EU prevents UK from backing US sanctions says Hammond

BRITAIN and the US will not stand shoulder to shoulder against Vladimir Putin’s regime as the EU is never likely to agree to tough sanctions, the Chancellor has warned.

The US and EU rallied around the UK in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack, but unified financial sanctions are more difficult to arrange, as the UK only joins actions when they are imposed either at UN or EU level.

Philip Hammond said it was particularly difficult to arrange these in harmony across the EU, indicating Britain would not be able to match those applied by the US earlier this month.

Mr Hammond told the Treasury select committee: “While we are still EU members we don’t have, with some very narrow exceptions, an independent sanctioning capability. We are discussing with EU partners the measures the US and others have taken. It is probably fair to say there are varying degrees of appetite within the EU for further pressure on this group of individuals. One of the challenges of working within the EU is that in these areas – foreign policy – one is required to build a consensus of 28, which means, frankly, operating at the lowest common denominator quite often.”

Some 20 Conservative backbenchers are reportedly planning to rebel against the Government and force laws to expose corrupt Russian money held in Britain’s overseas territories when the Sanctions and Anti-money Laundering Bill is debated next week.

The latest round of US sanctions targeted 38 individuals and entities. These included Oleg Deripaska, a high-profile oligarch in Britain.