Piracy

Lord Marlesford Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, to the best of my knowledge, that is the case, but if I am wrong, of course I will write to the noble Lord.

[Lord Marlesford]

My Lords, given that the money-laundering regulations, which are part of the law now, make it perfectly clear that any payment made in connection with a criminal activity has to be reported to the government authorities and that consent has to be given before any payments are made, why has there been a de facto exemption in the case of payments negotiated by insurance companies or their representatives for ransoms in connection with piracy, which, whatever else it is, is clearly a criminal activity?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, the simple fact is that, much as we deplore the payment of ransoms—Her Majesty's Government have made that clear for some time—they are not illegal as such. That is why, in answer to the supplementary question from the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, I made it clear that the Prime Minister has asked for work to be conducted in this field.