Russian Shadow Fleet
Debate between Lord Bruce of Bennachie and Baroness Goldie(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, I begin by expressing my huge admiration for all those personnel involved in the seizure of the “Smyrtos” at the weekend, from the Royal Marine commandos and officers of the National Crime Agency to the sailors of HMS “Sutherland” and HMS “Ledbury” and the airmen aboard the Poseidon P-8 and the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters. They executed their duties with characteristic—indeed, exemplary—professionalism, and I thank all involved.
It is welcome that the Government have finally begun interdicting sanctions-busting Russian ships, and that is the right move to disrupt Putin’s war machine, to degrade Russia’s efforts to undermine Britain’s security, and to help our allies in Ukraine. It is the duty of all political parties to stand by the Government in their efforts to help Ukraine defeat Putin’s vicious invasion. But many unanswered questions remain. The Government announced back in March that they would start boarding and seizing vessels of the Russian shadow fleet, and yet the first instance of such action occurring was this past weekend, so why the delay? The new Secretary of State for Defence failed to answer this question from my honourable friend James Cartlidge in the other place, so I hope the Minister will do better.
Why did it take so long to start boarding these sanctioned law-breaking vessels? Surely it does not take three months to plan for one operation. According to the BBC, there have been at least 94 instances since March of shadow fleet vessels crossing into British territorial waters without being interdicted, and that is in addition to almost 200 that have entered our exclusive economic zone. That is 94 vessels carrying sanctioned Russian oil that have been allowed to pass unimpeded through our waters, with the cash flowing directly back to Putin. That is not acceptable.
Shortly after the Government announced that British forces would be boarding these vessels, we heard reports that the Attorney-General, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hermer, was bizarrely concerned about breaching international law. The Government were very coy about responding to that allegation and refused to respond to my honourable friend David Reed when he asked that question on 13 April. Can the Minister confirm whether concerns about international law were holding the Government back and causing this delay, and if so, how has this situation changed? Can the Minister tell the House whether this is a one-off, or will the Government start hitting every ship of the Russian shadow fleet that enters British waters?
There have been further reports that after the operation at the weekend, six shadow fleet vessels that were heading for the channel have now turned round. There seems to be a likelihood that they may head up through the North Sea and around Scotland. This, of course, elongates their journey, but if they are permitted to continue, they will still reach their destination, offload their illegal oil and send that money back to Russia. So will the Government intercept vessels making that journey north?
Finally, this all leads back to resource. The Minister and I have had many exchanges on this topic recently, so he is fully aware of my position, but I have to repeat it. If we are to continue seizing Russian vessels; if we are to play a leading role in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, as the Prime Minister announced today at the G7; if we are to maintain a military presence abroad, particularly in our overseas territories; and if we are to continue to deter our adversaries, our Armed Forces must have the funding they truly require. The funding they truly require far exceeds that which the Government have committed to date. We know that the Chief of the Defence Staff has asked for £28 billion as a minimum. Why will the Government not commit to that level of funding for the defence investment plan?
Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)
My Lords, the boarding of the “Smyrtos” was conducted speedily, efficiently and without any casualties. It is a real credit to our Armed Forces. We all agree that it was a very impressive effort, and we should be grateful to them, but it is the first that has happened, as the noble Baroness has pointed out. My understanding is that the “Smyrtos” was operating under a Cameroonian flag, but Cameroon abruptly purged 36 shadow fleet vessels from its shipping registry last week. Can I ask where the other 35 are, and indeed who is pursuing them, and who is going to take any action to block them, deter them or prevent them from completing their journey towards Russia? What are we doing, either by ourselves or in co-ordination with others, to ensure that collectively we stop this shadow fleet? If you are talking about that number of ships, there is a huge amount of oil that is still being got through to Russia and that Russia is using to finance the Ukraine war.
On the oil that has been seized—which I think is 100,000 tonnes—what will happen to that? I assume that it will be sold on the market, but will those funds go to Ukraine to compensate it for the war? I hope the Government will consider that. Does this not also raise the case to lift the waiver on Russian fossil fuels now, rather than at the end of the year? Is it not quite ironic that we are launching military escapades to capture shadow ships while at the same time allowing oil to go to Russia legally? That is a huge contradiction, and a total lack of common sense. So I ask the Government: what are we doing to try to eliminate this shadow fleet—not by ourselves, but collectively with our allies? What are we doing to end the Russians’ waiver and apply the sanctions? Can we ensure that any oil seized is used for the benefit of the Ukraine war effort?
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Debate between Lord Bruce of Bennachie and Baroness Goldie
Baroness Goldie
I thank my noble friend. That is a very interesting suggestion and perhaps an echo of a point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Collins. There is always a facility for greater use of other intermediaries or interlocutors. It may be that the communities of faith can come together on a cross-faith basis and be a medium for further communication. I see the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle sitting in her place. It may be that the Church, through the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury, has some role to play in this.
I was struck by something that the honourable Member for Rhondda, Chris Bryant, said yesterday in the other place—that Islam is,
“a religion of phenomenal humanity, generosity and magnanimity”. —[Official Report, Commons, 17/7/19; col. 853.]
It is possible that there is scope for some cross-faith, multifaith approach. I am sure that if the communities of faith were to consider that and see whether there was something they could do, that would be a very welcome development.
Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)
My Lords, I met Richard Ratcliffe when he was working in the House of Commons, and I am absolutely sure that his wife is innocent and that his family do not deserve to be suffering what they have suffered. I ask the Minister to correct her response to the noble Lord, Lord Hannay: she has actually been in prison for three years and, as I understand it, would be entitled for release under Iranian law. Can the Minister say that, yes, we should appeal to the magnanimity and good sense of the Iranians, but also that they should understand that the detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe for any minute longer compromises any positive diplomatic relations?
Baroness Goldie
I thank the noble Lord; I may have misinformed the Chamber. I think she has about two years left to serve of her prison sentence. The noble Lord is quite correct and I apologise for that mistake. The noble Lord, Lord Hannay, raised a very interesting point, one that I shall certainly pursue. On the question of diplomatic relations in general, we do not have consular access. We have an embassy in Tehran, as the noble Lord is aware. The difficulty is that Iran takes the view that, because Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has dual nationality, we are not entitled to access. None the less, we strenuously continue our efforts to seek access and reassurance that she is being humanely treated. The noble Lord raises an important point about diplomacy. Diplomatic relations exist to facilitate contact between states for the mutual benefit of their citizens.