Sanctions Implementation and Enforcement

Earl of Effingham Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

That is a really interesting question. I had not thought about that, but I will speak to colleagues at MHCLG to see if we can do something along the lines the noble Lord describes, because compliance is enhanced when people understand why they are being asked to do things. It is a really interesting comment, and we need to work very closely across government on this.

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

My Lords, I quote David Lammy, who correctly said that we have to act quickly, and that

“I believe we should move from freezing assets to seizing assets”.—[Official Report, Commons, 25/2/25; col. 626.]

That was in February of this year. The noble Lord, Lord Purvis of Tweed, correctly asked, “What are we doing to start using these assets”? We have £25 billion. The Minister said that we are continuing to look at this. I appreciate that, clearly, we have to respect the law, but that is a lot of assets and a considerable amount of time has already passed since David Lammy made those comments. Are the best legal minds—and we have many of those in this country—looking at this? What are the real barriers? Surely, that would help the Ukrainians, who need the funding.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I do not think the noble Earl will find any disagreement on this side of the House. I take his encouragement to move at a faster pace.