A “sewer of dirty Russian money has been allowed to run through London for years” Ian Blackford has claimed as Boris Johnson faced demands for tougher and stronger sanctions against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The SNP Westminster leader said that Russian connections to the Conservative party meant that oligarchs “who gave the right people in power a golden handshake” were welcomed into London for years.
Blackford said the ties between the Tory party and rich Russian emigres with links to Vladimir Putin meant effective sanctions would not be put in place.
At Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons Blackford said: “Plenty of those golden handshakes just so happened to find their way into the coffers of the Conservative Party. £2.3 million in fact, since this Prime Minister took office.”
Blackford said:” A leading American think-tank has publicly raised concerns that ‘close ties between Russian money and the United Kingdom’s ruling Conservative party’ are a block on stronger sanctions.”
He added: “How can our allies trust this Prime Minister to clean up dirty Russian money in the UK if he won’t even clean it up in his own political party?”
Blackford echoed calls from the Labour party for the Prime Minister to “finally commit to giving up the £2.3 million his party has raked in from Russian oligarchs?”
Labour leader Keir Starmer earlier called on Johnson to turn the screws on Russia with stronger sanctions.
He pressed the Prime Minister to impose more sanctions on Russia because there had “already been an invasion”.
Starmer said: “There has already been an invasion. There is clearly concern across the House that his strategy, I accept unintentionally, could send the wrong message.
“So, if the Prime Minister brings forward his full package of sanctions including excluding Russians from financial mechanisms like SWITCH and a ban on trading in Russian sovereign debt, he will have the full support of the House. Will he do so?”
Starmer also asked Johnson to back changes to the Elections Bill to combat donations from overseas sources.
Johnson replied: “We are, as I said, bringing forward in the next wave of sanctions measures that will stop all Russian banks, all oligarchs, all Russian individuals, raising money on London markets, and we are also accelerating the Economic Crime Bill which will enable us in the UK to peel back the facade of beneficial ownership of property in the UK and of companies.”
He added: “It’s gone on for far too long, we are going to tackle it under this Government, but on all these measures I think it is very, very important that the House remembers they are more effective when all financial centres move forward together. That is what the UK has been organising.”
Johnson told the Commons that in light of the increasingly threatening behaviour from Russia the UK will be providing a further package of military support to Ukraine.
He said: “This will include lethal aid in the form of defensive weapons and non-lethal aid.”
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