.@TomTugendhat withering on @BBCr4today about @BorisJohnson Brexit boasts:
"One of the reasons I was were given for leaving the European Union was that we could do independent sanctions. That's what I was told by the then Foreign Secretary in 2018. Well let's see them."
The EU imposed sanctions on 351 Russian MPs yesterday but the UK didn't.
More on the UK's delayed response here: inews.co.uk/opinion/boris-…
.@TomTugendhat also made clear he had long objected to Russian linked donations to the Tory party.
.@TomTugendhat has been part of a cross party calls for a serious clean up of dirty Russian money in London. And @lisanandy was among the most vociferous. This is from last year.
I understand that all 11 Labour MPs who signed the Stop The War statement (which criticised Nato) have been written to by the Shadow Chief Whip and asked to withdraw their signatures.
Sounds like if they refuse to do so, they will all lose the whip.
The signatories are:
Diane Abbott
John McDonnell
Richard Burgon
Ian Lavery
Beth Winter
Zarah Sultana
Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Apsana Begum
Mick Whitley
Tahir Ali
Ian Mearns
The Stop The War Coalition statement they signed is here: stopwar.org.uk/article/list-o…
Latest: the 11 MPs are minded to pull their signatures as requested, to avoid giving Starmer any excuse to withdraw the whip.
But some of the PLP are pushing for a vote on the whole issue, so this may not be over yet.
I'm confused again about govt's position. MPs asked @BorisJohnson yday if further sanctions needed fresh trigger of Putin invasion. Cleverly seemd to say no.
Now @trussliz: "We are very clear there’s a further list of oligarchs" to be imposed *“in the event of a full invasion”*
After both Tory and Labour MPs failed to get straight answer yday from the PM, @JamesCleverly later clarified the position: "We intend to escalate these sanctions, to ratchet up these sanctions, *in response to what has already happened* in order to deter further aggression."
The assumption was that the UK was waiting for other allies to agree strategy on stronger sanctions before going ahead, not that they depended on 'a full invasion'.
Of course, there will be a gradation of sanctions at each stage. But govt position is unclear again. One for #PMQs
Not much of a 'Freedom bounce' or 'Ukraine bounce' in latest poll either.
Govt competence rating has fallen, and PM personal rating falls again..
'Operation Fightback' may be working on Tory MPs but not working on voters yet.
And with that poll showing health tops voter priorities (above even the economy), the govt's record + policy on health inequalities is more important than ever.
A new report this month by the University of Manchester found that England’s North West, North East and West Midlands had all suffered disproportionately more deaths from Covid than richer areas. Yes, that's the Red Wall. inews.co.uk/opinion/boris-…
Even before the pandemic, 10 years of austerity had begun to bite. Public health expert Sir Michael Marmot found that life expectancy in the UK had stalled for the first time in a century, and for poorer women it had actually gone backwards.
Exlnt question from @Mark_J_Harper, following up on @hilarybennmp.
Will the UK impose further sanctions, even if Putin only limits his invasion to Donbass regions?
.@BorisJohnson: "It’s inevitable that we will be coming forward with a much bigger package of sanctions"
The PM's answer was carefully crafted tho. Full quote: "I think it is inevitable, given what is happening in Ukraine and on the borders of Ukraine, that we will be coming forward with a much bigger package of sanctions."
In answer to @LaylaMoran, the PM says it's inevitable that Putin will 'continue' with his invasion. Wonder if that means 'continue' to stay in Donbass or 'continue' by invading other parts of the country?
Multiple times now, @BorisJohnson has been asked to implement the Intelligence and Security Committee's 'Russia Report' in full.
Multiple times he's refused to agree to that.
Instead, PM says: "We are going further than the 'Russia Report' in implementing sanctions in Russia…"
Suspect there may be more on 'the Russia Report' in #PMQs, and the slow progress govt has made in carrying out its recommendations.
Margaret Hodge raised risk of muddled messaging in #PMQs, particularly on sanctions on Duma members.
But messaging still unclear re whether new Russian aggression needed to trigger next 'barrage' of sanctions