A parliamentary report reveals the British government’s complacency with the Russian oligarchs stationed in its capital.
A parliamentary report on Thursday June 30 criticized the UK government’s failure to stem the flow of Russian ‘dirty money’ into the UK, which has continued despite intransigence on the issue. If Boris Johnson’s government had already shown London’s firmness in the face of questionable Russian funds before the start of the Russian offensive on February 24, the Foreign Affairs Committee estimated in an interim report published on Thursday that this rhetoric had not been followed by sufficiently strong and concrete measures.
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The UK has long been accused of complacency towards Russia’s elites and their millions, which has earned certain posh areas of the capital the nickname Londongrad. “For too long successive governments have allowed nefarious actors and kleptocrats to launder their dirty money in London’s launderette,” Conservative Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said in a statement.
The report stresses that current legislation, despite its recent tightening, does not go far enough and that it is “shameful that it took a war” to persuade the government to act. “Although ministers spoke eloquently before the House of Commons (ed.) about the need to crack down on kleptocrats, the rhetoric was not followed by constructive action,” the report denounces, stressing that “at the same time the dirty money” continued to flow to Great Britain”.
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He also insists on the need to provide the relevant services with the necessary resources to tackle the phenomenon and on the fact that the sanctions imposed – which the government says target a thousand people and 120 companies – must lead to criminal investigations. “The threat that illicit finance poses to our national security requires a response that is perceived as serious,” the commission said. “The UK’s status as a safe haven for dirty money is a tarnish on our reputation,” said Tom Tugendhat. “The Government must align legislation with the principles of the British people and close the loopholes that allow such exploitation.”