Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions
Debate between Chris Bryant and Bob Blackman(3 weeks ago)
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Chris Bryant
Well, I apologise for the rhetoric and bluster, but it is my general way of doing things, so it seems a particularly cruel attack from my colleague!
The serious point to make is that I am proud of what we are doing today. I am not hiding away from what we are doing, but we could definitely have communicated it better, and that is entirely my fault.
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
This is somewhat baffling. I know that the Minister was not here for it, but we had a full day’s debate yesterday on energy supply and no Government Minister mentioned anything to do with this particular issue—hence the need for an urgent question today. The Minister will know that liquid gas, diesel and petroleum are shipped by sea, taking a considerable period of time to get from the port to the UK. Will the Minister set out how the ships—those that have set sail already and those that may be setting off—will be treated once they get to the United Kingdom? That is the important issue that many businesses will want to know about.
Chris Bryant
The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely good point. That is one of the reasons we thought it was important to phase the process. Because of the time lag, we needed to make it possible for businesses not to be caught in legal limbo, as it were, as a result of the sanctions coming into force today. It is probably best if I write to him with the details and put a copy of the letter before the House, because it might be useful to other business folk as well. We are providing additional information on the Government website so that people can understand precisely how all this operates.