Refinitiv Newscasts - UK PM Johnson issues statement on Ukraine 1

New Century AIM VCT

24/02/2022 22:59

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Description: UK PM Johnson makes statement on Ukraine in parliament
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Video Transcript:

>> Negations under the Oslo Accords. We also called on all parties to abide by
international humanitarian law to promote peace, stability, and security.
Peace will not be achieved by a symbolic message. It will only be achieved by
really improved movements with a new dialogue between parties, dialogue that
leads to a viable Palestinian state living in peace and security [inaudible
00:13:00] side-by-side with Israel. And the UK stands ready to support this in
every way we can. >> Thank you, very much, Mr. Speaker. Can I find all
colleagues on all sides of the house who've taken part this afternoon in this
very important debate? I accept that today there have been pressing issues
elsewhere while the minister left the debate, and has only been present for
part of it. But I would urge her to read the onslaught of the debate, and
actually prompts addressing writing some of the issues that were raised.
Because, I do accept it's been a difficult day. However, I also would like to
hear what the government is saying about respecting international law. We have
heard lots today on the issue of international law and respecting it, and
unfortunately, in the response of the minister today to this debate, that
issue has not been addressed. The issue remains, that the Palestinian people
have fulfilled what is needed to be done to improve the statehood to get
recognition. The government is saying, "At some point, when the time is
right." The time is right now. There has always been a huge consensus in this
house for many years, and the government is simply not acting on it. We all
want to see a movement to meaningful negotiations, leading to a settlement on
a two-state solution. The government provocating or not recognizing the state
of Palestine, is hindering that process in my opinion, and we need no more
warm words. We need action. We have the ability as a country, and the
government have the ability as our government to recognize Palestine today. We
don't have to wait. So let's just act and not wait. >> Yeah. >> The question
is, as on the older paper, as many of that opinion say, aye. >> Aye. >> Of the
contrary, no. I think the ayes have it. The ayes have it. Before we come to
the Prime Minister's statement on Ukraine, I would like to point out that the
British sign language interpretation of proceedings, is available to watch on
Parliament live TV. I now call the Prime Minister to make his statement. Prime
Minister Johnson. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just come from a meeting of G7
leaders joined by Secretary-General Stoltenberg of NATO. And with permission,
I'll update the house on our response to President Putin's onslaught against a
free and sovereign European nation. Shortly after 4 o'clock this morning, I
spoke to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, as the first missiles struck his
beautiful and innocent country and its brave people, and I assured him of the
unwavering support of the United Kingdom. >> Yeah. >> I can tell the house
that at this stage, Ukrainians are offering a fierce defense of their families
and their country. I know that every honorable member will share my admiration
for their resolve. Earlier today, President Putin delivered another televised
address and offered the absurd pretext, that he sought the demilitarized and
denotification of Ukraine. In fact, he's hurling the might of his military
machine, against a free and peaceful neighbor, in breach of his own explicit
pledge and every principle of civilized behavior, between States. Sparling the
best efforts of this country and all allies to avoid bloodshed. For this,
Putin will stand condemned in the eyes of the world and of history. He will
never be able to cleanse the blood of Ukraine from his hands. Although the UK
and our allies tried every avenue for diplomacy until the final hour, I'm
driven to conclude, that Putin was always determined to attack his neighbor,
no matter what we did. Now we see him, for what he is. A bloodstained
aggressor, who believes in imperial conquest. I am proud, that Britain did
everything within its power to help Ukraine prepare for this onslaught, and we
will do our utmost to offer more help as our brave friends defend their
homeland. Our empathy took the precaution on 18th of February of relocating
from Kyiv to the city of Lviv in Western Ukraine. Where our ambassador Melinda
Simmons, continues to work with the Ukrainian authorities and to support
British nationals. Now, we have a clear mission. Diplomatically, politically,
economically, and eventually militarily, this hideous and barbarous venture of
Vladimir Putin must end in failure. At the G7 meeting this afternoon, we
agreed to work in unity to maximize the economic price, that Putin will pay
for his aggression. And this must include, ending Europe's collective
dependence on Russian oil and gas, that has served to empower Putin for too
long. So I welcomed again Chancellor Sholz's excellent decision to hold the
certification of North Stream too. Mr. Speaker, countries that together
comprise about half the world economy are now engaged in maximizing economic
pressure on one that makes up a mere 2%. For our part today, the UK is
announcing the largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that
Russia has ever seen. With new financial measures, we're taking new powers to
target Russian finance in addition to the banks we've already sanctioned this
week today. In concert with the United States, we are imposing a full asset
freeze on VTB. More broadly, these powers will enable us totally to exclude
Russian banks from the UK financial system, which is of course by far the
largest in Europe, stopping them from accessing Sterling and clearing payments
through the UK. With around half of Russia's trade currently in US dollars and
sterling, I'm pleased to tell the House that the United States is taking
similar measures. These powers will also enable us to ban Russian state and
private companies from raising funds in the UK, banning dealing with their
securities and making loans to them. We will limit the amount of money that
Russian nationals will be able to deposit in their UK bank accounts and
sanctions will also be applied to Belarus for its role in the assault on
Ukraine. Overall, we'll be imposing asset freezes on more than 100 new
entities and individuals on top of the hundreds that we've already announced.
This includes all the major manufacturers that support Putin's war machine.
Furthermore, we are also banning Aeroflot from the UK. Next on top of these
financial measures and in full concert with the United States and the EU, we
will introduce new trade restrictions and stringent export controls similar to
those that they in the US are implementing. We will bring forward new
legislation to ban the export of all dual-use items to Russia, including a
range of high-end and critical technological equipment and complainants in
sectors including electronics, telecommunications, and aerospace. Legislation
to implement this will be late or early next week. These trade sanctions will
constrain Russia's military, industrial, and technological capabilities for
years to come. We're bringing forward measures on unexplained wealth holders
from the economic crime bill to be introduced before the highest rises for
Easter. And we will set out further detail before Easter on the range of
policies to be included in the full bill in the next session, including on
reforms to company's house and a register of overseas property ownership. We
will set up a new dedicated kleptocracies cell in the National Crime Agency to
target sanctions, evasion, and corrupt Russian assets hidden in the UK. And
that means oligarchs in London will have nowhere to hide. And, Mr. Speaker, I
know that this House will have great interest in the potential of cutting
Russia out from Swift and I can confirm, as I've always said, that nothing is
off the table. But for all these measures to be successful, it is vital that
we have the unity of our partners, the unity in the G7 and other forum. And
Mr. Speaker, Russian investors are already delivering their verdict on the
wisdom of Putin's actions. And so far today, Russian stocks are down by as
much as 45%, wiping $250 billion from their value in the biggest one-day
decline on record. SberBank, Russia's biggest lender is down by as much as 45%
and Gazprom down by as much as 39%, while the ruble has plummeted to record
lows against the dollar. We will continue on a remorseless mission to squeeze
Russia from the global economy piece-by-piece, day-by-day, and week-by-week.
And we will, of course, use Britain's position in every international forum to
condemn the onslaught against Ukraine. And we will counter the criminal's
blizzard of lives and disinformation by telling the truth about Putin's war of
choice and his war of aggression. And we will work with our allies on the
urgent need to protect other European countries that are not members of NATO
and who could become targets of Putin's playbook of subversion and aggression.
And we will resist any creeping temptation to accept what Putin is doing today
as a fait accompli. There can be no creeping normalization, not now, not in
the months to come, not in the years ahead. We must strengthen NATOs defenses
still further and so today, I called for meeting of NATO leaders, which will
take place tomorrow and I will be convening the countries that contribute to
the joint expeditionary force, which is led by the United Kingdom and
comprises both NATO and non-NATO members. Last Saturday, I warned that this
invasion would have global economic consequences and this morning the oil
price has risen strongly. The government will do everything possible to
safeguard our own people from the repercussions for the cost of living. And of
course, we stand ready to protect our country from any threats, including in
cyberspace. Above all, the House will realize the hard and heavy truth that we
now live in a continent where an expansionist power, deploying one of the
world's most formidable military machines is trying to redraw the map of
Europe in blood and conquer an independent state by false alarms. And it's
vital for the safety of every nation that Putin's squalor adventure should
ultimately fail and be seen to fail. However long it takes, that will be the
steadfast and unflinching goal of the United Kingdom. I hope of every member
of this house and every one of our great allies certain that together we have
the power and the will to defend the cause of peace and justice, as we've
always done. And I say to the people of Russia again, whose president has just
authorized an onslaught against a fellow Slavik people, I cannot believe that
this horror is being done in your name or that you really want the pariah
status that these actions will bring to the Putin regime. And to our Ukrainian
friends, in his moment of agony, I say that we are with you and we are on your
side. Your right to choose your own destiny is a right that the United Kingdom
and our allies will always defend. And in that spirit, I join you in saying
Slovak, Ukraine and I commend the statement to the House. I know call the
leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this dark
hour, our thoughts, our solidarity and our resolve, are with the Ukrainian
people. Invading troops marched through their streets, missiles their cities.
They've been cast into a war, through no fault of their own. Because Putin
fears their freedom, and because he knows, that no people will choose to live
under his bandit rule, unless forced to do so, at the barrel of a gun. The
consequences of Putin's war of aggression, will be horrendous and tragic for
the people of Ukraine. But also for the Russian people, who've been plunged
into chaos by a violent elite, who have stolen their wealth, stolen their
chance of democracy, and stolen their future. And we must prepare ourselves
for difficulties here. We will face economic pain, as we free Europe from
dependence on Russian gas and oil, unclean our institutions from money stolen
from the Russian people. But the British public have always been willing to
make sacrifice, to defend democracy on our continent and we will again. The
consequences of Putin's actions will be felt throughout the world for years,
and I fear for decades to come. Russia's democratic neighbors and every other
democracy that lives in the shadow of autocratic power, are watching their
worst nightmare unfold. So all of us who believe in democracy over
dictatorship, in the rule of law, over the reign of terror, in freedom, over
the jack boot of tyranny, must unite and take a stand. We must support the
Ukrainian people in their fight, and we must ensure that Putin fails. Putin
will eventually learn the same lesson that European tyrants learned in the
last century, that the resolve of the world is harder than he imagines. That
the people's desire for freedom burns brighter than he can ever extinguish,
and the light of liberty will prevail over his darkness. For that to happen,
we must make a clean break with the failed approach to handling Putin, which
after Georgia, after Crimea, after Donbass, has fed his belief that the
benefits of aggression outweigh the costs. We must finally show him that he is
wrong. That means doing all that we can to help you pray defend herself. But
providing weapons, equipment and financial assistance, as well as humanitarian
support for the Ukrainian people. We must urgently reinforce and reassure our
native allies in Eastern Europe who now stand at the frontier of Putin's
aggression. And the hardest possible sanctions must be taken against the Putin
regime. It must be isolated. It's finances frozen. Its ability to function
crippled. That means excluding Russia from the financial mechanisms like Swift
and banning trade in Russia and sovereign debt. I welcome the set of sanctions
outlined by the prime minister just now and pledged opposition support for
further measures. And there are changes we must make here in the UK. For too
long, our country has been a safe haven for the money that Putin and his
fellow bandits stole from the Russian people. It must now change. Cracking
open the shell companies in which stolen money is hidden, will require
legislation. Bring it forward immediately Prime Minister and labor will
support it, along with the upper measures that the Prime Minister has just
outlined. Thank you and we will support it. Mr. Speaker, this must be a
turning point in history. We must look back and say, this terrible day, was
actually when Putin doomed himself, and doomed his plan to reassert Russian
force, as a means of controlling Eastern Europe to defeat. We know how Putin
operates, so we know how to defeat him. He seeks division, so we must stand
united. He hopes for inaction, so we must take a stand. He believes that we
are too corrupted to do the right thing, so we must prove him wrong. I believe
we can, and in this dark hour, we can step towards the light. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. >> Prime Minister. >> I wanted to say how grateful I'm to the right
honorable gentlemen for the terms in which he has just spoken and the robust
support that he is offering to the government and to the Western alliance. Mr.
Speaker had a very, very difficult time. And I think the whole house can be
turned into some of the issues that he raised, very briefly so the whole house
can be proud of the row that the UK has played in pioneering military support,
logistical support to the Ukrainians. The role that we played in bringing
together a ferocious package of sanctions, which we will now implement, and we
will bring our allies together, and Mr. Speaker, to protect NATO or to show
the President Putin, I will get a tougher Western alliance as a result of his
actions, not a weaker Western alliance. And I think Mr. Speaker, that two
events will show that the Russian President has profoundly miscalculated, and
he believes that he is doing this for his own political advantage. I believe
the exact opposite will prove to be the case, because of the resistance that
will be mounted against what he is doing, not just in Ukraine, but around the
world and we will support those Ukrainians. Mr. Speaker, we will support them
economically, diplomatically, politically, and yes, militarily as well. And I
know that in due time, we will succeed. >> Theresa Bay. >> Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. Can I welcome my right honorable friends statement this afternoon.
This house and this country are united in our defense of democracy and our
support for the Ukrainian people. Vladimir Putin has initiated war in mainland
Europe, the response must be unequivocal and absolutely clear. So will my
right honorable friend confirm, that the government is putting in place every
possible economic sanction. So that Russia feels absolutely the cold wind of
isolation, and the Russian people understand, that Vladimir Putin has brought
their state to a pariah state. >> Prime Minister. >> I thank my honorable
friend, and she's absolutely right about what the government is setting out to
do, and I do indeed believe that that will be the result of Putin and his
cronies. >> We now come to the S&P later. >> Mr. Speaker, let me thank the
Prime Minister for advanced copy of the statement. And let me also welcome the
very close contact he has kept with the Ukrainian President, of course,
importantly, overnight. I was grateful that I had the chance to meet this
afternoon with the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK and indeed with Ukrainian
MPs. Our thoughts and our support is very much with each and every one of
them, as is with all of the people of Ukraine. Mr. Speaker, although last
night's events have been prophesied, and predicted for some time. The acts of
Russian violence, aggression, and tyranny are no less shocking. What we are
witnessing is a full-scale invasion. It is an act of war. This is first and
foremost an unprovoked attack on the peace and the innocence of Ukraine and of
his people. But it's equally an attack on international law, an attack on our
European democracy, an attack on the peace that our content has so carefully
built over the last 75 years. President Putin and President Putin alone bears
responsibility for these horrific acts. And it is he and his Kremlin Kabul,
who must pay a massive price for their actions. It is important to say to the
Russian people that we know that Putin is not acting in their name. He is a
dictator. He is an imperialist, he is a tyrant. He is much a threat to his own
people as he is to all of us. Mr. Speaker, this is a moment for unity, and
it's especially a moment for European unity. All of the economic sanctions
that are now finally being implemented have one clean objective. The complete
economic isolation of the Russian State. Can the Prime Minister confirm that
this is the objective and that he has agreed that with his international
allies. That's economic isolation must include sanctions on Putin and his
network of oligarchy and agents that expulsion from countries that are in the
world, sanctions on his banks and their ability to borrow and function, and
sanctions on his energy and mineral companies. As I said yesterday, it must
finally been cleaning up the suit of dirty Russian money that has been running
through the City of London for years. I know all the complications involved,
but can I ask the Prime Minister that the actions to be taken to suspend
Russia from the Swift payment system, one of the steps that would hit the
Putin regime the hardest. But just as we rightly seek to punish Putin, we must
be double our support and solidarity for the Ukrainian people. Can the Prime
Minister give further details on the humanitarian aid being deployed and the
plans in place to offer refuge and sanctuary where necessarily to those that
have been displaced. And what plans are in place to evacuate or families of UK
citizens currently in Ukrainian given that commercial flights have no stopped,
Mr. Speaker, let's not fall for the Kremlin propaganda that they are prepared
to soak up any sanctions. If we act now, if the sanctions are targeted enough,
swift enough, severe enough. If we impose nothing less than economic
isolation, Putin and his cronies will suffer the consequences of their
actions. So let us act together, stand together and most of all, let us stand
with the people of Ukraine. >> Mr. Speaker can I thank again, the right
honorable gentleman for the wisdom and the statesmanship with which he's just
spoken. And just on his points in particular, we've put a 1,000 troops on
standby to help with the humanitarian next in the adjacent countries. We have
people in forward presence in the adjacent countries to help UK nationals come
out. And he's quiet, right, Mr. Speaker, that the way to make these sanctions
work as we discussed today in the G7, or whether it's a great deal of unity is
that we do them together or we do them at the same time and that's what we're
doing. >> Can I just say to a roller, the President's got some very important
meetings, we'll be they're running this to 6:30. Those colleagues who don't
get him. We are keeping a list like we did from the other day to try and
ensure that everyday just get a voice in a very [inaudible 00:39:31] We'll
love to sit, don't we? Is a very important matter. I now welcome the Chair of
the Foreign Affair Select Committee, Tom Tugendhat. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
may I first of all, pay huge trivial to buy right of a friend the Prime
Minister and his government today for introducing what sounds like the
toughest sanctions we've seen in years. May I ask him, however, to look wider
than simply the Russian people and to look at all those who are enabling
Putin's economy, those who sit on boards of the businesses that finance him,
whether they are former chancellor of Germany or former Prime Minister of
France. May I ask him to look here close to home at those who enable, who
propagate the propaganda that is being used by Putin to undermine his own
people and free people everywhere and to update the trees and act so that we
can identify them and call them what they are, traitors. Can I also ask the
Prime Minister one last question, which is when he speaks to people around the
world that he speaks with the truth that he can in Russian through the BBC
Russian service and starts to broadcast in languages other than Russian into
Russia so that all Russian people can know their oppression doesn't need to
exist. They don't need to side with a tyrant. >> Prime Minister. >> Mr.
Speaker I thank him very much indeed, absolutely right, that we have to look
at those who abet the Putin regime. And there are many of them and that's why
we are looking at all sorts of ways in which we can address threats to the
state and Mr. Speaker. And we are, of course, making sure that the messages
from this house, which is so impressive in their unity, should be registered
by the people of Russia. Because we mean no ill towards then they are as much,
in many ways the victims as the people of Ukraine, of this appalling regime,
and they need to know what's really going on. >> Dame Angela Eagle. >> Mr.
Speaker, would the Prime Minister tell us if he can what's going on with the
Russian troops going through Chernobyl, which centered chill through a lot of
people's thoughts when we heard about it? >> Prime Minister. >> I thank you
very much. I hesitate to give the highest a running common tort. It seems a
very fluid and very dangerous situation, but to best my knowledge, she's right
in what she says. >> Dr. Julian. >> Dear Mr. Speaker for the best part of 50
years, Britain gave sanctuary to the governments in exile of the occupied
Baltic states. If as appears likely Ukraine gets overwhelmed, will we offer to
give sanctuary to a government in exile pending Ukraine's future freedom? >>
Prime Minister. >> Of course, I think my [inaudible 00:42:33], of course Mr.
Speaker we will give all support that we can logistical, or otherwise as
Britain always has done to governments in exile, the point I made President
Zelenskyy this morning was it might be necessary for him to find a safe place
for him and his cabinet to go. >> David. >> Mr. Speaker with President Putin,
responsible for this catastrophic human tragedy, Liberal democrats joined all
sides to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, I thank the Prime
Minister for his statement. Today must be a wakeup call. The West has been too
complacent over Putin's threat for too long. We've taken for granted our
fragile alliances so crucial for defense of freedom embolding Putin this
outrageous act of aggression. The West cannot be complacent any longer. So
will the government reverse its proposed troop cuts to the British Army and
offer far greater military support to our NATO allies in Eastern Europe? Mr.
Speaker, Putin has faced the most punitive of sanctions. The world must
isolate Russia like the rogue state it is, including the state [inaudible
00:43:49] 20% owned by BP. So will the Prime Minister commit to banning UK
investment in Russian oil and gas companies with immediate effect? >> Prime
Minister. >> Mr. Speaker, on his point about investment in Russian oil and gas
gas. As I've said, we must move away from all our dependencies on Russian oil
and gas, and that is the objective of the UK government. Well, we're lucky in
this country that we have only 3% of our gas that comes from Russia. Other
European countries are in a much more exposed position. On his point about
supporting Eastern Europeans, we have, as he knows, doubled the size of our
commitment to Estonia. We've gone bigger in Poland and other 350 Marines from
45 commando were in the skies above Romania. I don't believe there's another
country in NATO that is currently doing more to strengthen NATO's Eastern
defenses. >> Felicity Buchan. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker, my constituency,
Kensington has strong historical connections with Ukraine, so I welcome this
robust approach. My constituency also has seen significant property
investments by Russian investors. Can I urge my right honourable friend to
accelerate the introduction of a register of beneficial ownership of property?
>> Prime Minister. >> Yes, she is completely right and we need to unpeel the
facade of these companies, the shell companies so we can see who owns the
property concerned. >> Hillary Bern. >> Thank you very much Indeed, Mr.
Speaker. It's because John Stuart Mill was right when he warned that bad men
need nothing more to accomplish their ends than that good men should look on
and do nothing. That the whole house will support the measures that the Prime
Minister has just announced. Now, in his statement, he said our mission is
clear; diplomatically, politically, economically, and eventually militarily.
What did he mean by using the word militarily? Was he referring to providing
further defensive weapons to enable Ukraine to defend itself? >> Prime
Minister. >> Yes. Mr. Speaker. I obviously don't want to go into detail
because it is a very sensitive and difficult business. But yes, Mr. Speaker,
we have done, we continue to do so. And I believe I have the support of the
house in intending to continue to do so. >> [inaudible 00:46:29]. >> Thank you
very much indeed, Mr. Speaker, I thank the Prime Minister for his words and
his, if I understand correctly, early commitment to the economic crime bell ,
and kleptocracy cell. In relation to that, will there be a foreign lobbying
deal? Will there be amendments to libel and data protection act to stop
unscrupulous law firms offering intimidation services to oligarchs and
kleptocrats. And will the NCA be properly funded as the ISC report suggested,
so it will be able to take on the kleptocrats, the autocrats and the oligarchs
in this country? >> Mr. Speaker, I'm grateful. As I said in my opening
statement, we are setting up a new combating kleptocracy cell in the National
Crime Agency to target the very individuals that he mentioned. >> Sarah
[inaudible 00:47:24]. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let us be under no illusion.
We are on the brink of a potentially enormous humanitarian crisis, which could
see massive loss of life and widespread suffering for the Ukrainian people and
all to suffer the warp desire complex that the Russian President. The attack
on Ukraine is also likely to cause mass displacement of people, potentially
triggering a significant refugee crisis in Europe. So can the Prime Minister
tell us what he is doing to support the Ukrainian people who stay and those
who choose to flee? >> She makes her very important point, and I'm grateful
Mr. Speaker, because the humanitarian impact threatens to be enormous. And
that's why I've said what I've said about supporting those refugees as they
come out of Ukraine. But we've got to make sure that we do everything we can
to stabilize the Ukrainian economy, to support the government as far as we
possibly can. And that's why yesterday and on Tuesday, I should say I
announced the $500 million extra package of development aid on top of the 100
million pounds we've already given. Other countries, our friends and allies
are working with us to do much more. >> [inaudible 00:48:38] >> Does the Prime
Minister agree that the International Order, as [inaudible 00:48:42] in the
Atlantic Charter of 1941, has been the most successful in the history of
freedom and democracy, and as one of the architects of that order, we have a
special responsibility to defend it. And whilst today's sanctions are
extremely welcome, it cannot just be economic measures. We need a fundamental
review of our military capability, including revisiting the integrated review
who's assumptions may now be out of date? >> Mr. Speaker, the Integrated
Review begins with the assertion that the most important area for our national
security is the Euro Atlantic areas, I believe I said to the Honorable
Gentleman opposite on Tuesday, and that remains fundamental. And that's why
we've continued with the investment that we have in NATO, where the second
biggest founder of NATO is, as the honorable gentleman knows. Anybody is, most
often than this. But he's right in what he says about what's at stake. This is
about the whole idea of that wonderful thing that was so inspiring than some
of us were young of a Europe whole and free. That fantastic revolution that
happened in 1989 and1990 when Communism fell. It was a great moment for
humanity and we mustn't allow it, to just get through our fingers. >> Five
Lewis. >> Thank you, Mrs. Speaker. I would like to say the people of Norwich,
we show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The warm words will not
defend the Ukrainian people. I've been speaking to people who have been
liaising with Ukrainian trade genius, people who've been fighting
privatization and wage cuts that they say one thing, that they will not run
from their homes. They would defend their families. Those people need to be
able to defend themselves. I support the Prime Minister's assertion that we
will be providing more defensive capabilities for that end. But let me say one
thing, Prime Minister and Mrs. Speaker. Will you agree, Prime Minister, that
we must have an end to this by a negotiative settlement and not by an
escalation of military needs. >> Mrs. Speaker, I think the whole house,
everybody in the world would want President Putin to have chosen the path of
negotiation. He had that moment. And that's why, if you remember, we had that
discussion in this house on Tuesday about that perilous moment which we all
discussed. He had that opportunity. I'm afraid he's missed it. He's chosen the
path of overwhelming violence and destruction, and I'm afraid that puts us on
a very different course. AndWe have to accept that reality. >> David Davis. >>
Everybody will whole heartedly the support the Prime Minister's sanctions
hopefully, against all a 140 irrational regards to support Putin and against
all the major banks. The prime minister also described the Russian state as a
pariah state. And he's right because they have broken international criminal
law on a major scale. Can we actually implement view of the pariah state by
ensuring that everybody involved in that decision, if they leave Russia to go
abroad, face international criminal sanctions wherever they go. >> I thank my
right honorable friend, and that is exactly what we can now do. Thanks to the
measures that this house has passed. >> Neil Hamley >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This morning we woke to the worst possible news, and I make no apology in
hoping for a diplomatic solution. However, my party and I condemn the
escalating Russian aggression. This is a fluid and developing situation, but
we are now in uncharted territory. And I can update the house that whilst
there have been calls in this place for Alex [inaudible 00:52:49] to cease
broadcasting on Russia today, negotiations have obviously been happening in
the background and I can confirm that he has suspended broadcasting on Russia
this day. >> But we must prepare for the worst. And I would ask the Prime
Minister what strategies is he bringing forward to increase the capacity of
North Sea oil and gas so that we can support ourselves and EU member states
and protect our people from a further increase in the cost of living. >> Mr.
Speaker, I must say I disagree profoundly with what he had to say about
negotiating now. I don't think that option is open to us, we must do our best
to support and protect the people of Ukraine, and working with our
international friends and allies to constrict whatever Vladimir Putin can do.
And on his point about Russia today, Mrs. Speaker, I simply observe that the
former leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party is, is he? >> Is he? >> I'm so
sorry. I'm sorry. He's leader. I understand the place he entered in defense in
and mitigation, they didn't seem to cut much ice with me. >> Shreve Brady. >>
I'm also standing. >> Steve Crabbe. >> Steve Crabbe, here is the name. >>
Speaker, I strongly welcome the further set of sanctions announced by the
prime minister this evening, and we look forward to further steps being taken
in the days ahead and not being held back by perhaps some of the slower moving
members of the alliance in Europe. But does the Prime Minister agree with me
that if sanctions are really to bite on Putin and his gangster government,
inevitably it will mean cost and inconvenience to UK economic interests. But
that cost and inconvenience will be of nothing compared to what the people of
Ukraine are going through and we stand with them this evening. >> Yeah. >> Yes
I'm afraid he's my honorable friend is right. It will mean cost, it will mean
inconvenience, it will mean difficulty for us in the UK. But that will be a
price worth paying, Mr. Speaker, for defeating the objectives of Vladimir
Putin and showing that aggression does not pay. >> Dave Johnson. >> Dave
Daniel Johnson. >> Could I just follow-up on the question from the honorable
member for the Island of Wight about the combatting kleptocracy, selling the
National Crime Agency, and just seek from the prime minister a view whether
additional powers will be required for the National Crime Agency and
additional resources for them to do their work. >> I thank her very much. They
will of course, they had plenty of existing statute but the additional powers
that they will have, amongst other things, will be the ability to peel back
the facade of ownership, which will be extremely valuable. >> So thank you,
Mr. Speaker. Whilst this terrible appalling incident is of course, directly
the course of Russia, I think it's appropriate that we also recognize that
over the last 14 years, the UK, the EU, the US collectively have not been
attentive to Russia in the way that we should. Can my right honorable friend
now say that whatever happened in the past, moving forward, we are not going
to let Russia fall between our fingers again. >> Yeah. >> Mrs. Speaker, I
think the lesson of 2014 is that the whole of the West failed to respond in
the way that we should. And when a sovereign country was invaded, and part of
that country was occupied, I'm afraid it was quite wrong that we tried to
manage the situation with the various diplomatic processes that we did, which
in the end produced absolutely nothing except finally, this catastrophic
invasion today. We have a better lesson, Mr. Speaker, about how to deal with
Vladimir Putin. [inaudible 00:57:21] >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree the
Prime Minister, that it seems like the curtain has now come down on that era
that began in 1989, and we've lived in an era of change since then, this now
feels like a change in the era. In this new era, the permissive environment
that we created for the Kremlin's quarter masters to live, to invest, and to
party in London sometimes with the Prime Minister himself, that must now come
to an end. Let me ask the Prime Minister this, will you undertake to ensure
that every visa issued to a Russian jewel national is now reviewed, and where
proximity to President Putin is proven, that citizenship should be stripped
away. >> Yes, Mr. Speaker. We are all doing that though I just think it's
worth the house remembering the point that I made the other day, not every
Russian is a bad person. >> [inaudible 00:58:28] >> Can I welcome the package
of sanctions the Prime Minister sets out? Whilst I understand why it's not
been able to suspend Russia from the Swift payment system at this stage, can I
ask what work we're doing with our European allies to offer them reassurance
so that eventually we can get to a position when they can be suspended because
that is by far, and away, the biggest thing that will isolate the Russian
economy. >> My honorable friend is spot on. The biggest thing would be if
everybody stopped taking Russian hydrocarbons, but SWIFT is extremely
important, and it's a Belgium company. I'm sure the host knows we're trying to
make progress with our friends, but for obvious reasons, it has to be done in
unison. >> Go ahead Mike Noble. >> I'm grateful Mr. Speaker, this morning I
spoke with friends in Kyiv who are leaving the country with their family,
their children, and we've all seen the scenes from the capital of cars trying
to get out. I send my deepest thanks to the embassy team there who are doing
all they can to support people. But can I ask the Prime Minister about two
areas of support for Ukraine, economic support, and continuing support for
defensive capability. Will both of those areas of support intensify, and can
he assure the house, I see the Foreign Secretary telling you so, can you
assure the house that the government will continue the deepest possible
conversations with the government in Ukraine to ensure that no matter the
assault that comes from Vladimir Putin, we will be supporting them in a deeply
meaningful sense? >> Yes, on that last point, the answer is certainly yes, Mr.
Speaker, and just for instance, the other day I was a looking into British
minesweepers being refitted in recyclers. I'm sure he knows which are due to
go to Ukraine. The question will be access, Mr. Speaker, that's what it all
depends on. >> Mr. Robert Buckland. >> Mr. Speaker, it's crystal clear from
this act of naked aggression that Putin doesn't seek finlandization on his
borders, he seeks it best to recreate a Belarus in the South or at worst, to
dismember the sovereign state of Ukraine. Does my light tone of a friend agree
with me that that does mean that we need to build upon the outcome of our
integrated defense review, we do need to think differently about Eastern
Europe from the past? Then at home with his announcement on bringing forward
economic crime measures, it seems that there is a consensus in this house that
could allow us to bring forward emergency legislation, to bring those
important measures to really hit those people hard, and hit them now. >> That
is clearly the wheel of the house, it's the will of the government, and that's
why we'll be taking those important measures, bringing them forward on Monday.
[inaudible 01:01:29] >> Mr. Speaker, my thoughts are with the Ukrainian people
at this time. While I welcome the sanctions the Prime Minister's announced
today, can he update the house on whether he plans to sanction the major state
owned Russian banks such as SberBank, and Gazprombank, and the non-state bank,
Alfa Bank. Thank you. >> Yes, Mr. Speaker. >> Mr. Speaker, the Ukrainian POW
Chapel at law could be in my constituency as a focal point for the Ukrainian
diaspora in Scotland, and prayers are being said there for their fellow
countrymen. But what Ukrainians in the UK have identified being grateful for
the military support that has already been forthcoming is that there is an
immediate need for medical, battlefield supplies, for warm clothing for
troops, and for camouflage gear, and can my right honourable friend, the Prime
Minister, assure the house that they will be forthcoming? >> I thank my old
friend very much. He raised this very important issue, and we're working on
exactly those supplies right now. >> I thank Prime Minister for his statement,
and very welcome the sanctions that was announced today. But can you give an
assurance that the sanctions that are going to target individuals will also a
target relatives, and connected parties like they were swindled, you mentioned
that you commit crime go we've got the review of the Official Secrets Act and
the foreign registration, why can't we bring them forward, and do them now?
They'll we get huge support, and we'd been waiting for some of these for
nearly two years. >> Yeah. >> Mr. speaker, I can tell him that we will
certainly be making sure that we are able to sanction, and do sanction
relatives, and other interested parties, and there'll be there'll be a rolling
programme of intensifying sanctions. >> Crispy Bend. >> Having been one of the
officials of the company of the then Defense Secretaries based Moscow and Kyiv
in 1093, I'm in no doubt that the signatures of the United States, and the
United Kingdom on the Budapest Memorandum gave Ukraine the confidence to give
up its nuclear deterrence. Will my Right Honourable friend support the United
States whatever extent it is prepared to go, to stand alongside the United
States in getting whatever military support it's prepared to do so to Ukraine?
>> My Right Honourable friend is absolutely right to remind the House of the
1994 Budapest Memorandum, which had exactly that effect and created exactly
that obligation on us as one of the signatories. >> The prime minister will be
aware that we are in this side of the house very keen on these sanctions.
Although does he share with me the worry that the record of driving out
dictators and demagogues with these sanctions isn't always successful. Does he
share my concern, that if we've read what Putin has been saying these last few
hours, he's a man who might not stop at Ukraine. He might go into a NATO
country, and are we playing that scenario, because many of us think that might
be the next step? >> The Right Honourable gentleman is absolutely right to
raise that appalling possibility, and it is vital that we reaffirm again that
under Article 5 of the NATO treaty we stand foursquare behind everyone of our
NATO allies, and we'll come to their defense. >> Iain Duncan Smith. >>
Speaker, can I say to my Right Honourable friend that with Ukrainian men and
women dying to fight against the Russians for their freedom today those who
are calling for negotiation at this point can only please that rambling wreck
of a neo-Nazi sitting in the Kremlin and they should be shunned. Secondly, can
I just say to my Right Honourable friend today the ambassador from Ukraine
asked desperately whether NATO would look at a no-fly zone. I know it's a
difficult choice but could my Right Honourable friend step to the dispatch box
and make it clear that in this particular case he rules nothing out. >> Mr.
Speaker, I know that my Right Honourable friend is a great military expert and
he will understand, and I understand the attractions of the no-fly zone. I
remember, the no-fly zone that was created in 1991, as I recall in Northern
Iraq the situation here is very different. We would face the risk of having to
shoot down Russian planes Mr. Speaker, and that is something that I think the
House would want to contemplate with caution. >> Lloyd Russell-Moyle. >> In
locking out Russian state money, I hope the Prime Minister can give me a
reassurance that will include our overseas territories and dependencies that
must be included in this. And I note that their are Mr. Speaker protests in a
number of Russian cities across Russia at the moment, and celebrities in
Russia have been speaking out. I do hope that we will be offering all the
support that we can to those people who are likely to be shunned by the
fascist imperialist Putin regime. >> Yes. And can I say Mr. Speaker that one
of the reasons why I want to keep our fantastic British Embassy staff in
Moscow, even though the temptation is there simply to sunder our diplomatic
relations with Putin, I want to keep them there to support groups, such as the
ones he mentions. >> Bob Stewart. >> Mr. Speaker, I've given evidence for war
crimes trials. It was genocide and crimes against humanity the people were
charged with. Could I ask my Right Honourable friend and the House to agree
with me that any Russian who kills a Ukrainian must remember that one day they
may well be brought to court for crimes against humanity or genocide. >> Yes,
Mr. Speaker, and not just any Russian competent Mr. Speaker but anyone who
sends a Russian into battle to kill innocent Ukrainians. >> [inaudible
01:08:02]. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. President Zelenskyy has called for the
toughest possible sanctions, for them to be the toughest possible, that must
mean immediate. In his statements, he talked about in the next session for the
economic measures, including on company's house and on the register of
overseas property ownership. But in answer to the Right Hounarable member for
Swindon, he said something about bringing forward on Monday. Which of these is
it? And if it is Monday, will it have the same effect as is required for that
immediate action? >> We will be bringing it forward on Monday Mr. Speaker. I'm
grateful for the support of the opposition, we want immediately to start
cracking down on these individuals. >> Jesse Norman. >> Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. The whole House will welcome the enhanced package of sanctions that
the Prime Minister has announced today. But can I raise the question of
football much beloved to Russian hearts and in particular, issues of ownership
of property and of share holdings and of the future participation of Russian
clubs in international matches. >> He's right. My Right Honourable friend is
completely right. The Russians attach a great deal of sentimental importance
to football, and they hope to have the UEFA Championship final in St.
Petersburg. I cannot for the life of me see how that can currently go ahead.
>> Liz Saville Roberts. >> Putin's war on Ukraine is brutal, illegal, and a
calculated attack on peace and stability in Europe. Plaid Cymru fully supports
the actions and sanctions announced today. Putin's, his cronies and their
personal fortunes must pay for their actions. On a visit to Ukraine, Plaid
Cymru leaders spoke to Ukrainian soldiers, government officials and
organizations admiring Ukrainian people for their strengths and their
resilience and they are now in harm's way. With Poland organizing medical
assistance and Slovakia opening its borders to refugees, will his government
mobilize and resource a global effort to support and aid people fleeing this
horrific conflict? >> Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank her very much for her
support and her resolve, and I want to assure her that we're, of course
working with our international friends to prepare for a humanitarian crisis.
>> Dehenna Davison. >> Mr. Speaker, earlier this afternoon I had the
opportunity to speak to you on a Zoom call with the number of Ukrainian MPs
who were all calling for additional support. One of the key things they were
discussing is consent to their communications that works, may get shut down.
So can I urge the Prime Minister to ensure we're doing all we can to provide
things like satellite phones to make sure they can still communicate, not just
internally, but with us here in the UK too. >> Mr. Speaker my honorable is
absolutely right. There is a threat to communications already and we're
observing it in the contacts that we're having with people in Ukraine.
Satellite phones certainly are an option we will be looking at that. >> Sarah
Owen. >> Thank you Mr. Speaker. We've rightly heard a lot about tougher trade
sanctions today, but nothing about reading Russian state influence from our
democracy. Will the Prime Minister commit to investigating all political
donations received from people with links to Putin? And will his government
finally bring forward measures to clean up the corrupt Russian money that for
far too long has been laundered in the UK? >> Yeah. >> So Mr. Speaker, all
political donations are properly registered and I can tell her that we are
putting forward and progressively over the last few days and weeks and today,
the biggest ever package to crack down on dirty Russian money, not just from
Russia but from anywhere. >> Steve Baker. >> Mr. Speaker, I welcome these
sanctions today, my right honorable friend has been crystal-clear that all
Europe needs to end dependence on Russian oil and gas. Could you tell us a
little bit more about how he intends to see that that comes to pass. >> Thank
you, my right honorable friend. The key thing is to get people, first of all
to recognize the scale of their dependency as in any addiction. And that's
what we're doing in the UK governments been making that point the whole time
to our friends because it's gotten worse since 2014. But what we're also doing
is helping countries, presence in the Baltic states, to go further and faster
with renewable technology. >> Daniel [inaudible 01:12:46] >> Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. I think everyone knows the Ukraine is a major producer of grain and
unfortunately because of these awful events, they'll likely be consequences
for many countries, including our own, could ask them the Prime Minister's
look again at our food security proposals and make sure that we're secure
ourselves and not reliant as much as we have been in the past. >> Yeah. >>
Yeah, he's absolutely right and food security isn't important consideration.
And one of the many things that are fantastic Ukrainian community have done in
the last few years is help us in that very sector. >> Andrew Bridget. >> Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. Doe's my right honorable friend agreement with me that
Western Europe's ongoing reliance on Russian oil and gas has been a major
factor in embolding President Putin in the mistaken belief that he can invade
his peaceful neighbor with relative impunity and in the UK shouldn't we
refocus our energy policy on maximizing the use our own natural resources,
looking again at fracking what we invest in low-carbon alternatives? >> Yes,
my honorable friend is totally right when he talks about the excessive
dependence on hydrocarbons, we're moving away from it in this country. I do
think there is America. I think he might not be in agreement on this. There is
a merit in a transitional phase in continuing with the use of hydrocarbons in
this country, rather than pointlessly importing them from abroad. >>
[inaudible 01:14:19] >> Mr. Speaker, Putin's imperial blood ****, wont stop at
Ukraine. We're rightly focused on sanctions, military and humanitarian
support, and our commitment to Ukrainian freedom. But the Prime Minister knows
there's been a phenomenal increase in Russian submarine activity over the last
20 years. Our undersea cables carry more than 95% of all Western military,
diplomatic, commercial, financial, and personal communications. The
consequences of these cables being weaponized is terrifying. Can you assure me
that countering this threat is part of our ongoing dialogue with allies. >>
Yeah. >> She's absolutely right and there is a continual struggle going on
beneath the surface of the sea as she knows, between submarines that are out
to sever cables and those of us who were trying to make sure that those links
are maintained. >> Charles Walker. >> Mr. Speaker, following on from my right
honorable and gallant friends question about war crimes. I suspect those
crimes are already being committed by Russian soldiers against their Slavic
brothers and sisters. Can the Prime Minister join with his NATO heads of
state, setting out at an early stage how war crimes will be prosecuted. So all
Russian soldiers, field officers, generals, and of course, as the Prime
Minister said, politicians are brutally aware of where they will end up in a
few years time. >> Yeah, very good. >> He's absolutely right. And I thank him
very much, my honorable friend. That's why we're working on setting up a
particular International War Crimes tribunals for those involved in war crimes
in the Ukraine theater. >> He's being incredibly ruthless. President Putin is
also incredibly rich with one assessment saying that his personal wealth is up
to $200 billion. So can the parameters to ensure that President Putin himself
pays a heavy price by targeting his own cash and assets. >> Yeah. >> Yes,
absolutely. Mr. Speaker and not just him, but as the house has heard over the
last few days, as many of his immediate cronies and family as we can hit. >>
[inaudible 01:16:45] >> Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Prime Minister for all
that he's done. Just before his statement, I spoke to some of the Ukrainian
protestors who are outside. One of them was holding back tears and she spoke
about her mother in a cellar as her house is surrounded by Ukrainian tanks. So
any member of this house who's asking for a negotiated settlement, he's going
to speak to them because all they want is a deliver their lives as free and
peaceful people. Will the Prime Minister confirm to the people of Ukraine,
that he would do everything he can to end the tyranny of Putin. And that he
will do everything he can to make sure that they live as a peaceful, free
people. >> Yes, I certainly can confirm that Mr. Speaker. Well, I can also
say, is that I believe by making this invasion, I think that President Putin
whose done more than anybody else to bring his regime to an end, because I
think in the end he will pay a huge price of what he's done. And I know that
this house want to make make it so. >> [inaudible 01:17:44] >> Mr. Speaker.
Can I welcome and support the measures outlined by the Prime Minister today?
Putin is a gangster and a despot, whose been trying to undermine and subvert
democracy across the world for years. One of the tools that he uses is through
political donations to political parties, including in this country. Will the
Prime Minister commit today to ridding the democracy in London to running
Russian money out of democracy in this country? >> Yeah. >> Yes, of course,
Mr. Speaker. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
and Poland today triggered Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty and I think
I heard that we are going to be joining in those discussions. But can my right
to defend assure our NATO allies in Eastern Europe that we stand firmly with
them, particularly the Baltic states that have significant Russian
populations? >> I thank you very much. She's completely right and that's why
one of the first things we did was to strengthen our presence in Estonia in
the way that I've described. Our Canadian friends are strengthening their
presence in Latvia and we will make sure that we give the Baltic states in
particular, who seceded from the Soviet Union who became free and independent
for that amazing moment, give them all the security that they deserve. >>
Debbie Abrahams. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's overwhelming evidence that
Russian state activities have been involved in trying to disrupt and
destabilize Western democracies using social media platforms such as Facebook.
What is the government doing to ensure that this isn't used in these events?
>> Mr. Speaker as I said I think in an answer, a couple of days ago, we've
gotten no evidence of disruption of UK elections or electrical events as a
result of Russian activity, but the Online Harms Bill is there to provide such
protections. >> [inaudible 01:19:56]. >> Here, Mr. Speaker. Can I thank my
right honorable friend for his statement and indeed thank the leader of Her
Majesty's opposition for his supportive and moving words. But can I also
reinforce the points made by my honorable friend for Huntington. Why has it
come to this pass, how has the West in general and the United Kingdom in
particular been so asleep at the switch for such a long period of time? I
commend the defense and security review, but it isn't it now time to ask what
the permanent and impartial machinery of our government does, failing to
provide ministers with consistent advice about the strategic threats that our
country faces? >> Mr. Speaker, I think there are all sorts of reasons for the
failure of the West to counter the threat of Vladimir Putin since 2014, but
the two biggest are our oil and gas. >> Nick Smith. >> Mr. Speaker with cyber
attacks and falsehoods, Russia is peddling lies today. Now observers on the
ground are crucial to relay the truth. Now, in recent weeks, the UK has
withdrawn its team from the OSCE special monitoring mission because staff
safety is key. But can the Prime Minister look again to support international
efforts like this to get to the facts and counter Russian disinformation? >>
Hear. >> I think the MMR Teams, they're wonderful, I've met them and they do a
fantastic job and sorry that they've had to be withdrawn for the duty of care
reasons that he rightly alludes to. We will keep it under constant review. >>
Liam Fox. >> The 1994 Budapest memorandum saw Ukraine give up its nuclear
weapons in return for a security guarantee not only signed by Britain and the
United States, but by Russia. Does my right honorable friend believe that
Ukraine would've been invaded had it retained its nuclear weapons, and what
does it say about the value of a Russian signature on any international
agreement? >> Well, it's clear that President Putin sets [inaudible 01:22:15]
by international law whatever and these, that is just one of the legal
obligations that he is torn up. >> [inaudible 01:22:22]. >> Thank you very
much. Mr. Speaker, we awoke this morning to images of innocent families
[inaudible 01:22:27]. We know that Putin's regimes propensity for oppression
and tyranny particularly when it comes to minorities,. Will the Prime Minister
ensured that humanitarian aid is delivered not just in concert with other
international partners, but also with third sector organizations? >>
[inaudible 01:22:43] >> Yes, of course I have heard third sector plays an
invaluable role. >> Iain Stewart. >> Thank you Mr. Speaker. I welcome the
Prime Minister's statement and his specifically ruling out the threat of
creeping normalization. Because this house should be under no doubt that Putin
is well prepared, he has hundreds of billions of foreign currency reserves, he
has a military that has been tested and will the Prime Minister do everything
he can to convert the current intent into frameworks that cement our intent
overtime because he is better on the fact that it won't. >> My honorable
friend is absolutely right because the plan that the G7 had agreed on, our
friends [inaudible 01:23:29] is that Putin must fell. Putin must not succeed
in his venture, but we've got to put in place all the steps we need to take;
diplomatically, economically, and yes, militarily in order to ensure that that
is the case and that's what we're doing. >> [inaudible 01:23:45]. >> Mr. Prime
Minister is right to have setup the most stringent possible set of sanctions
against the government of Russia. Can he outline for the house what the
implications will also be for cooperation at the International Space Station?
>> I thank him very much. We'll have to see what further downstream effects
there are on collaboration of all kinds. I must say the hitherto, I have been
broadly in favor of continuing artistic and scientific collaboration, but in
the current circumstances, it's hard to see how even those could continue as
normal. >> [inaudible 01:24:29]. >> Speaker, the mix of practice and principal
is the test of democratic politics, exemplify that is best when this house
comes together in common cause. The test of leadership is the mix of vision
and will, and the Prime Minister is to be commended for his willful, clear
sighted determination. Will he now reassure the house that he's in close touch
with those countries close to Ukraine where nerves would be afraid and that
will he send them an urgent message that this house and this nation will
always stand alongside and behind free nations? >> The right honorable
gentleman, as so often, is precisely right and that's why together with my
right honorable friends, the Defense Secretary, Foreign Secretary, we've been
visiting Poland, Romania, the balts, all those who are now feeling such deep
unease at what is happening. >> Alistair Carmichael. >> Mr. Speaker as we
speak, the [inaudible 01:25:36] tanker and it's challenger is berthed at
[inaudible 01:25:40] in Shetland, taking on a load of crude oil for export.
[inaudible 01:25:45] is a company owned and operated by the Russian
government. My constituents, Mr. Speaker, are asking me why they should be
loading oil onto a Russian tanker while Russian troops are marching into the
Ukraine? I cannot think of any good answer to give them. Can the Prime
Minister tell me, well, anything that he has announced today ensure that will
not happen again in the future? Well, I will thank you very much and I will,
of course, immediately investigate what is happening with the soft com flopped
old tanker. But the result of the measures that the House passed the other day
is that we can now target any entity, any company that has any relation with
the Russian state, so we have that power. >> [inaudible 01:26:37] >>
[inaudible 01:26:39] and megalomaniacs invade countries because they think
they can get away with it. The way to deal with bullies is to stand up with
them, so I'm sure he will acknowledge that the way the West responds to this
aggression will have repercussions not just for Russia and Ukraine, but for
other bullies like China as well. Will he be mindful of the need to show
support to Russian's, smaller southerly neighbors, especially Georgia and
Armenia, who feel particularly vulnerable at this time? >> Yeah. >> Yes, I
thank him. He's right because the read across the knock-on is obvious for
Georgia and Armenia. What he proposes to create, Putin, is a new sphere of
inputs, a new Yoda in which those countries come behind his new anchor. >>
[inaudible 01:27:23] >> Mr. Speaker, as a member of his House with Ukrainian
heritage, this issue particularly troubles me. I'd like to thank the Prime
Minister for his tone of his statements and the resolute and swift action that
he's proposing and tackling Russia but resolute and swift support its
offerings for people of Ukraine. During his speech, he also highlighted the
issues of the cost of living and the rise of fuel prices. Could you also touch
on what further actions government will take in order to address that issue?
>> I thank him very much and I think he's quite right because I think people
across the country, we'll be thinking about the effect on us all of the
increase in the price of oil and gas as a result of war in Ukraine. We will
continue to do everything we can to help people to abate the cost, to support
people through council, through all the funds that were giving the reduction
in council tax, Mr. Speaker. But the best thing that we can do is ensure that
people are in good, well-paying jobs. That is, in that we're certainly
succeeding. But in the medium and the long term, we've got to have more
self-reliance in this country on our own energy supplies. And that is what
this government is also committed to building. >> [inaudible 01:28:46] >> Mr.
Speaker, one of the most important economic sanctions we can take against
Russia is by freezing its sovereign debt. When my right arm normal friend
confirm that the bill proposed on Monday on economic crime will include powers
to do so. Mr. Speaker, we taking the most powerful measures against Russia and
the Russian economy that have ever been taken. I think probably the most
powerful ever taken by any country and Russia will no longer be able to raid
any sovereign debt on UK markets. >> [inaudible 01:29:22] >> Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. I'd like to ask Prime Minister what support we will be providing
Ukrainian citizens settled in the UK who wished to reunite with their family
members still resided in Ukraine. Many have watched their cities rapidly get
caught up in this conflict and are keen to know what more we could be doing to
support them to reunite their families? >> Mr. Speaker, we will make sure that
we support Ukrainian nationals who need to leave to come to this country to
meet their relatives and of course we'll do that. >> Steve [inaudible
01:30:02] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm proud of the Prime Minister in this
country at leading international support to our friends in Ukraine.
Domestically, will the Prime Minister be providing more support for
organizations such as our NHS, public sector organizations and businesses that
will now be the subject of Russian cyber attacks. >> He's right to point to
these risks. Mr. Speaker, and I think it's foresighted. We are investing
massively in cyber protection. I think of another 2.6 billion pounds we're
putting in. I think in the last few years we've tackled more 3,000 cyber
attacks. It's a risk that I'm afraid we must run in the cause of freedom. >>
Matt Robert. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to offer my wholehearted
support for much tougher sanctions against President Putin and his dreadful
regime. Mr. Speaker, as the honorable gentleman from what could be mentioned
earlier, there are many historic Ukrainian communities in Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. The deed I would like to commend the work of the readying
Ukrainian center. I would like to ask the Prime Minister, what additional
support can the government give to these very valuable community groups and
centers around the country who offer such support to families, friends,
relatives both in the UK and in the Ukraine. >> I think, Mr. Speaker, perhaps
the most important thing we can do for the Ukrainian community in these
countries is thank them, recognize them for everything that they've done for
us in the last decades. They had been an amazing addition to the UK economy,
to our cultural and artistic life. >> John Burrow. >> Thank you Mr. Speaker.
The house is united in its condemnation, but I suggest to the Prime Minister
the lessons to be addressed from this affair started with the invasion of
Georgia, Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008 and not 2014. Many of us across
the house have been warning about Russia and yet the response has been weak.
Does the Prime Minister accept that as we enter the battlefield, democracy
globally, we have got to understand that the sooner you square up to the
playground bully, the better, and that we adequately support our hard and soft
power to do that. >> Yeah. Yes, he is quite right, and I know that by soft
power, he's thinking of the British council, which can have such a wonderful,
beneficial effect across Russia. And I've seen its work across Russia. But Mr.
Speaker, he's right about standing up to the playground bully. We should've
done it ages ago. think the scales have fallen from the eyes of many of our
friends and partners. >> [inaudible 01:32:49] >> Thanks very much Mr. Speaker.
In an earlier response the Prime Minister suggested that this country would
welcome people who were reuniting with family here, either constituent whose
Ukrainian, but a British citizen who's trying to bring her mother from
Ukraine, but being turned down because she is over 18, her mother is on our
own, has no family so naturally she's frightened. Will we see a change in the
home office to enable British citizens who are Ukrainian to bring their
vulnerable family here. >> Yes, I thank you very much. I think I read out to
help line number in the House on Tuesday, I didn't have it again, there is a
number both in Livy abandoned and in this country. But if if she could do me
the favor and send me the details, I'll take them up. >> Richard Wright. >>
Mr. Speaker, can I come in our own friend and his ministers for the firm
stands they're taking. None of us know where, or what Mr. Putin longer-term
aims are. If Ukraine falls and I fear it might, his cover design might land on
the Baltic States and other vulnerable countries, come out right my friend
reassure NATO members, that if one Russian boot lands on NATO soil, military
force will be met by military force. >> Yes, and I want to so encouraging Mr.
Speaker, is that the whole house understands the vital importance of that
article five guarantee that we make to every one of the 30 members of NATO. >>
Toddy Loid. >> The Prime Minister quite rightly pits this being a battle
between the policy of wall and those who support international law. There is
only one lawful governments in Ukraine, that's the government of president
Zelenskyy, if they are forced to move forth possibly in to make selfish short
row of the longer arm. Will the prime minister state very clearly, that we
will make sure they can be a functional, and effective government wherever
they operate from? >> It's a very important point that he raises, I'm
grateful, and that's why in our discussions with our president's Zelenskyy, we
are seeing what we can do to give them the practical support that they need to
continue. >> Robert [inaudible 01:35:15]. >> The City of London is a global
asset, whose enduring success doesn't rest on dirty money, it rests on a
commitment to excellence, and on the adherence with the rule of law. So it's
right that we now use that, as a way to show global leadership. Can I
encourage my right humble friend to sanction all of the remaining Russian
banks, to sanction the executives associated with them. And I noticed that
many are resigning today, to publish a further list of individuals resident in
this country or otherwise to be sanctioned, and to redouble his excellent
efforts to suspend Russia from Swift, as the single most effected immediate
step, that the West could do to put pressure on Vladimir Putin. >> I thank him
very much, I thank him particularly for his important to testimonial to the
city of London, whose works should not be salad Mr. Speaker by association
with ill-gotten Russian money. But the program that he set out, the sanctions
is exactly the right one and the one that government is following. >> Mike
Kerry. >> I thank you, Mr. Speaker, and returning Kate for hates multiplies,
hates adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid stars. Will the Prime
Minister reiterate that our quarrel is not with the Russian people, it is with
their leader Vladimir Putin, and he has committed a very, very grave error. >>
He's so right, and I know that is what the house thinks we admire the Russian
people. Our links to the Russian people go back to the time where we stood
shoulder to shoulder to fight fascism with the Russian people. Russia's
contribution to culture, to arts to make sure is to music, unparalleled. It is
an extraordinary country, and nothing that we do or say, or should obscure
that. >> Share Bradley. >> Winston Churchill created the Council of Europe as
a vastly and against fascism and communism. And since the fall of communism,
Russia has set great importance by its membership is a fig leaf of
respectability. Every time our conservative group has tried to get them
expelled, we've been foiled by Russian goal. Will the Prime Minister now
instruct his ambassador, on the Council of Europe, to move for the immediate
expulsion of Russia, from the Council of Europe, so there is no place for
gangsters in the halls of civilized nations. >> I think adequately put Mr.
Speaker and he's dead right, and I think that my honorable friend Vehenly made
the point the other day. And I certainly who's on the Council of Europe, I
certainly agree with that. >> Go on Davies. >> Mr. Speaker, so many Russians
today see the attack on Ukraine as they would see an attack of their father on
their mother, because there's such intimate family relationships between these
two groups. And today, thousands of Russians are protesting in cities against
their domestic law, against this awful war. Will he provide them with his
support, will he amplify that support to help reduce any support there is for
this ridiculous war? And also provide a sanction and safe haven for refugees,
including troops, who may want to re-engage the troops outside of Ukraine so
they can re-engage, so we can win this war at home and abroad? >> He makes a
seriously extremely important observations. And yes, I think it's vital that
we get the message across to the whole of Russia about what is really going
on, that they're lied to day after day. And I think that he is pointed by
supporting troops who need temporary exile as it were, is a very good one. >>
Peter Bell. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank Prime Minister, for
yet again coming to house to keep us informed, and for his leadership in this
crisis. It's right to provide military aid to Ukraine, but the Ukrainian
ambassador did ask for our support, no fly so today. And he's a answer
earlier, I think the Prime Minister who was keeping that option open, Is that
correct? >> Yeah. I think it's pretty clear to the highest Mr. Speaker that
we're trying to keep all our options open on this front. Some of them frankly,
maybe more practicable than others. And I think we must also have a dose of
realism about what we can do on the military front, but we will keep all
things under review. >> Rachel Hawkins. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many of the
residents in my constituency come from number of the countries on the Eastern
flank and still have relatives living there. Obviously, like I said, we're
deeply concerned about the humanitarian impact of the crisis. So what steps is
the government taken to prepare for the humanitarian issue, and with the
thousand troops on standby to help with humanitarian assistance will they now
be deployed. >> I think she raised a very important point. And what we're
seeing now, tragically is people moving west out of Kyiv. Columns of traffic
as I'm sure the House knows. People are already moving into Southeastern
Poland. There is going to be an influx, as I said to the president of Poland
as well, we're there to help. >> [inaudible 01:40:58]. >> Thank you, Mr.
Speaker, and I think the Prime Minister, for his statement today and for his
strong package of sanctions. I want to ask him about preventing sexual
violence in conflict. In November last year, we issued a strong statement
which said that the use of sexual violence as a weapon in conflict is a red
line, akin to the use of chemical weapons. Will he reaffirm that commitment
today and will he send a strong message to Russia that the international
community will not tolerate the use of sexual violence in conflict? >> Yes.
And I thank her for all the work that she's done on that issue. It's something
that the UK government has campaigned on for a long time. And indeed raised
the issue very greatly in international consciousness. I think it should be
treated as a war crime like any other and people who perpetrate sexual
violence in conflict could expect to be tried in those tribunals. >> Joy Mark.
>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In seeking to redraw the boundaries of Europe
through bloodshed, Putin has attacked not only the Ukraine but, all of us and
we stand with Ukraine in standing for the rule of law. I welcome the sanctions
that he's announced, but I was confused by his response on Russian
disinformation which he seemed to imply will be addressed by the online safety
bill. That is many, many, many months away. Russian disinformation is
organized. Their bots or state-sponsored. What steps will he take to address
them? >> Prime Minister. >> Thank you. And she raised a good point. What we're
doing is a massive positive StratComs campaign in Russian and Ukrainian to
make sure that people get the truth and they hear the truth. >> Adam Holloway.
>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we've noticed this afternoon, virtually everyone
in this House has supported the efforts towards resistance over the last few
months and in these days. I imagine the House will also support the very
different warfare under occupation over the coming months and possibly years.
But the House will also have noticed the marvelous way the Prime Minister has
spoken directly to the Russian people today. And I hope that he will bear in
mind that at the moment public opinion in Russia is rather different. That
doesn't undermine the importance of accurate information. >> Prime Minister.
>> Yes. >> He is quite right. And I thank him. He's a distinguished former
soldier and he knows that truth is the first casualty. We have to make sure
that we are telling people exactly what is going on. And to the best of my
knowledge, at the moment, the Ukrainians are resisting much more strongly than
some people had thought that they would. Who knows, how long they can keep
going. Let's hope they can and let's encourage them to do so. But Mr. Speaker,
let's get the message out as well. I think that is our job. >> Chris Bryant.
>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Prime Minister is absolutely right. We
equivocated shamelessly after Crimea, we were spineless. We must not be
spineless now. Because what will inevitably happen is either the Baltic
states, one of the members of NATO, or perhaps Sweden or Finland will feel the
wrath of Putin next. And that will mean British action. Don't we need to try
and set in train now, a process whereby Putin himself ends up in the dock in a
court? Norman Birkett said, who was the alternate British judge at Nuremberg,
said at Nuremberg, "Initiating a war of aggression is not only an
international crime, it is the supreme international crime, differing only
from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil
of the whole". He must be brought to a court of law and end his days in
prison, mustn't he? >> Mr. Speaker, I think one of the most fascinating things
about what Putin is doing, is how close an analogy there is between his
actions and those were Slobodan Milosevic. Exactly the same, nonsense being
peddled about the mystical union between Kosovo and Belgrade as between Kyiv
and Moscow. Exactly the same aggression. And remember that Slobodan Milosevic
died on trial. >> Mark [inaudible 01:45:37]. >> Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker. I welcome the package of sanctions set up by the Prime Minister and
the fact that he's confirmed more will come. If they are to be successful at
punishing President Putin for what he has done to date and deterring him from
going further in attacking our NATO partners, they must be sustained. And if
they're to be sustained, we must be honest with the British people that there
is going to be a cost for them. We are going to have to pay an economic cost,
but it's a cost we must pay and it pales into insignificance compared to the
cost of the people of Ukraine? >> Yes. And not only is that true, Mr. Speaker,
but the opportunity and the reward for success and being strong is huge,
because if this should end, Mr. Speaker with the rejection of aggression and
the rejection of the Putin regime's view of the world, then that would be a
massive, massive benefit, and an economic benefit as well to the whole world.
>> Chamberlain. >> Mr. Speaker, up until May 2021, Valentina Yakaliva was my
constituent. She resided in Scotland for 20 years with her daughter and her
family. But due to an initial error in an application, she eventually
exhausted appeals and was deported with two COVID jags last year. Now that 71
year old is sheltering in a subway. In response to the honorable member for
Central Ayrshire who is no longer in place, I would reiterate, does the Prime
Minister agree with me that as we face a likely refugee crisis, the UK must be
doing all it can to extract individuals who have immediate family relatives in
the UK and urge for support for this case? >> Again, I thank her very much for
drawing the case to my attention. If she sends me the details I'll be happy to
make sure it's properly taken up by the Home Office. >> Can I just say those
who didn't get in, we have got a list for next time because this will
definitely not be the end. But people leave before I come to the gym