Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 2023 Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2023

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Monday 22nd January 2024 General Committees

[Leo Docherty]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that, and I commit to asking the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Anne-Marie Trevelyan), who leads on this, to write on the refined oil issue. Given the sensitive nature of the topic, I will not comment in Committee on his good question about metals and the involvement of UK companies, but I will also ask my right hon. Friend to provide an update on that specific UK company in response to his question about imports and exports.

The hon. Gentleman also asked about enforcement, and I will ask my right hon. Friend for an update. We are taking action, but I will ask her to include an update on the numbers with regard to Russia and Belarus. He also asked a good question about the seizure of frozen assets. He will know that that is a long-standing expectation of the Government, and we hope that we can make progress on that, but it is extremely legally complex. If it was easy, we would have done it already. We continue to look at that. I think that is all I can say to the question of seizing frozen Russian assets. I thank him again for his questions, and I thank the Committee. These latest measures will be an important part of our sanctions package.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

Both the shadow Minister and the Minister have mentioned Belarus. Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to Sir Tony Lloyd, the late Member for Rochdale? He was a fine campaigner, who I campaigned with on many issues in relation to Belarus, and he spoke on many occasions on sanctions against Russia.

[Leo Docherty]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that. This Committee, and indeed the whole House, will remember the late hon. Member for Rochdale with fondness and admiration. His work as a parliamentarian was tremendous, specifically on this specific issue of Belarus. Of course, our sympathies are with his family at this time.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Tuesday 18th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. The British Government and the whole House are appalled by the law that has been passed by Uganda. We make very strong representations, our high commission there works closely with affected groups, and we always keep travel advice under sharp and close review.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

Children being able to play is something we take for granted, yet Ministers will know from their travels that it is not something that all children around the world get to do. Play instils confidence, builds life skills, enhances resilience and restores hope, so will a Minister commit to the House that they will take a lead role in the forthcoming UN General Assembly to support the resolution for an international day of play, which is spearheaded by a coalition of organisations such as Lego and IKEA, to ensure that every child’s right to play is protected?

[Leo Docherty]

The idea of an international day of play is very important, and we take it seriously. I will pick the matter up with the noble Lord Ahmad and keep in touch with my hon. Friend.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Tuesday 21st June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Vicky Ford]

We regularly engage with indigenous leaders and civil society organisations. We are in regular contact with Brazil’s national foundation for indigenous people. We are absolutely committed to defending and promoting the human rights of all and we continue to monitor very closely developments around indigenous rights in Brazil and raise concerns with the Government. We have already committed £259 million to help protect the Amazon, with £3 billion more of further funding committed at COP. We have also made it clear that trade should not be at the expense of the environment, climate commitments or, indeed, the concerns that the hon. Lady raises.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

It is thanks to journalists and environmentalists such as Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira that record deforestation, mining and logging, predatory fishing and drug trafficking have been exposed. Dom and Bruno were not on some travel adventure in Brazil, as has been suggested; like others who have been killed over the years, they were doing their job to report on the environmental damage taking place in Brazil that ultimately impacts on us all.

Will the Government work with other international authorities to have the case investigated in a swift, transparent and independent manner, without any interference—not just to seek justice for the families of Dom and Bruno, but to protect future journalists and environmentalists in their important work?

[Vicky Ford]

My hon. Friend is right that the case should be investigated. We are grateful to the Brazilian authorities for their help and engagement to date. There has been very close contact between, for example, the local and national police with our embassy team on the ground. It is really important that those who committed this heinous crime are held to account.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Yes, in general. It is important that this is not just about a relationship between Governments; the network of nations and peoples of the Commonwealth is felt in many different ways, through the Commonwealth people’s forum, the Commonwealth youth forum and the Commonwealth business forum, all of which will have events surrounding the CHOGM meeting that will take place in Perth at the end of October. We do not yet have the details of all those meetings, but the right hon. Gentleman can be sure that that broad agenda will be in action there.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

15. What recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the human rights situation in Belarus.

[The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington)]

I regularly discuss with my international counterparts the abuse of human rights by the regime in Belarus. I most recently did so with the Russian deputy Foreign Minister the week before last.

[Tracey Crouch]

I thank the Minister for his reply. He will be aware that there has been very little progress in Belarus, with the Lukashenko regime continuing to arrest people who peacefully protest against the Government there. Given the regime’s blatant disregard for calls by international partners such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and others to improve civil liberties in Belarus, does my right hon. Friend not think it time for the UK Government to take an international lead and call for further sanctions against the regime?

[Mr Lidington]

I think that we should use every means possible to persuade the regime in Minsk to cease its persistent and systematic abuse of human rights. It is important to try to do that in a way that does not make even more wretched the lives of the ordinary people of Belarus. We are among those in the European Union who are pushing for a rigorous further examination of sanctions that might be levied to achieve the outcome that both my hon. Friend and I want.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

As the hon. Lady knows, together with our European Union partners we have agreed a set of sanctions targeted against leading members of the Belarusian regime. There is also a review of the possibility of additional economic sanctions. Not every EU country has expressed itself in favour of that course, and we must take account of the need to get the balance right between harming the regime and not trying to impoverish further a people already oppressed. However, I take seriously the point she makes.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

The Minister will be aware that, in light of its economic failures, Belarus has requested a further £5 billion bail-out from the IMF. What discussions has he had with the Treasury to ensure that Britain will not support a bail-out package unless it comes with a firm commitment from the Belarusian regime to recognise the basic rights and freedoms of its media and civilians?

[Mr Lidington]

My hon. Friend puts her point well. As she rightly says, the economy of Belarus is in a dire state, and the Belarusian Government’s economic policies, as well as their internally repressive policies, are making a bad situation even worse for the people of that country. We are considering—both internally in the United Kingdom and in concert with international partners—what our approach might be in the event of Belarus applying for further help from the IMF.

Egypt

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Burt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. Although the situation in Sharm el Sheikh is genuinely calm and we receive regular updates on it almost hourly from our honorary consul, it is true that certain hotels have taken the precaution of ensuring the safety of their guests by warning them about the curfew and indeed, in some instances, erecting barricades. That has been done in response to their own concerns about what might happen; none of it has been done in response to incidents that have already happened.

Although guests and British tourists have understandably been slightly alarmed by what has been done, we understand that it has been done entirely for their own protection, and that the situation is indeed calm. Our travel advice therefore remains that it is safe to go to Sharm el Sheikh, and we sincerely hope that that is still the case. If there were any changes we would know about them quickly, and would respond accordingly.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

Will the Minister join me in condemning President Mubarak’s use of the military aircraft that were deployed yesterday to threaten and intimidate legitimate protesters on the streets of Cairo?

[Alistair Burt]

I am sure that none of us who saw those pictures could quite work out what was intended to be conveyed, or whether it had delivered precisely what the Egyptian Government had intended. It is not for us to comment on the reasons for the deployment of aircraft, but we sincerely hope that it does not presage attempts to use any form of violence to deal with what is essentially a peaceful reform protest.