Cyber Interference: UK Democracy
Debate between Nick Smith and Leo Docherty(11 months, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Leo Docherty
The hon. Lady makes a good point and asks a good question. The threat is significant, but I should reiterate that it has failed, which I think points to the resilience of our democratic institutions. That does not mean that we should not be eternally vigilant—we will be. That work involves all parties across the House and candidates. A lot of the preventive work is being carried out by the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which is specifically looking at this issue under the Security Minister. The hon. Lady should be reassured that they have the bit between their teeth.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for his statement. What we have seen is malevolent behaviour, and I am glad to hear some of the Government’s plans. However, Labour is committed to establishing a democratic resilience centre, so can I press the Minister to ensure that the Government consider following our lead?
Leo Docherty
That work is already in place under the Defending Democracy Taskforce and the wholly re-energised and newly founded National Cyber Security Centre, established under this Government with tremendous resource and energy. Whatever we call it, there is now a significant effort to ensure that we deter these things and that MPs and everyone across the political spectrum are in a much more secure position.
Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2022
Debate between Nick Smith and Leo Docherty(2 years, 1 month ago)
General CommitteesRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Leo Docherty
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. We do of course have an intelligence-led approach to sanctions. The good thing about the regulations is that they will expedite the way we work in lockstep with Government agencies and the private sector.
Organisations will no longer have to rely on non-sanction specific gateways or on the Treasury’s powers to compel the release of information from partners. We expect that that will give organisations confidence to share information so that Government can better pursue breaches and uphold the integrity of UK sanctions. Those changes are possible thanks to the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, which amended the sanctions Act in March this year.
The regulations also make changes to our various sanctions regimes in order to update definitions and clarify intentions. Those amendments ensure that the definition of “designated person” is consistent across regulations. They include a correction of the reporting obligations relating to the transfer of funds to a ringfenced account. They clarify that within the Libya sanctions regime it is not a breach of sanctions to credit a frozen account with interest, and they specify that Treasury licences would be available for the purpose of satisfying prior obligations.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
I have just been going through the explanatory memorandum. On page 4 it states:
“No consultation has been carried out on this instrument”,
but it goes on to say that there was an earlier consultation, as regards the memoranda to the amended regulations. Can the Minister tell us how wide that consultation was and what the response was?
Leo Docherty
That is a very good question. I will gladly write to the hon. Member with the granular breakdown of the scale and depth of the response to that earlier consultation.