As shown by a Foreign Affairs Committee report published in May 2018 (pdf), serious concern has existed for a considerable time about possible Russian influence in the UK including potentially undue influence over UK government activity.
Further concern is how certain wealthy individuals have used the legal system to deter criticism of their activities -
Cohen goes so far as to say - "As Russian tanks
roll across Europe, a true cause for anger and shame is that at no point have we had a public debate about whether we want a future where we are living off immoral earnings and are so frightened of immoral lawyers we no longer dare describe what this country has become."Much of what Cohen says is entirely supportable by objective fact. For instance, who can seriously doubt that the likely legal costs in a libel action are prohibitive and act as a serious deterrent to probing journalism - What are Slapps and how are they connected to Russian oligarchs? | Law | The Guardian
There are many areas of concern. This post notes some of them.
1. House of Commons debates -
House of Commons debate held on 23 February - Countering Russian aggression and tackling illicit finance
House of Commons debate held on 24 February - Relationship with Russia and China
Russia's grand strategy - House of Commons Library - January 2022
2. The Russia Report -
The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report on Russia was prepared in 2019 but details of its contents were not released until July 2020. The report raised serious concerns but few of them appear to have been addressed adequately by government.
HC 632 – Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament – Russia (independent.gov.uk)
The government's response to the report may be seen HERE
Previous blogposts ISC Report - Russia - November 2019 and ISC's Russia Report - notes - July 2020
The Commons debate on 23 February (link above) called on the Foreign Secretary to make a "statement to this House on the implementation of the recommendations of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s Russia Report."
The government's position on the report appears to be one of inaction and delay rather than actively addressing the major concerns raised by the committee.
3. UK Foreign Policy -
2018 - Calls for government to act over Russian interests in the UK go back several years. In 2018, the Foreign Affairs Committee published Moscow's Gold: Russia Corruption in the UK (pdf) -
"President Putin and his allies have been able to continue “business as usual” by hiding and laundering their corrupt assets in London. These assets, on which the Kremlin can call at any time, both directly and indirectly support President Putin’s campaign to subvert the international rules-based system, undermine our allies, and erode the mutually-reinforcing international networks that support UK foreign policy"
2022 - Institute for Government (I f G) - article by Bronwen Maddox - 24 February 2022 - Russia's invasion of Ukraine demands that the UK rewrites its Foreign Policy "Britain’s response so far – with sanctions against five minor banks and three figures close to Putin – has been insubstantial. It has fallen far short of the tough rhetoric that Boris Johnson has deployed and has been rightly criticised given the Johnson government’s professed aim of helping the West deter Russia from further incursions into Ukraine."
I f G - article - Financial and International Trade Sanctions
The I f G has stated - "Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought war to Europe and horror to capitals across the continent and the democratic world. The UK’s immediate response must involve sanctions that target whole sectors of Russia’s economy – while the transparency of Russian money flows into the UK must also be addressed. In the long-term, the UK’s entire approach to Russia needs overhauling. We explored these questions on this week’s podcast with Dominic Grieve, the former chair of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee."
4. Parliament -
The ISC report said - "It is notable that a number of members of the House of Lords have business interests linked to Russia, or work directly for major Russian companies linked to the Russian state. These relationships should be carefully scrutinised, given the potential for the Russian state to exploit them.”
The business affairs of all politicians - including those elected to the House of Commons - require greater transparency. There ought to be complete visibility of the involvement of politicians in any form of business which has financial interests abroad. The need to address "indirect benefit" to politicians is crucial - (e.g. Russian entity (A) to an entity B with any UK links to one or more British politicians).
iNews 20 July 2020 - Peers' business links with Moscow should be investigated - The business links between Moscow and members of the House of Lords need to be investigated because of the “potential for the Russian state to exploit them”, the ISC report said.
The Intelligence and Security Committee, which painted a picture of wealthy Russians wielding considerable influence over British politics, said several peers either worked directly for Russian companies or had business interests connected to the country.
The ISC called for the Lords to follow the lead of the Commons and require peers to register any individual payments of more than £100 for non-parliamentary work."
Registration of members' foreign interests (House of Lords - parliament.uk)
5. Political Parties -
Yet another concern is about donations to political parties.
We have seen articles about contacts between wealthy Russians and members of the UK government. For example, in October 2021, The Guardian published a story about bids for a "prize" (a game of tennis with Boris Johnson).
Revealed: top female Tory donor’s vast offshore empire with husband | Conservatives | The Guardian
Former Tory intelligence chief warns Conservative Party over Kremlin-linked Russian donors (msn.com)
Boris Johnson Refuses to Extend Russian Money ‘Clampdown’ to Conservative Donors – Byline Times
The Electoral Commission - Donations and loans | Electoral Commission - notes "Anyone can give a donation or loan to a political party, individual or other organisation. There is no limit on how much someone can give if they are a permissible source. It is up to the political party, individual or other organisation to check if the donation or loan is from a permissible source, and if they can accept it or not."
A wide range of permissible sources exists. The following applies to Great Britain. Northern Ireland has somewhat different rules.
In Great Britain, permissible sources are:
- individuals registered on a UK electoral register, including overseas electors and those leaving bequests
- most UK-registered companies
- Great Britain registered political parties
- UK-registered trade unions
- UK-registered building societies
- UK-registered limited liability partnerships (LLP) that carry on business in the UK
- UK-registered friendly societies
- UK-based unincorporated associations that carry on business or other activities in the UK
- some types of trust and certain public funds
6. The Elections Bill -
Elections Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament
The Bill is open to severe criticism as paving the way for foreign investors to influence our politics-
In July 2021, the Committee on Standards in Public Life issued a report on political finance.This is an important report but it appears to have had no influence over the contents of the Elections Bill.
7. The moral ground -
The UK government's immediate actions in support of Ukraine appear to be mostly commendable and are part of the international condemnation of Russian action.
Of course, some will see those actions as too little too late and there will be calls for "tougher" action including military action but, on any sensible view, the latter would not be a practicable proposition without massive commitment from the USA which President Biden is plainly unwilling (or, at best, very reluctant) to support -
Ukraine conflict: Why Biden won't send troops to Ukraine - BBC News
Biden has however expressed his support for NATO and commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. USA troops have been sent to Europe to bolster NATO allies that border Ukraine and Russia (e.g. Poland).
There is no doubt that a huge strengthening of NATO's eastern flank will be required if further Russian aggression is to be deterred.
The general background of the UK government's relationship in recent years with Russia and wealthy Russians detracts from any moral authority that the UK has. Stephen Kinnock MP is right in asking that the UK get its own house in order.
The West is left looking exposed, weak, and unable to defend the fundamental values of the rule of law, democracy and human rights that have underpinned their prosperity for decades.
Media:
One possibility is that President Putin could face war crimes charges over Ukraine - Boris Johnson signals Vladimir Putin 'could face war crime charges' over Ukraine - STV News. The difficulties are outlined in this article - Could the international criminal court bring Putin to justice over Ukraine? | Russia | The Guardian
BP’s ties to Russia draw UK government ‘concern’ | BP | The Guardian
West to cut some Russian banks off from Swift - BBC News
Ukraine invasion: Russian planes face near-total airspace ban to west - BBC News
27 February 2022
Updates Monday 28 February
Rishi Sunak targets Russia with fresh banking sanctions - BBC News
Ukraine invasion: EU shuts airspace to Russian planes - BBC News
Russian oligarchs in UK face new laws tackling ‘dirty money’ | Politics | The Guardian
"A new register of overseas entities is intended to stop the foreign owners of property in Britain from hiding their identity, and separate measures are expected to give some teeth to the unexplained wealth order mechanism, which until now has proved relatively ineffective.
The new laws will be contained in an economic crime (transparency and enforcement) bill, which has long been called for by campaigners concerned about the UK’s reputation as a haven for dirty money.
Transparency campaigners have long complained that oligarchs have been able to park their wealth in UK property, using shell companies and other complicated legal structures to conceal the identity of the real owners."
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