“There are a large number of them at sea around the world, and other nations have intercepted other tankers previously, so I think it’s, it’s a good signal that we are sending to the Kremlin that if such tankers do choose to transport illegal oil, unsanctioned oil through the English Channel, we will take action and intercept them.
“Now, whether this is just a one-off or whether this is now going to be a series of operations, time will tell, but I think it was clearly a very well organised, well-trained for, a well-resourced operation, and all those involved need to be congratulated.
“There are all kinds of possibilities that might flow from this. I think another consideration is whether the Russians will, now that they’ve seen that we’re prepared to intercept these tankers in something like the English Channel, whether they will start to escort with a Russian warship.
“Of course, this would be quite an escalation and would produce quite a dilemma for us, but I think it’s the right thing to have done. I think it’s sent an important signal, and we just have to watch what the consequences are.”
On the Government’s defence woes, he said: “It’s a year now since the Defence Review was published, and industry can’t make decisions. We can’t improve our capability, and time is being wasted.
“You just have to remember also that back in February, Keir Starmer went to the Munich Security Conference and said that we would be raising our defence budget to three [percent of GDP]. Well, it’s fine to talk the talk, but he really does need to walk the walk, and John Healey tried to pressure the Prime Minister to do that. He failed to do it and took the only course that he could, which was to resign.
“One wonders actually how Dan Jarvis is going to get on. I hope that in agreeing to become Defence Secretary he got some kind of reassurance from the Prime Minister that there would be more money than that. That’s what people are hoping for.”
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