Putin ‘very wrong’ to think he can silence MPs, warns sanctioned politician

Vladmir Putin was “very wrong” to think he could silence an MP by sanctioning her, she has said, as another joked he could no longer moor his “super yacht” in Moscow.

Labour’s Johanna Baxter said the decision to sanction her came as “no coincidence”, on the same day that she launched a report into the forced deportation of an estimated 19,546 children from Ukraine into Russia.

Jim Shannon, the DUP MP for Strangford who was also sanctioned on Wednesday, said the decision would mean he would have to moor the “super yacht” – which he does not have – in Ballywalter, Co Down, instead of the Russian capital.

Ms Baxter told the Commons: “If Vladimir Putin thinks that sanctioning me will silence me, he is very, very wrong.

“It is no coincidence that that sanction came on a day where I released and launched a report that I co-authored with UK Friends of Ukraine on the issue of the stolen children, which outlines in detail the systemic capture, re-education and conscription of Ukrainian children by Russia.”

The MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South’s report with UK Friends of Ukraine, titled “Returning the Stolen Children of Ukraine”, recommended that the UK Government should support the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “pursue a rigorous legal evaluation under the framework of genocide”.

She asked whether Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty would support another of the report’s recommendations for a UK national day of action on July 17.

Mr Doughty replied that the issue of “stolen children” was “one of the most heinous and horrific aspects of this conflict because of course it’s not only horrific for those children and their families, but it also speaks to a wider attempt by Putin to subjugate the people, the identity, the culture, the language, and indeed the future of Ukraine which should be clear for all to see”.

At the despatch box, he continued: “One of the most powerful memories I have of that, in my own office is a picture painted by one of the children who thankfully was returned, but there are sadly still far too many who have been taken by Russia.”

Russia-sanctioned Labour MP for Bolton West Phil Brickell asked whether Mr Doughty agreed that “if Putin is serious about securing any sort of lasting peace in Ukraine, he should stop the performative sanctioning of democratically elected members of this House and focus on stopping the murderous, barbaric killing of civilians in Ukraine, and stop the invasion of that nation that we stand with in full support”.

Mr Doughty told MPs: “I utterly condemn the sanctioning of members of this House, including (Mr Brickell).

“I’m on that list too, and indeed are many other members. It’s completely unacceptable but we’re clear on that.”

Sir Desmond Swayne, the Conservative MP for New Forest West, later said: “Can I welcome fresh members to the list of those of us who have been sanctioned?”

Mr Shannon said: “What does a sanction mean? It means my super yacht – I don’t have one – can’t be taken to Moscow to put it somewhere for the winter.

“(It) means I have to take it to Ballywalter, my village where I was born and brought up, alongside my rowing boat that I rent and use now again.

“It will not stop me speaking up to illustrate Russia’s crimes.

“And just to remember what those are – it’s stolen children, thousands of men, women and children murdered, it’s the church pastors that have disappeared, it’s all those things, and it’s the massacre in Bucha.”

Mr Doughty responded: “I condemn the sanction against him, but I think the reaction of both himself and indeed other members of this House, I think should show everybody in the world – Vladimir Putin, but also our allies, most importantly Ukraine – that our support remains ironclad.”