Regardless of what unfolds in the coming days and weeks, the fact that Vladimir Putin is once again menacing and stalking the world stage requires those of us committed to peace to act. In the UK, that means getting our own house in order.
Let there be no doubt: when it comes to tackling Russian aggression, the Labour party supports the UK government and our allies. Those who equivocate between the actions of Russia and Nato are misguided or worse. The unified approach of recent weeks has surprised the Kremlin precisely because it is so used to encountering division. Those divisions have contributed to decades of failure in dealing with Russia.
The Putin playbook is well known. He favours chaos over order, the fog of war over clear strategy. He takes a nihilistic, zero-sum approach to foreign policy. Illicit money and influence are used as a judo move that turns the openness and freedom of western democracies into weaknesses. Over almost 12 years of Tory government, the tendrils of the Kremlin have been allowed to wrap around the UK, turning London into the “money-laundering capital of the world”. A cottage industry has been created that directly and indirectly does the bidding of those linked to Putin. Last week, it was revealed that £1.5bn of UK property had been snapped up by Russians accused of corruption or linked to the Kremlin. They are not here for the weather: they see us as a soft touch, somewhere they can hide cash with few questions asked.
The prime minister’s recent tough talk couldn’t even be described as closing the stable door after the horse has bolted: it’s more like musing on what a good idea having a door would be. In 2018, the Commons foreign affairs committee said that “reacting in an ad hoc way to the Kremlin’s behaviour has led to a disjointed approach” and that “the assets… support Putin’s campaign to subvert the international rules-based system”. Priti Patel was on that committee. It should not have taken nearly four years, the massing of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers and the threat of war for the Tories to act.
While they have refused to take action, the Labour party has laid out a serious plan for weeding out corruption. It involves greater transparency over company ownership via reform of Companies House, strengthening resources and powers of law enforcement on money laundering, updating counter-espionage laws and creating a register of parliamentarians and peers on the boards of foreign companies. By backing it, the government could begin to undo Putin’s grip and restore Britain’s reputation.
This seems like common sense. So why is it not happening? Perhaps the answer can be found in the Tory party’s accounts. By taking nearly £2m in donations since Boris Johnson took power in 2019, they have become just as hooked on Russian-linked money as any of the worm-tongued servicers of oligarchical wealth. It is welcome that the Tories are finally waking up to the dangers of Russian money. But it’s not long since the prime minister was selling himself off as a tennis partner in exchange for donations and David Cameron was giving credulous speeches in Moscow. The Conservative party and its MPs and associations should hand back all the money they took. It is the only way to show that their days of turning a blind eye to kleptocratic loot are over.
• Sir Keir Starmer is leader of the Labour party
