By Jon Waller

Lymington Times online – 27 April 2022

The New Forest’s two MPs have been banned from entering Russia amid sanctions being imposed over the war in Ukraine. New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne laughed it off, telling the A&T:

"I had no intention of visiting Russia, so the sanction will have no effect!"

Also barred was Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East, who said:

"Hopefully my repeated description of Putin as a ‘cynical sneering psychopath’ ensured that I was included."

The pair were among 287 members of the House of Commons which Moscow announced this morning (Wednesday) it had banned from entering the Russian Federation.

The department of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the action had been taken in response to UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss sanctioning 386 members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, last month.