Six of Greater Lincolnshire’s Members of Parliament have been the targets of Russian sanctions banning them from entering the country, as the Kremlin accuse them of being “the most active part” of the UK government’s own restrictions on the country.
The personal restrictions have been imposed on 287 British MPs by Russia’s foreign ministry on Wednesday, and it blocks the named members from entering the country of Russia as a result.
Among the list of MPs are six Greater Lincolnshire politicians: Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh, Boston and Skegness’ Matt Warman, Cleethorpes’ Martin Vickers, South Holland and The Deepings’ John Hayes, Sleaford and North Hykeham MP Caroline Johnson, and Louth and Horncastle member Victoria Atkins.
The Kremlin says this is a direct response to Britain’s imposing of similar sanctions on the Russian government, when 386 members of its lower House of Parliament were hit with restrictions on March 11 by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss – as tensions in Ukraine continue to amass.
The six Greater Lincolnshire MPs were included in the list because they, according to the Kremlin, took “the most active part in the establishment of anti-Russian sanctions instruments in London”, which they say has resulted in “Russophobic hysteria”.
Also included in the list are Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Newark MP Robert Jenrick, who has actively fought for the freedom of Nottinghamshire-born prisoner of war Aiden Aslin, currently being held captive by Russian troops.
Translated to English, a statement reported by state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti says: “In response to the decision taken on March 11 this year by the British government to include 386 deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the sanctions list, on the basis of reciprocity, personal restrictions are being introduced against 287 members of the House of Commons of the British Parliament.
“These persons, who are now banned from entering the Russian Federation, took the most active part in the establishment of anti-Russian sanctions instruments in London, contribute to the groundless whipping up of Russophobic hysteria in the UK.
“The hostile rhetoric and far-fetched accusations coming from the lips of British parliamentarians not only condone the hostile course of London, aimed at demonising our country and its international isolation, but are also used by opponents of a mutually respectful dialogue with Russia to undermine the foundation of bilateral cooperation.”
The county’s MPs not to be included in this list are Brigg & Goole’s Andrew Percy, Lincoln’s Karl McCartney, Grantham & Stamford’s Gareth Davies, Scunthorpe’s Holly Mumby-Croft and Great Grimsby’s Lia Nici.
Other notable omissions from the list of banned MPs are Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel, as well as Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner.
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
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