Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Anthony Mangnall

Tuesday 26th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s work on combating sexual violence in conflict and the fact that the Government have upgraded the money for this area. If she recognises that the International Criminal Court and the United Nations do not bring better outcomes for survivors of sexual violence or bring perpetrators to justice, does she agree that we need to look at a new international mechanism that the UK could lead?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I certainly agree with my hon. Friend that we need to bring these perpetrators to justice. That is why we are funding the ICC to do more, as well as collecting our own evidence and working with the Ukrainians, but if a new mechanism is needed, we would be prepared to lead the work on that. The conference later this year on the prevention of sexual violence is a good opportunity to do that.

Sanctions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Anthony Mangnall

Monday 28th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I said earlier, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has just announced the new Ukrainian humanitarian route, which responds directly to these needs.

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

The Foreign Secretary announced the launching of a joint taskforce to hunt down the assets of oligarchs hit by our sanctions. Can she tell us the speed and scale at which that taskforce will be set up, and what conversations have been had with the insurance companies, which presumably have a list of all the assets and names of the individuals?

[Elizabeth Truss]

This really pertains to a number of questions that have been asked. What we are doing in building up our evidence cases about the oligarchs is sharing information with our G7 allies, so we are working together and getting that information quicker. That work is already under way. That taskforce already exists. Of course, alongside the legal services, the public relations services and the accountancy services, we will look at the insurance services that these oligarchs rely on. This is all about being able to do this quicker, because every single country has the same issue. The US takes time to build up cases against oligarchs because generally their organisations are so complex and opaque. The work that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is doing on the Economic Crime Bill will also help to make it easier for us to understand their corporate structures.