Ukraine

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Ludford

Thursday 24th February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord. He has huge expertise in this area and speaks with great authority. He is absolutely right. Russia’s assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign, democratic state. As we have discussed in this House in recent weeks, the Russian Government have repeatedly denied their hostile intent towards Ukraine. At the same time, they have amassed troops, launched cyberattacks and staged false pretences and provocations. As the Statement made clear, unfortunately, the Russian Government seem to have shown that they were never serious about engaging in diplomacy. I thank the noble Lord for his comments. I entirely agree with him.

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, when we eventually get the economic crime Bill, it and other similar legislation will be welcome, but critics would say that the challenge is enforcement. Do the Government plan to boost the resources of bodies such as the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office, HMRC and the Financial Conduct Authority to allow them to crack down on the abuses we see in London and the UK?

There is a very good article in the Telegraph today which reminds us that it is not just cash that is being invested in Londongrad:

“Russian reputations have also been polished, courtesy of London-based PR and libel law firms to whom the oligarchs pay generous fees”


to protect both their image and the Kremlin’s. Specifically, will the Government tackle the abuse of libel laws to stop this crushing of free speech and criticism?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness. Before I answer her points, I should say that I was a bit out of touch. It looks as if the football tournament has already been moved. I was not aware of that. This is good news. I hope that my noble friend is pleased.

As the Statement mentioned, we are setting up a new, dedicated combating kleptocracy cell within the National Crime Agency. We have ensured that it is staffed with both the resources and the people it needs to do its important work. We have done a lot in this area. For instance, the Criminal Finances Act 2017 has allowed us massively to step up our recovery of criminal assets. We seized £1.3 billion between April 2015 and 2021. We have also conducted around 7,900 investigations. There have been 2,000 prosecutions and 1,400 convictions annually for stand-alone money laundering or where it was the principal offence. Our record shows that we are committed to putting money into this area. We have also committed £400 million to tackling economic crime during the next three years through our new anti-money laundering levy.

Ukraine Update

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Ludford

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

We have been working with partners through NATO, the UN, the OSCE and the G7—we are anticipating a further G7 call later this week—and obviously we have been having bilateral meetings with countries around the world. Ministers have talked to our allies in Kraków, Kyiv, Brussels, Tallinn, Munich and New York. We are working internationally and are co-ordinating our response with our allies and partners, for exactly the reasons the noble Lord gave.

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, I share the puzzlement of those who wonder what else President Putin has to do to get the full barrage of UK sanctions fired at him. The Statement says that he has

“flagrantly violated the Minsk peace agreements”.

The noble Baroness said that he has flagrantly violated Ukrainian sovereignty and the Statement says that

“the deployment of these forces in sovereign Ukrainian territory amounts to a renewed invasion of that country.”

What are the Government waiting for as a further threshold before there is a full barrage of sanctions? The Statement also says that, when the Defence Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Staff visited Moscow and talked to their counterparts, they demonstrated

“how seriously we take Russia’s security concerns”.

What are Russia’s valid security concerns? NATO is not going to invade it, so why are we taking its so-called security concerns at all seriously?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

What we have said, with our NATO allies, is that a dialogue would cover what Russia says it wants, from strategic nuclear weapons and force posture to exercises and incidents at sea. It is a serious offer which would improve European security for Russia and NATO, but we have been very clear that these talks must be based on de-escalation and an end to aggression against Ukraine.

University of Bristol: Jewish Students

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Ludford

Wednesday 24th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ludford (LD) [V]]

My Lords, on that point of a welcoming environment for Jewish students, the University of Bristol, in a statement on its investigation, said that its,

“clear and consistently held position is that bullying, harassment, and discrimination are never acceptable. We remain committed to providing a positive experience for all our students and staff, including by providing a welcoming environment for Jewish students”.

That is not happening at that university and, sadly, at all too many other universities. In a debate in January initiated by the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, who follows me today, she said that some universities were becoming no-go areas for Jewish students. This is surely intolerable. There is a systemic problem here and I should like to hear the Minister say how he is going to tackle that on a—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) (Con)]

That is an extremely long question. Could I please ask noble Lords to keep their questions short, as a lot of people want to get in and express their views?

Global Britain

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Ludford

Thursday 18th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I set out in my opening comments why this is happening now. I talked about the challenges of the pandemic and the way that that has shaped our view that these things need to be brought together internationally. I can certainly reassure the noble Baroness that girls’ education will remain a priority. I also point out that we are currently one of the few OECD donors that still has a separate development ministry. Other countries, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have merged their functions effectively, and we will look to learn from them. We are extremely lucky to have a very high-quality Foreign Office and Department for International Development, which we can bring together to ensure that our expertise remains unparalleled in all areas.

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, I will follow up the comments from my noble friend Lord Newby. Why do the Government seem to regard support to countries such as Ukraine and those in the western Balkans as an alternative to support for the poorest countries in Africa? The UK currently supports those EU-aspirant countries through its own funding programmes, so all the UK will be doing is spending some of the much-vaunted so-called savings on EU contributions in a less efficient way. There is no need to deprive Zambia and Tanzania to do it. If we are to continue to operate under the OECD DAC rules, as the Government pledge, can the Minister explain what we are prevented from doing at the moment that this move will allow the UK Government to do?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My Lords, as I have said repeatedly, our view is that bringing diplomacy and international development together makes sense in our new complex global world. For instance, to protect ourselves against another pandemic, the UK will have to work alongside our friends to strengthen international bodies like the WHO, and help vulnerable countries come together to improve their health systems and achieve greater resilience. Therefore, it does not make sense to have a dichotomy and say that the two should be separate in our complex international world, with the challenges that we face.

Global Britain

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Baroness Ludford

Monday 3rd February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The noble Lord obviously knows that the EU published its negotiating mandate only this morning. We will, of course, look in great detail at everything set out in it, as I am sure it will look at ours. I am sure that all negotiations will be done in good faith. We have an excellent international record: we are proud of our standing in human rights across the piece, both in the work that we do and in our support for the international rule of law. We would not want to do anything to put that in jeopardy.

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, will the Minister tell us how the categorical rejection of any regulatory alignment in the Statement squares with the robust commitments the Government signed up to in the political declaration to ensure a level playing field? Secondly, and related to it, the assertion that the UK will have separate and independent policies in areas such as data protection seems to contradict the assertion at the end of the Written Ministerial Statement that seems to expect an easy agreement for data adequacy assessment, because

“the UK will be operating exactly the same regulatory frameworks as the EU at the point of exit.”

Surely that is not the point. If the Government are saying that we have no intention of aligning dynamically in the longer term after we leave, surely that completely undermines any trust that the EU can have in our regulatory standards and means it is impossible for it to work on the basis of a level playing field.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

There is no requirement for alignment under the withdrawal agreement, and the political declaration sets out our commitment to discuss open and fair competition as part of negotiations on an ambitious future relationship. As the noble Baroness rightly says, we already start from a place of exceptionally high standards and we intend to maintain our standards in all these areas. In many instances we actually have higher standards than the EU and we do not need a treaty in order to do that. We are absolutely committed—we have made commitments time and again and have said repeatedly that we do not intend to lower our high standards; we intend to lead the world.