L

Lord Coaker (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 16 June 2026

Debate

Russian Shadow Fleet

Contribution

My understanding from the briefing that I had is that the action took place in international waters, and then it was brought back into UK territorial waters. An important point to make, just as a statement, is that the English Channel, although called the English Channel, is an international waterway; it is perfectly legal for legal ships to operate and to travel—even for warships, frankly—to go through the English Channel, providing their intent is not malign. That is an important comment for us to make. Then, of course, we have the territorial waters of our own country and the territorial waters of others in Europe. But as a specific answer to my noble friend’s question, my understanding is that the interdiction took place outside our territorial waters and the ship was then brought back into our territorial waters.

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