The Russian Report

dayvidg

In 2008, under Gordon Brown, the Tier 1 visa programme was introduced, making it easier for foreign nationals to obtain British residency. Until the rules were changed in 2015, 705 of 3000 people taking advantage of the scheme were Russian. This is not a Tory problem, it is a Government problem, which began under Labour.
www.wired.co.uk/article/russia-report-golden-visas

The Tory problem has nothing to do with the change in the visa programme.

It is to do with back handlers and noses in the trough.

Tell me how much has the Tory party benefited from Russian money?

Controlled by Putin?

This is not a Tory problem, it is a Government problem,

I can quite see that it isn't a tory problem. After all, they've made £millions out of it in 'donations' to the party and tory individuals. No problem ffor them...

I don't see any Russian donations to the Labour party, though. How very ungrateful of the Russians to not mark the kindness of Labour in giving them easy access to the money laundering facilities which enable them to 'legitimise' the billions they made from plundering the Russian state.

As to it being a 'government problem. Well, the tories have been in government for 15 years. Plenty of time for them to do something about 'the problem'. Can't think why they haven't acted...

@MaizieD
Didn't realise that Gordon Brown was a Tory. Are these donations made to the Tory Party or to the party in Government? How could they receive favour from the party in opposition? If we had a Labour Government, I'm sure that most of these donations would be made to them.

dayvidg

@MaizieD
Didn't realise that Gordon Brown was a Tory. Are these donations made to the Tory Party or to the party in Government? How could they receive favour from the party in opposition? If we had a Labour Government, I'm sure that most of these donations would be made to them.

Who said that Brown was a tory? I didn't.

Why would Russians want to make 'donations' to the party in government, I wonder?

@MaizieD

As to it being a 'government problem. Well, the tories have been in government for 15 years. Plenty of time for them to do something about 'the problem'. Can't think why they haven't acted...

Just picking up on your typo of 15 years. In 2015 a number of loopholes were closed to prevent the worst aspects of the original excesses.

Why would Russians want to make 'donations' to the party in government, I wonder

That is my point - it is not the Conservative party that is being supported by this money; it is an attempt to curry favour the the party in Government, not an attempt to support/oppose any particular ideology

The objective is to destabilise/weaken Europe rather than support any specific party.

The Conservative Party is divisive and anti-EU, so of course Russia will help stir that pot. Division is good news to Putin.

Just picking up on your typo of 15 years. In 2015 a number of loopholes were closed to prevent the worst aspects of the original excesses.

Apologies, you're right. !0 years (it just 'feels' like 15)

it is an attempt to curry favour the the party in Government, not an attempt to support/oppose any particular ideology

'Curry favour' is an amusing choice of phrase. It's bribery. It's paying money to influence government policy. A rather undemocratic practice, don't you think?

We will never know what they'd have done with a Labour government, but I suspect they'd have spent their money elsewhere as Labour policy could have been inimical to their aims.

Politics and corruption have been bedfellows since time immemorium, regardless of political persuasion. As the saying goes, it doesn't matter who you vote for, the Government will get in power.

Politics and corruption have been bedfellows since time immemorium, regardless of political persuasion.

That's just lazy thinking, dayvidg. It insults those who go into politics with the intention of doing good for the country and its people and encourages the venial to perpetrate the system.

I voted for us to leave the EU, because I wanted us to be an independent country again, in charge of our own affairs.
Instead of which, we seem to be a bone being fought over by America, Russia and China. Everyone wants a piece of us.

So sorry you were misled, ladymuck

There will always be people who genuinely believe in the sort of values the Tory represents. Nothing will change them.

My late parents believed in the sort of values the Tories represent, they will be spinning in their graves at the adulterer and liar who has the top job, and as a persom who spent the latter part of his career investigating company fraud, my Father would have very strong opinions on the like of Patel, Jenrick, Shapps etc., and that is without mentioning all those who received gifts from Putin. This shower of sh*t in no 10 is not representative of the Tory party many used to support. They are venal. They are however, representative of Murdoch et al, the owners of the right wing press and too many people take their guidance and morals from the them.

“That's just lazy thinking, dayvidg. It insults those who go into politics with the intention of doing good for the country and its people and encourages the venial to perpetrate the system.“

Many go into politics honestly for the good of the community, most dont last long, party politics dictates how long they last. Most begin at District Council level, failing to tow the party line there and you will be deselected, upset the local hierarchy or the party agent and you’re out.

So if you want to survive (most don’t) you sell your soul to whichever party you represent. I’ve seen it time and again good councilors dumped, it’s a safe Tory seat and they don’t tolerate dissenters.

My MP was never a district councillor anywhere. After a few attempts to get selected, she was put on a list of names sent to the local Tory party. I know for a fact that the local Tory leader didn't want her. She's not from the area and is rarely here, despite promising people she would relocate.

This is an ultra-safe Tory seat. Whoever was selected has a job for life, if they want it. The people on the list were a) my current MP b) one of Theresa May's SpAds, who was the party favourite but was implicated in electoral fraud c) a makeweight, whom nobody's ever heard of again.

The local membership were put off by the idea of Theresa May's SpAd, because they thought he might be prosecuted, so they voted for the one we have now. Her politics are horrendously right-wing, but (most importantly) she just doesn't care. She hardly ever responds to constituents, repeats Tory PR statements on social media and pops up every now and then for photo ops with the local farmers (she supports fox hunting) and the occasional visit to a school or hospital.

I, and many others here, feel totally unrepresented and disenfranchised.

And, yes, I have known some good councillors (from all parties), but they're being increasingly replaced by snake oil salespeople with vested interests. Some of them even participate in the name calling and smearing on social media.

Former Tory party chairman and cabinet minister Brandon Lewis has defended taking money from Russian donors, and supported 14 of his colleagues for doing so, despite a number having links to Vladimir Putin.

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/brandon-lewis-defends-russian-donations-on-sky-news-1-6759259

RT and Sputnik published no fewer than 261 media articles on the EU referendum in the UK, or with a strong anti-EU sentiment which mentioned Brexit from 1 January 2016 until 23 June 2016. The report shows the social reach of these anti-EU articles published by the Kremlin-owned channels was 134 million potential impressions, in comparison with a total social reach of just 33 million and 11 million potential impressions for all content shared from the Vote Leave website and Leave.EU website respectively.

Mike Harris, CEO of 89up said:

“The Kremlin’s propaganda channels had three times more impact on Twitter than both the official Leave campaigns combined. The Russian government has two media outlets based in the UK, Sputnik and Russia Today (RT), who ran hundreds of misleading news articles in the run-up to the EU referendum that were seeded across social media. We don’t know how much the Russian government is paying social networks to spread their propaganda, or how much Russia is spending on their media networks. We need Parliament to get to grips with a clear and deliberate attempt by an autocratic foreign power to interfere in our democracy.”

Social media activity by the two channels spiked on the day of the referendum, with both platforms increasing their Twitter activity significantly which matched the surge in Russian bot activity on the day.

Many of the articles by the platforms during the referendum were highly misleading, with RT and Sputnik publishing grossly exaggerated or false stories on European refugee flows, immigration to the UK, the role of MI5 during the referendum and the CIA role in creating the EU.

89up.org/russia-report

How many people here have read the actual report?

It's not just about taking money, the details of which have been redacted anyway.

There is also information about the social media activity of Russian bots and trolls. I'm not clever enough to trace the source of online messages, although plenty of people are.

However, after a while, it became quite easy to spot them. GN won't admit it of course, but I suspect there were some on here (cue deletion of post!)

It's quite easy to spot bots and trolls from other sources too, although they're getting sneaky and target posters they think will be sympathetic from stated interests, likes and people others follow. If it's obvious you're not going to be sympathetic, you don't get to see half of what's going on. Hence part of the obsession with big data.

Cross-post varian

The curious case of the Eurotunnel interconnector

Seems to me to have a link to the suspicions aroused by the Russia Report

Reporting by Robert Peston for ITV:

Aquind, a company that has donated more than £240,000 to the Tory party, and which has a director, Alexander Termerko, who has donated £1.3m to the Tories, is awaiting a government decision on its plan to invest £1.2bn on a new power connector under the Channel.

According to the Times, there is a "Russian tycoon" behind the project, whom senior Tories - such as Iain Duncan Smith - want outed, in the wake of last week's report by parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee into alleged Russian meddling in the UK's democratic processes.

But, oddly enough, there's another, closer to home, company involved, too:

Against that backdrop, I've been given details of a rival project to connect the power systems of France and the UK - by Getlink, the company that owns Eurotunnel - that is significantly further advanced than Aquind's but where regulatory approval has been delayed.

Getlink has already spent €500m on the connector and could be operational by the middle of next year. But regulatory approval from the British authorities has not been given, for reasons its directors find difficult to understand.

See more at:
www.itv.com/news/2020-07-25/eurotunnel-dont-understand-delays-to-power-project

Evgeny Lebedev been sponsored by Johnson for House of Lords. What can a Russian billionaire contribute to our political life?

Money?

He also owns the Independent and the Evening Standard, so I wonder when the other influential press barons will become real barons.

Lebedev's father is a 'former' KGB agent. I've seen comment to the effect that once a KGB agent, always a KGB agent. The proximity seems too close for comfort to me.

The Kremlin now has a direct line to the British legislature..

MaizieD

Lebedev's father is a 'former' KGB agent. I've seen comment to the effect that once a KGB agent, always a KGB agent. The proximity seems too close for comfort to me.

The Kremlin now has a direct line to the British legislature..

Exactly!

I can sleep easier tonight safe in the knowledge you good ladies are on the Russian case.
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