Financial Assistance to Ukraine Bill

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

2nd reading & Committee negatived & 3rd reading
Wednesday 15th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Batters, on her speech today. I listened to her many times during Covid on the radio and television, and I was so thrilled to hear she was coming to this House. I look forward to working with her on food and other issues in the future.

This Bill is a welcome example of international co-operation. The additional financial assistance to Ukraine from the United Kingdom and other parts of the G7 is £38.6 billion of loans. These loans will be repaid from immobilised Russian assets held in the EU and will not be repaid by Ukraine. These assets will be divided between the G7 lenders in proportion to their contribution, £2.26 billion in the case of the United Kingdom. A crucial element is that the EU has adopted a regulation that will govern the repayment mechanism. This provides the legal basis within the EU for the UK to receive the repayment.

Like colleagues, I hope that throughout all this there will be no hold-ups, little glitches here and there or amendments. We have to make this happen now. This is an illustration of how vital it is for the UK and the EU to work closely together. This is crucial when the context is supporting Ukraine, helping it to resist and defeat the wicked, illegal and reckless Russian invasion and providing security for Europe as a whole.

The noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, spoke about refugees in countries nearby. I have had calls from people in those countries, in Vilnius and even in Poland, who are worried about what the future holds for them and what the future could be for us and other countries. They are really worried. This Bill is an important aspect of the package of measures in a battle that has been well described as one of the defining issues of our age.

The World Health Organization has reported more than 2,000 attacks on health facilities, further straining Ukraine’s capacity to address mental and physical health needs. In 2024, 14.6 million people in Ukraine were estimated to need humanitarian assistance. This includes access to water, healthcare, shelter and psychological support. In the third quarter of 2024, the share of temporary protection decisions for children increased to 31%. As we know, children are now being taught in the underground during the day. They want to go to school to learn, but are frightened of what they might come back up to. The fighting and air strikes have caused more than 30,000 civilian casualties, including children.

The people of Ukraine are fighting for us all and our freedom. We are sending a message not only to Putin but to autocrats around the world that the international community will always oppose violence against national sovereignty.