Christian Matheson
Main Page: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)Department Debates - View all Christian Matheson's debates with the Cabinet Office
(2 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Prime Minister
Absolutely. We already have a huge range of sanctions. I think that there are 275 Russian individuals who are already sanctioned, including many of those who were responsible for or linked with the Salisbury poisonings, the illegal activity in Chechnya, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and other episodes.
Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)
I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement, but Russia is a mafia state and Putin is the godfather—the capo di tutti i capi. He will not change until his capi—his under-bosses—force him to change, and they will not do that until we pull the financial rug from under their feet. We are in a unique position to do that. If the Prime Minister is not willing to put further sanctions at the forefront now, will he at least confirm to the House that he has asked the relevant agencies to ensure that we are bang up to date on all Russian assets, not just dirty ones, so that we can put those sanctions on as soon as he decides to do so?
The Prime Minister
Yes we are, and we are in a position to impose considerable economic cost on Putin. The question is whether he will care enough about it, because he is plainly in an illogical and irrational frame of mind.