Ukraine: Frozen Russian Assets
Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Lord Petitgas(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
We will hear from the noble Lord, Lord Petitgas, please.
Lord Petitgas (Con)
It is fine to talk about frozen assets and say that Russia should pay, but I want to switch gears a little bit. It looks like the Americans are focused on getting Ukraine partly to pay through this rare earth deal. I read that Zelensky was going to fly over on Friday to sign the deal. Do the Government think we should be involved in some way in a deal like this? President Macron pointed out to Trump that the European Union had put up more money than the US, and today the FT has an article with a very simple graph showing that the EU is a bigger contributor than the US—and actually, the UK looks pretty big too. When it comes to the question of sending troops, not having anything on the rare earth deal and then chasing the Russians, it feels like something is missing. What is the Government’s position on that?
Non-domicile Status
Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Lord Petitgas(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
There is plenty of time for both noble Lords to ask a question. We will have the noble Lord, Lord Petitgas, first, and then my noble friend.
Lord Petitgas (Con)
My Lords, do the Minister and the Government have any hard evidence, perhaps through a recalculation of the effects of the Bill on non-doms, that this news that was announced in Davos will have a tangible effect on the emigration of a lot of these non-doms? This does not look like a U-turn at all—for which the Government should be commended— but rather more like an L shape. The reason why I am asking this question is because the key criticism from the non-doms, and the reason why they are leaving, is that if someone lives here as a non-dom for four years they will have a 10-year tail on the inheritance on all their offshore assets. That is clearly something that is not acceptable to most of them. What I heard in Davos does not change that, and therefore I am not sure it really changes very much.