Russian Shadow Fleet
Lord Vaux of Harrowden Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
The legal basis is that the ship was falsely flagged. As such, it loses some of the protections that it would have were it to be properly and legally flagged according to the rules that operate in the maritime environment. Also, the Attorney-General made clear that it was legal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. From both points of view—the United Nations law of the sea, under which the Attorney-General was satisfied, and the fact that the ship was falsely flagged—it loses some of the protections that it would otherwise have. That means it is not piracy. The ship does not avail itself of the protections it would have were it properly flagged.
Lord Vaux of Harrowden (CB)
My Lords, what assessment have the Government made of the role of Greece with the Russian shadow fleet? Many of these ships appear to have been previously Greek-owned, and we have the ship-to-ship transfers of oil that are taking place in the Aegean Sea. What discussions have we had with our European partners in that respect?
Lord Coaker (Lab)
We talk to all our European partners, including Greece, about how we ensure that the sanctions with respect to Russia are as effective as possible. We highlight all the time the importance of ensuring that the efforts of Ukraine to repel the illegal invasion are successful. That obviously requires the support that we give militarily but, as I have said in answer to many of the questions that noble Lords have posed, the ability to undermine the strength of the economy of Russia should not be underestimated. The shadow fleet is playing a role in trying to support the economy of Russia; the more we can do to undermine that, the better.
Armed Forces: Recruitment and Retention
Lord Vaux of Harrowden Excerpts(1 year ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
The Government have increased pay by 35% for new recruits. That increase in pay is one of the ways in which we could encourage direct entry. We should not underestimate the power of the sense of duty among our young people and their desire to serve. As evidence of that, on Armed Forces Day and VE Day, in which the noble Lord and many other noble Lords and noble Baronesses across this Chamber will have been involved, it was remarkable to see the number of young people involved in those events across the regions and nations of the UK. That shows us that putting these careers and opportunities in front of young people is really important. Alongside that, we should never underestimate, however much sometimes we decry our young people, their sense of patriotism and duty.
Lord Vaux of Harrowden (CB)
My Lords, under the Capita system, probably the single biggest difficulty of the recruitment process was actually getting medical records out of the health service. What is happening to improve that?
Lord Coaker (Lab)
We have scrapped a number of the medical record requirements to get rid of some of the silly things—for example, around dental records. Alongside that, we are making sure that, in the recruitment process, there is electronic access to GP’s records. That means that instead of days or weeks or months of trying to get those records, they can be accessed within a few minutes.
Strategic Defence Review
Lord Vaux of Harrowden Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
Some of the timelines will clearly need to be clarified. On the general point, all the things that my noble friend has mentioned are critical to move from the forces that we have to the integrated force that is essential—not the joint force but the integrated force. We need to make that happen as soon as we can.
Lord Vaux of Harrowden (CB)
My Lords, the Minister mentioned the recruitment gap earlier. I had the privilege last week of spending the week with the Royal Gurkha Rifles, and I must say how impressed I was. We take only 250 Gurkha recruits every year, out of 12,500 keen applicants. I suggest that there is a potential opportunity there, and one that the Government might take.