Ukraine

Lord Beamish Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

My noble friend speaks from a position of great knowledge and experience. I agree with him that it is vital that we work closely and co-ordinate with all our allies, and continue to make the case that it is for the people of Ukraine and their leadership to determine next steps. Obviously, we have to work harder at that now than perhaps we have done previously, but that is a task that I am proud that our Prime Minister is prepared for and is undertaking.

[Lord Beamish (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister says that unity in the House is important. That is a clear message that we need to send out tonight. My noble friend knows that the threat from Russia is obviously a military one, but it is also in the grey zone as well. The Intelligence and Security Committee, which I sit on, produced a report in 2020 that highlighted the effects of the Russian disinformation campaign in this country and the use of the City of London as a laundromat. I therefore welcome the sanctions that were announced yesterday. What more can be done, certainly with our overseas territories, to find out where money is being laundered and to stop the abuse that is continuing?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

This is an important point and, as my noble friend would expect, we work very closely with our overseas territories on this issue. He spoke about misinformation, and that is something we work hard on. We should commend our partners, such as the World Service, the British Council and our other soft power partners. The work that they do is sometimes overlooked and underappreciated, but they are very effective at countering this misinformation. That is something we need to spend more time considering, and we might want to invest in some of that as well.