Russian Attacks on Civilian Infrastructure
Debate between Seema Malhotra and Claire Young(1 week ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Seema Malhotra
I think that I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. He makes an important point about risks and why it is so important that we are taking all the steps we can, alongside our international allies, to upgrade our defence and security systems. We will be looking to detect and deter any potential risks to our security, and we will always defend our country and our infrastructure. That is a focus for the whole of this Government.
Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)
I want to return to the issue of UK maritime services bankrolling Putin’s barbaric war by supporting Russian fossil fuel exports. Despite the ban relating to LNG, campaigners have criticised what they see as a lack of enforcement of the rules. What will the Government do to ensure that sanctions are not just a paper tiger?
Seema Malhotra
It is important to note—as I did earlier—the impact that sanctions are having, which has been commented on by the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. The UK’s Russia sanctions regime is designed to maximise the impact on Putin’s regime—to cripple supply chains and technological advancement and undermine Russia’s war effort. The hon. Lady will also know that the UK has sanctioned over 3,300 individuals, entities and ships under our Russia sanctions regime; over 3,100 of those designations were imposed since the full-scale invasion in 2022, and over 1,300 of them were imposed by this Government. I could go on, including about our sanctioning of over 30 Russian banks, accounting for 90% of Russia’s banking sector. Our sanctions are hurting, and it is important that this message to Russia continues.
US National Security Strategy
Debate between Seema Malhotra and Claire Young(6 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for all the work she does on Ukraine and for the children who have been kidnapped, who must be returned to their families. She is right: it is vital that the UK and our allies across the world continue to put economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to what is an utterly barbaric war.
Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)
In the light of the strategy’s departure from decades of shared assumptions, will the Government revise the 2025 national security strategy, and if not, why?
Seema Malhotra
As I have said, it is for the US to put forward its own strategy. This Government’s national security strategy, which was announced by the Prime Minister earlier this year, sets out a whole-of-Government approach to secure our nation, pursue the interests of the British people and seize opportunities for growth. That is what drives our work in the UK and across the world. As the Prime Minister has said, national security is the first responsibility of any Government, and collective security remains the foundation stone of our strategy to defend and deter against aggression. As the strategic defence review sets out, we are taking a NATO-first, but not a NATO-only, approach. We will continue to work on areas of national security and economic prosperity with the US, which is a natural partner for us and with whom we have a long-standing relationship that has endured and will always stand the test of time.