Noah Law
Main Page: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)Department Debates - View all Noah Law's debates with the Leader of the House
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Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)
War and Russian brutality first came to Ukraine in 2014. While Ukrainians knew that it never left, I think it fair to say that we did forget that our friends in Ukraine were at war—that is, until 2022. Since then, we have witnessed the heroism of the Ukrainian people, and the savagery of Putin’s regime.
In case it was not devastatingly clear, this is not just Ukraine’s fight; it is a contest for the security of Europe and the integrity of the international order. The Britain I know has always stood on the side of the underdog. We are in a phase of hybrid warfare. Other countries, such as Poland and Estonia, are calling a spade a spade, and it is time we did so, too. One does not have to turn very far for examples. Warehouse fires, targeting of undersea cables, a strategy to recruit traitors in turquoise—these are not just random acts; they are deliberate steps in a campaign of destabilisation designed to test our resilience and erode our unity. In case there were any illusions about quite how direct the links between Reform UK and the Kremlin were, we should ask ourselves why even local Reform supporters in Cornwall share posts attacking the plans to freeze Russian assets.
Meanwhile, this Labour Government are getting on with the job, as shown by the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday compelling Abramovich to pay up. As a former banker, I know as well as anyone the importance of a rules-based order, but the fact that we are engaged in hybrid warfare is precisely why I have absolutely no qualms about these assets being used to help Ukraine. I also greatly welcome the new probe into foreign interference in British politics, which will investigate how foreign agents target and subvert our political process.
By next July, this phase of war will have lasted longer than the first world war. It has cost the European economy more than $4 trillion, barely a 10th of which has been spent on support for Ukraine. I am not a defence or security specialist—I am not even a banker any more—but I can tell the House that this is a war that Europe cannot afford to lose.