Financial Assistance to Ukraine Bill

Baroness Smith of Newnham Excerpts

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

[Baroness Smith of Newnham (LD)]

My Lords, from these Benches, as always, I associate my comments with those of the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, on our unwavering support for Ukraine. One thing that has been notable over the past almost three years is the extent to which there has been unwavering cross-party support for Ukraine. The previous Government were clear in their commitments and the present Government are making the right noises and the right commitments to Ukraine. I welcome the Minister’s tone in seeking to reiterate that support for Ukraine in opening the debate.

As the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, reminded us, this is not just a question of Ukraine and its sovereignty but a wider issue. I would like to take the discussion a little beyond the G7 and further than the Official Opposition position. The Liberal Democrat Benches would like the Government to consider going further and seizing frozen Russian assets—to go beyond spending the revenue, which is welcome, and look at the assets.

We are wholly committed to the Bill and do not in any way wish to delay it. It needs to go through today to demonstrate the commitment to the G7 agreement and to allow the £2.26 billion British loans to go forward, but we would like the Government to think again. My understanding is that the regret amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, may be about going further. From these Benches we would like to go further but not at the expense of delaying the Bill, which would not be appropriate.

As part of the international community, we have given much support to Ukraine. As we have heard, the United Kingdom has given significant military support and financial aid. That is vital. As the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, said, if our renewed commitments and the loans go towards military defence for Ukraine, that will be welcome. At the same time, as the noble Baroness pointed out, we need to reassure ourselves and the country, as well as our NATO allies, that we are committing sufficient resources to our own defence. There is a very real concern that our defence expenditure is too little and our Armed Forces are too small, not adequately resourced and without sufficient equipment. The 2.5% commitment is essential.

Is the Minister able to help the House understand when the spring fiscal event may happen? One thing about parliamentary or governmental time is that it does not necessarily fit with a standard calendar. For most of us, spring starts either on 1 March or in late March, depending on which approach you take and whether you look to the moon or to the calendar. For the Government, sometimes an Autumn Statement has happened in late December. Can the Minister reassure the House that a spring fiscal event might happen well before Easter and will ensure not just that the £3 billion in military support for Ukraine is still in place but that His Majesty’s Government are not making any cuts to defence, providing us with a clear timeline for 2.5% of GDP for defence?

Earlier in the week, there was discussion in the other place about the Chancellor’s visit to China and the fact that, since taking over last July, the Prime Minister has been very active on the international scene. It is very welcome that Government Ministers talk frequently to our partners and allies in the G7 and NATO, and to the wider international community. The discussions with China are perhaps a little more unusual.

Is the Minister able to tell the House whether the Chancellor was able to talk to China about the sanctions that have been imposed? While the Minister was very clear that we need to work with the G7 and the European Union in terms of the imposition of sanctions, those sanctions would be so much stronger if China were also fully on board.

Further, what conversations have the Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister or the Chancellor—or indeed any other Minister—had with our Commonwealth allies? While the response from the West, including the United States, so far to the Ukraine crisis has been very strong, the support from our Commonwealth partners has not been so strong. If the international relations in which the Government are currently engaged are really to be as effective as they might be, using the opportunity to engage with our Commonwealth partners to try to explain to them the importance of the sanctions regime and the importance of supporting Ukraine would reinforce the United Kingdom’s place on the international scene and help us give additional support to Ukraine.

In short, from these Benches we support the Bill, but we would like to see the Government go further and use all the tools at their disposal, diplomatic as well as military and financial, to give Ukraine as much support as we can as it reaches the third anniversary of the Russian invasion.