Belarus: Elections

Debate between Baroness Chapman of Darlington and Lord Ricketts

Monday 10th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We have been proactive in this area and have introduced a raft of sanctions that tackle the problems that the noble Earl described. The exact criteria are legal and technical; I will not attempt to get into the details today, but they are all laid out, should the noble Earl wish to examine them more carefully. I would be very happy to brief him properly on this, because sanctions are an important tool when we are combating what has been going on in Belarus.

[Lord Ricketts (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the most effective contributions we can make to keeping the flame of democracy alive for the democratic movement in Belarus is to fight for and achieve a settlement that keeps Ukraine free and independent and gives the people of Belarus a sense that there is life beyond being a vassal state of Russia?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Whenever we have spoken about Ukraine in this Chamber, one of the key messages has been that, if we do not fight for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, that will not be the end of Russian aggression and destabilisation in this area. The noble Lord makes the case very well as to why it is important that we stand firm, and shoulder to shoulder, and continue to support the people of Ukraine.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Debate between Baroness Chapman of Darlington and Lord Ricketts

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am very happy to confirm that on behalf of my honourable friend the Minister for Europe and I welcome the invitation to meet the delegation. We have 18 Members of this Parliament and 18 substitute Members. We have a very good delegation, as he says, representing both Houses and all parties.

[Lord Ricketts (CB)]

My Lords, while we are on the subject of UK delegations to European assemblies, does the Minister share my disappointment that we still do not have a UK delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly? The European Parliament delegation is up and raring to go. Is it not a bit odd that it seems keener on a parliamentary reset than the Westminster Parliament?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, for his question. I do not know precisely why the nominations for this delegation have not yet been resolved. I believe that we on this side have resolved the issues; I do not know whether the noble Lord on the Front Bench opposite can shed some light. I understand that a change of Government, new roles and a change of leader will inevitably cause some delay, but I hope we can get this resolved very soon.