Hansard

Today, Parliament has demonstrated democracy in action. All our leaders have expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine and have called for action to stop the military invasion. Colleagues from all across the chamber have highlighted the peril that the world now faces.

For days, I have, like others, been watching analysis and late-night “Newsnight” interviews, following the coverage of Putin’s statements and of the build-up of troops on the border, and listening to the ramping up of aggression. We, our European neighbours, the US and the UN have spoken out on the need for respect for nation states, and have called for dialogue in order to de-escalate the tensions that are being promoted. We are members of NATO, and we have links across the UK, the EU and the US, which are vital. We need to warn of the cost and consequences of military intervention. Relations across democracies will never be perfect, but we are allies and we should treat one other with respect and co-operate, and we should work between our Parliaments and Governments to deliver solidarity.

As a student of 20th century history, I have—filled with dread—watched what has happened in the past few weeks. We are now in the last place that we want to be in. It is a dangerous place for the people of Ukraine and, as colleagues have suggested, for the world as a whole. We need to send a firm and unambiguous message about our commitment to the security of our allies and the sovereignty of Ukraine.

In recent weeks in our Parliament, there have been excellent debates on Holocaust memorial day and on the Nationality and Borders Bill. The lessons on the immediate and long-term costs of people suffering and having to flee from military aggression are stark.

While expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we must do everything that we can to support them in their time of need. That means action. It means humanitarian support for people who might have to flee from Ukraine, with safe routes and good futures. We debated that on Tuesday, this week. As Anas Sarwar made clear, we have a moral responsibility to deliver humanitarian support.

As many members across the chamber have said, sanctions are crucial, so that there is a cost to the Russian regime for its aggressive actions and to make it clear to Putin that there will be massive costs for his actions. However, there is much more that the UK Government can do. Our Labour colleagues in the UK Parliament have been holding the UK Government to account on the cost of the lack of action on the Russia report. As Keir Starmer has highlighted this week, oligarchs and millionaires have had free deals to come to the UK, buy property and make profits with no tax accountability or transparency. That has to end now.

As others have said—Fiona Hyslop said this powerfully—we need to crack down on money laundering and shell companies. As an article in The Guardian yesterday observed, we need a crackdown on donations to the Conservative Party. The debate is not about whether that happened, but about how much was donated.

We also need to work together to challenge false messaging. In recent weeks, we have debated the benefits of the BBC and the public broadcasting and news standards that we have in our regulated media. We have observed that our Governments are not always happy with the media, but we have standards of accuracy, which are vital. It is time to challenge RT, which does not apply such standards of rigour and accuracy. It is shocking to think that a former First Minister of Scotland is still spearheading that channel in the UK. We all need to reflect on that. The Russian Government has used false messaging in relation to Donbas and Luhansk in recent days, so urgent action is required now.

Crucially, we need to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and to support those who need to flee to safety. We need to condemn the deliberate escalation and the misinformation in the lead up to the invasion of Ukraine, and we need to work together to tackle Russian money laundering. We need to support every effort to de-escalate the crisis that the world now faces and we need to call for an end to the military aggression and intimidation.

This afternoon, I attended a peaceful solidarity demonstration outside the Russian consulate. People in Ukraine who have relatives living in Scotland are worried about and fearful for their families and the future of their country. They say that they have been calling for years for stronger action on and sanctions against the influence of corrupt Russian money.

We must act and reflect. We must remove Russia from financial mechanisms such as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. We must come together now to do everything that we can do.

I hope that the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture will say in his closing speech what more we can do to stand resolutely with our allies to send a clear message and to protect Scotland from cyberattacks. I hope that he will tell us what the Scottish Government is doing to reach out and support people in the event of devastating humanitarian consequences of what is happening in Ukraine.

As others have said, there is a growing crisis in Ukraine, but we also need to send a message to leaders across the world that aggression and lack of respect for sovereignty are not acceptable. We must stand up for democracy across the globe.