the Russian people are as appalled as we are by what has happened to Navalny. They want things to change but they do not have the power to do that.

I want to echo the points made by other noble Lords about Vladimir Kara-Murza. He was poisoned twice in 2015 and 2017. He was imprisoned in 2022. Last year, he was sentenced to a further 25 years for “treason”, the treason being membership of an opposition party and trying to use his voice. It would be helpful if the Minister could perhaps brief those who have spoken in today’s Statement debate if there is any news of contact. I know that in particular Evgenia, his wife, is very worried about what is happening. But there are many other dissidents also in prison. If the Minister could keep the House informed, that would be enormously helpful.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

Of course I give the assurance that we will keep noble Lords informed. The noble Baroness spoke about the sister party to the Liberal Democrats, Yabloko. Indeed, its leader was also giving a statement when he was taken off air. It shows the strength of the Russian people. I agree with the noble Baroness that we should talk about the Kremlin, Mr Putin and his supporters rather than the Russian people. The Russian people are being denied. As we have said repeatedly when it comes to Ukraine, our fight, our challenge, our disputes and our absolute shock over what has happened to Ukraine have been at the instigation of Mr Putin and the Kremlin, and are in no way a reflection of the Russian people.

As we have seen from the tragic death of Alexei Navalny and the continued detention of Vladimir Kara-Murza, those who speak out, who want to represent the people of Russia, are often silenced. You can do nothing but be inspired. I echo again the sentiments expressed earlier: here we are in a democracy such as the United Kingdom where we take these basic, fundamental freedoms sometimes quite lightly. But actually, we are speaking up for those Russian citizens. We are standing up for those brave souls, some of whom, like Alexei Navalny, have paid the ultimate price, with their life, to ensure that their legacy is not forgotten. The biggest tribute we can give is to continue to advocate as such.

FCDO Nutrition Policy

Debate between Baroness Brinton and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Monday 21st February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Brinton (LD) [V]]

My Lords, whilst the Government’s commitment to investing £1.5 billion in nutrition over the next eight years is a start, it is still less than one quarter of what the International Coalition for Advocacy on Nutrition has recommended. Will this reduced amount meet the UK’s commitment to achieve the WHO global nutrition targets by 2025, which include a 40% reduction in the number of children under five who are stunted, and a 50% reduction in anaemia in women of reproductive age?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, as I have already said, we remain fully committed to ensuring our key objectives on nutrition are met. We are working very closely with organisations, including the World Health Organization, to ensure that the pledges made recently at the Tokyo summit also go towards achieving the very objectives that the noble Baroness has laid out. Specifically, by having every programme of the FCDO in bilateral support that we provide to key countries also focus specifically on nutrition and fulfilling our reporting back on an annual basis to OECD, I think we will see much more focus spent on achieving the targets we are setting ourselves across the piece.

Nutrition for Growth Summit

Debate between Baroness Brinton and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Wednesday 13th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, obviously a decision was taken on the reduction of the overall ODA spend but, as I have already said, we are working constructively with key partners and are supportive of the summit that will take place in Japan in December. Once the spending review has been completed, I will be able to share with your Lordships the nature of the exact spend. There are various streams to this funding, including the match funding. Again, on reviewing this area, I have seen the net benefit of how UK funding helps support generate further funding, including from the private sector.

[Baroness Brinton (LD) [V]]

My Lords, The Power of Nutrition charitable foundation says:

“The Summit is a unique opportunity to accelerate financial commitments … With concerted, bold actions … from all sectors, we can make 2021 the year where progress on nutrition is not reversed but accelerated”.


Can the Minister say whether the Government, under their chairmanship of G7, will set an example and increase their aid budget for nutrition to £120 million, reversing cuts made by the Chancellor earlier this year?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I believe I have already answered part of that question but let me reassure the noble Baroness that we are leading on this issue, including in discussions with G7 partners.

Overseas Development Aid: Covid-19 Vaccination

Debate between Baroness Brinton and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Thursday 21st January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, on the noble Lord’s second question, he will appreciate that at the Gavi summit we saw a real commitment by the world community, led by the United Kingdom, not just to deal with the global pandemic but to ensure that the other challenges we face—particularly on vaccine distribution, including against polio and cholera—are not forgotten. These remain live challenges in many parts of the world. That underlines our commitment to ensuring that such challenges remain very much on the priority radar. Covid-19 vaccines and their distribution are our primary focus. I agree that we should be looking at the experience of all our partners. There are NGOs working throughout Africa that have real experience of dealing with the Ebola outbreak. We should learn from that. I have spoken to leading scientists in Pakistan who are still dealing with polio, both there and in Afghanistan. They were able to deploy quickly certain measures to deal with Covid-19 when it happened. This is a learning curve, and we must work together to ensure optimum outcomes not just for one country, but for us all.

[Baroness Brinton (LD) [V]]

The UK is rightly proud of the leadership of many Governments over many years in Gavi. It was alarming to hear on the “Today” programme yesterday that only 25 vaccine injections had been delivered into arms so far in developing countries. Can the Minister reassure the House that the UK’s extra orders for the Pfizer and AZ vaccines have not caused any delays in the urgent rollout of the Gavi orders?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I, too, heard that announcement. As Minister for South Asia, I know that there are large parts of India, for example, where the population is highly vulnerable and suffers extreme poverty. The Indian authorities are part of the rollout. I have also heard that the vaccine is now being delivered to Bangladesh. The Government are stressing to all our partners that support for the COVAX facility, particularly the AMC, is a key part of ensuring equitable distribution for all.