Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions Debate

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Department: Department for Business and Trade

Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions

Carla Lockhart Excerpts
Wednesday 20th May 2026

(3 weeks, 4 days ago)

Commons Chamber
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Chris Bryant Portrait Chris Bryant
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I thought that the Liberal Democrats were in favour of moving towards renewables. Sorry, I may have misunderstood the question; if so, the hon. Member may wish to grab me afterwards. As I said, the problem about the headlines this morning was that some journalists saw half of the story, and not the whole story. That is entirely down to me, and is my fault.

Carla Lockhart Portrait Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)
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The sanctions on Russian gas and oil were put in place for good reason, as we know, but I seriously question how environmentally friendly it is to import supplies of gas and oil, when we have one of the largest sources of natural resources just off the coast of Scotland. The Government continue to refuse to allow it to be further explored. The madness of the pursuit of net zero is exposed by the fact that there is more pollution involved in importing these products, instead of drilling for our own, which would also create jobs and revenue for the Exchequer.

Chris Bryant Portrait Chris Bryant
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We are putting an end to the import of these products from Russia. We want to debilitate and degrade the Russian war machine. The point I would make to the hon. Member is that even if we were to grant licences today for further exploration, that would not solve the problem that we have today, arising from the instability in the energy market because of the war in Iran.