Contributions
2,176 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI have been speaking for a while and I would have hoped that the hon. Gentleman was listening to my remarks about the many tools that this Bill will bring in to enable asset…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillMy right hon. Friend has made an incredibly important point and used a good example to show how the system is being used and abused. I want to reiterate to the House that this is…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillAt this stage, I am outlining the measures in the Bill. We have a Committee stage coming up, and we are considering all the details, because we absolutely must get this right and…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI thank my hon. Friend for amendment 64. He was in touch with me about it over the weekend. He is absolutely right, and we are looking at the details of that proposal.07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI thank the hon. Lady for highlighting the role of our anti-corruption tsar, my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose), who has been supporting the Government…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI agree with the right hon. Lady, and I am also grateful to other Members who have not just highlighted this issue but given specific examples. A great deal of work is being done.…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI wholeheartedly agree with my right hon. Friend on that. We could do a rerun of exactly what happened back in 2018, but, in the interests of time, we want to crack on with where…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillMy right hon. Friend is absolutely right, and he has also pointed out the vast drafting that has taken place over the weekend, with various amendments. I am grateful to all…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillThat is a really important point. This is about how we operationalise the Bill—how we use the tools that we are giving our agencies. Yes, resourcing is required. We have already…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillThe right hon. Gentleman makes a very important point; I am pretty certain that he has raised several times in this House the need for legal protections, finance and an approach…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. I said that unexplained wealth orders were one of several tools, but we have other tools that have to be deployed. Registration, beneficial…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillThe hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise that point and to highlight the legal basis on which we can confiscate assets, property and so on. Unexplained wealth orders are…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillWe will look at the issue, as we have said consistently. Part 1 of the Bill, which I will expand on shortly, is only one of the measures that we are taking, but we have to rule…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillMy hon. Friend and I spent some time on the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, which looked at that very issue. He is right to highlight enablers and, with them, many other…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillThank you very much, Mr Speaker. Putin is a gangster and his regime is underpinned by a mob of oligarchs and kleptocrats who have abused the financial system and the rule of law…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI have already made it clear, in terms of the visa application centre that has now been set up en route to Calais, that we have staff in Calais, and, importantly, people have been…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI will give way shortly, but first I will make some progress, if I may. This will be about hurting Putin and his vicious regime, which has robbed the Russian people of their…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI thank my right hon. Friend for the example that he shared with the House. That is really important, because we have surge staff across every EU visa application centre. I came…07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillYes.07 Mar 2022HANSARD Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) BillI will not; I need to make progress and I have been generous with interventions. In addition, on the point that my right hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale)…07 Mar 2022