Russia: Human Rights

Lord West of Spithead Excerpts

Monday 21st October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

Noble Lords will of course be aware of the issue of the “Arctic Sunrise”—it has been in the headlines for a number of weeks—whose 30-person crew includes six Brits. The Foreign Secretary raised the issue with Foreign Minister Lavrov at the UN General Assembly and subsequently wrote to him in October. The Foreign Secretary has also met Greenpeace’s executive director, and officials are in regular contact. I can assure the House that extensive consular assistance and support has been provided to these individuals. However, at this stage we are treating it as a consular matter as we feel that that is the best way of progressing it to a positive outcome.

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

My Lords, I am sure the Minister is aware that the Russians treated with acclaim the victory by Lord Nelson at Trafalgar 208 years ago today, and I wonder whether the Royal Navy could maybe come to the nation’s assistance again. The coalition has been asking people to buy HMS “Illustrious”—which is the third “Invincible” class carrier, the other two having been scrapped earlier this year. I wonder if the House authorities might like to buy it to berth alongside the Palace of Westminster and accommodate the huge number of new Peers being created.