WASN’T Keir Starmer supposed to be the human rights lawyer who was going to inject a bit more morality into UK foreign affairs?
He certainly wanted us to think that when he tried needlessly surrendering the to Mauritius on the back of a perverse opinion of a UN court (a deal later scuppered by US opposition).
PM Starmer has proposed lifting sanctions on Russian diesel and jet fuel Credit: PA
Starmer is spitting in the face of Ukrainians fighting against Putin’s tyranny Credit: Reuters
But his moral compass now seems to have gone horrendously awry.
He has proposed lifting sanctions on diesel and jet originating from so long as it is refined in a third country.
When Britain and other Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia following it was in the full knowledge that it would hurt our economy to some extent, too.
Europe had become foolishly dependent on Russian gas, and cutting off that supply suddenly was obviously going to push up prices for UK households and .
Yet we did it because the risk of letting get away with annexing would have been far greater.
The dictator would have been back for more, possibly targeting the Baltic states.
Given that they are in Nato we would have been drawn into a catastrophic war with Russia — on the grounds that Nato regards an attack on one country as an attack on all member states.
As we reveal today, Britain came very close to such a scenario last month as .
The sanctions have proved successful, too.
Last June the Foreign Office calculated they had up until that date deprived the Russian economy of at least 450billion dollars.
True, they’ve been compromised by the refusal of and to join in.
The sanctions have been a bit leaky, too, with oil tankers found to be exporting refined oil from India to Western countries through the Suez Canal. It is very likely some of that originated in Russia.
We cannot let Putin get away with invading Ukraine Credit: AFP
Sanctions against Russia have proven effective Credit: Alamy
The Trump administration has gone wobbly on sanctioning Putin, too.
Nevertheless, Western sanctions have been instrumental in trimming Putin’s ambitions.
He has managed to keep up his war effort in Ukraine, but at the cost of great damage to the Russian economy.
There is only so long he can sustain this situation. Further attempts to seize foreign territory have been put back many years.
But then comes along Starmer and throws a very large spanner in the works.
Sanctions are only effective if they are maintained across multiple countries.
Once Britain relaxes the rules, other countries are going to start asking themselves whether they might alleviate pain on consumers by letting in Russian oil.
UK consumers are suffering at the moment from the blockade of the , even if recent figures for inflation and growth have been good.
There are particular problems with diesel and airline fuel.
Flights have had to be cancelled, while higher diesel prices will surely eventually feed into higher prices in the shops, given the reliance of supply chains on diesel-powered lorries.
But nothing excuses this appeasement of Putin.
Nor is it necessary, given we could be producing more of our own fuel.
The most absurd thing about Starmer’s move is there is an easy alternative for Britain to secure more oil and gas supplies.
As leader pointed out yesterday, MPs have just voted to block new North Sea production.
Under the Government’s Energy Independence Bill — surely as big a misnomer as George Orwell’s Ministry Of Truth — new exploration in the North Sea will be banned while Labour is in power.
Yes, in warped moral universe, it is fine buying oil and gas from a murderous dictator but terribly, terribly wrong to drill it out of our own territorial waters.
This is not just a case of badly joined-up government, it is an affront to civilised values.
It is as if Putin himself is dictating UK energy policy.
The Government, under influence, has become so totally absorbed by reaching the holy grail of that it has lost all common sense.
If the target is ever achieved it will be meaningless because it will have been bought at the cost of exporting most of our industry and surrendering any claim by Britain to show the world leadership.
If the Government really wanted to make Britain more energy-secure then renewables could be part of that.
But its focus at present would be on the three quarters of UK energy consumption that comes from fossil fuels.
It would be embracing as well as exploiting what reserves remain in the North Sea.
As fracking companies point out, we could be producing gas from beneath Britain within months — in spite of the industry having been subject to a moratorium over exaggerated fears of “earthquakes”.
In Starmer’s warped moral universe, it is fine buying oil and gas from a murderous dictator but terribly, terribly wrong to drill it out of our own territorial waters Credit: Getty
Why appease Putin when we have access to North Sea oil? Credit: Getty
Instead, UK households are paying the second-highest electricity prices of any member state of the International Energy Agency (after Germany).
And UK industrial users are paying the highest prices, which is killing what remains of our manufacturing and chemicals industries.
But to try to alleviate the situation by weakening sanctions on Putin truly stinks.
It marks the abandonment of Britain’s claims to global leadership.
Previously, we have taken a strong line against Putin and inspired other countries to do the same.
Although we were far too tolerant for far too long in allowing dodgy money from oligarchs to be invested in London properties and the like, the government acted quickly after the and after the Ukraine invasion.
We negotiated sanctions and sent weapons to help Ukraine defend itself.
In both cases was instrumental.
Say what you like about his personal conduct in some areas, but he instigated a genuinely ethical UK foreign policy — one that took a firm stand against murderous dictators.
Yet those efforts are being undermined by Starmer, who claims to act on a higher moral plane but in practice has shown himself to be weak on moral leadership.
True, has shown an even more craven attitude towards Putin, but the world had reason to expect better of Starmer.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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