Sanctions

Alyn Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alyn Smith (Stirling) (SNP)]

I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of the statutory instrument and for our previous discussions and briefings. I exempt him from any personal criticism in what I am about to say, which is very much a criticism of Government policy.

It is worth my stressing our agreement throughout the House: nobody in this House has any fight with the people of Russia. We had a debate a number of weeks ago in which we all agreed on that point. I have always had a long and deep affection for Russia. Scotland and Russia share the same patron saint. I did my masters in Warsaw in central Europe and have always been fascinated by the wider region. My granddad served on the Arctic convoys when we fought with the people of Russia, and was bombed twice in that effort—that is not a reference to the vodka in Murmansk, where I suspect he was bombed more than twice, frankly. We have fought with the people of Russia against fascism. In the same way as Germany’s defeat was its liberation, the people of Russia have themselves been oppressed by their own Government. A successful disinformation and misinformation campaign has them dead afeared of war with us and of war arising from our aggression. In nothing that we do must we give the impression that we have any malevolent intent towards the people of Russia. I do not believe that any of us have done that today.

Equally and at the same time, we stand four-square in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. I was in Kyiv with my hon. Friends the Members for Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald) and for Angus (Dave Doogan) just a couple of weeks ago and we met a number of politicians, members of civil society, academics and commentators. The people there are united in their frustration, because this is not a new invasion for them. The situation has been ongoing for eight years. I am troubled to see commentators and the media, and even some people in this House, talk about an invasion as if it was a new thing. It is not a new thing: it is a clear, ongoing, flagrant breach of international law and an act of aggression for which there have been minimal consequences. I am concerned to hear these sanctions being described as new measures that will be ramped up. Where are the consequences for what has gone before? I am worried about moral hazards when we are dealing with this Administration. Mr Putin has proven to be considerably better at salami slicing than we are, so now is not the time for half measures.

The SNP will support these regulations—of course we will. We have called for action on sanctions many times since 2014 in respect of the occupation and annexation of Ukraine. We have called for action on dirty money. We have called for action on Companies House. We have called for action on money laundering and action on Scottish limited partnerships. We have called for action on an economic crime Bill and action on opaque property transactions. We have called for action on tax havens, which are under the substantial control of the UK Government, yet are allowed to do almost anything they like, contaminating our financial system. We have called for action on political donations and action on data transparency. We have called for action to protect our democracy. All those laws are held by this place, not by Scotland, so the Scottish Parliament, in its defence, cannot do much on this, but this House has been notable in its lack of action. We have called for action on misinformation. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South mentioned “Russia Today” earlier. I absolutely stand by his view—it has been my own long-standing view as well— that “Russia Today” is not a normal broadcaster and should not be operating on these islands.

We support this enabling legislation. If anything, I suspect that it needs to go further and will need to be brought back in the fullness of time. I hope that the Minister is taking good notes—I am sure he is—of the genuine concern around the House, from all points of the compass. I have previously criticised the UK Government’s policy on Chinese malfeasance and illegality as being homeopathic. I struggle to find a word for this one other than it is weak tea. It is not nothing, but it is not much, particularly when set against the actions of the German Government in announcing the icing—the cancellation perhaps, but the icing certainly—of the Nord Stream 2 project, a $10 billion project, which has huge implications for their energy security, and indeed ours, given the interconnectedness of the EU and the European energy markets. Set against that, this is really small beer, and I cannot understand it.

The UK seems to be casting about for somebody else’s leadership, because I really do not detect much in the actions and announcements that we have heard today. The UK seems to be being buffeted by events rather than forming any particular leadership.

I will close as I am conscious of time. I hope that I have not made too many party political points in this debate. It is important that we focus on the fact that we agree, and the SNP supports this measure, but there is a smell to this. There is a smell to the fact that the UK Government have allowed our financial and democratic systems to be as corrupted as they are. I was very struck by what the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee said in his speech. He said that it is not right that so many things are happening in relation to dirty money on these islands, and I include Scotland in that. There is a smell to this.

I am worried about the credibility of the UK Government in the eyes of the Kremlin. The Kremlin will act on weakness; it will seize on weakness. It will take advantage of weakness where it sees it, and of a lack of integrity, viability, sustainability and resilience. We have seen plenty of that from this Government thus far. Just a few weeks ago—this is almost too far-fetched for satire—as we were deeply concerned about the further incursion of Russian forces into Ukraine, the UK Prime Minister had a call booked with the President of the Russian Republic to discuss these matters and had to postpone it because he had to deal with a report about illegal parties in his office where he was ambushed by cake. What sort of impression is being given by this Government not just to our partners, but to our potential opponents?

The SNP will always support international law. International law is part of our DNA. We have a different world view and a different ambition for Scotland, but we can put that to one side on this, because this is too important. The Kremlin regime is a clear and present danger to international law not just in Ukraine, but everywhere else. What happens in Ukraine will be watched by every autocrat everywhere around the world. We need to act on this, and we need to act properly. The SNP will support further action on this. I hope that the UK Government will co-ordinate seriously with the international community, but we have not seen today anything like what we need to see, and I urge the Minister to redouble his efforts.