My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these measures, which my party strongly supports. He will recall that, when we discussed the first tranche of the new form of sanctions against Russia, I specifically raised the need to move swiftly to expand the provisions to the Lukashenko regime. It has been the facilitator, host and handmaiden of grotesque abuses of international law and human rights norms.
I support the policy objectives of these regulations, which are to coerce and constrain, and signal to Belarus that the UK stands strongly against its practices. I support all those elements. Just yesterday, the UN aviation agency found that Belarusian officials are to blame for a bomb hoax on a Ryanair flight which forced it to land in Minsk so that they could secure those who are, in effect, journalist freedom fighters. The agency said it was
“an act of unlawful interference”,
which shows the unreliability of the Lukashenko regime. It is therefore right that the aviation, shipping and transportation sectors are covered.
I have a general question on our relationship with the European Union, which is now in its fifth round of restrictive measures against Belarus. When the Minister responds to this short debate, it would help if he could reassure me that we are now in like-for-like lockstep with the EU’s restrictive measures—with the same list of individuals and the same restrictions on services and financial services that are now in our measures. Are we in complete alignment with the European Union? I ask this because one of the elements—which
I support—allows for greater co-ordination with the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia. It would be helpful to know whether our list of relevant individuals under these regulations is the same as the European Union’s list.
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The Minister may not want to respond to this today, but I understand that through the Czech presidency of the EU an invitation has been extended to the UK to participate in the EU forum on Ukraine in late August or early September. I would be grateful if the Minister could confirm that it is intended that the UK will be represented at it.
I want to ask a couple of questions about the measures. I do so fully knowing that UK trade with Belarus is limited. According to the Department for International Trade, Belarus is the UK’s 115th largest trading partner, so the trade is fairly minimal. Nevertheless, there are still British interests and foreign direct investment into Belarus from the UK. It is only £21 million, but it would be helpful to know whether FDI, as well as the other trading elements of UK trade, will all be covered by these measures—which I would support, if they are.
I am grateful that the Government have brought forward a clear impact assessment on these measures, because this is helpful in understanding the likely consequences. The Government have said that the mid-range estimate of the impact on the UK over a nine-year period is likely to be £370 million, which is significant, and will focus on these key areas.
One of the areas in this measure is shipping. We know that it has been Belarus’s practice to use UK-based enterprises, and there is concern that that is a likely to be a conduit for Russian activity. Will these measures cover UK-registered ships that carry out business activity for Belarusian interests? The regulations at the moment restrict the registration of ships in the name of designated persons and Belarusian ships. I have asked the Minister questions on this before. With regard to the wider insurance market, as well as those British-registered ships, are they also covered by these measures?
There is an interesting and helpful line in paragraph 18 of the impact assessment. The Government have recognised that while these sanctions are tough—as they should be, and I support them—
“there does remain the risk that further sanctioning reduces Belarus’ sovereignty by forcing them to rely further on Russia economically.”
The Government have said that we have no complaint with the Belarusian people. It would be helpful to know whether there are exit strategies for our relationship with Belarus, given that the Government have highlighted a risk that we are effectively making Belarus almost entirely dependent on Russia.
My final question, and I will be happy if the Minister writes to me on it, is about applicability in the overseas territories of Gibraltar and Bermuda, and in Jersey and the Isle of Man. The Government have said that they intend to make secondary legislation under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act that will apply these measures to those territories. When are the Government likely to bring that forward? At the moment, we strongly support this measure, but
there are gaps with regards to those territories. I will be happy if the Minister chooses to write to me with clarification on those points. If he can respond today, that is very welcome, but if not, I will be very happy to receive a letter.