Given the Russian cash funding the Tory party.....

Anyone who has placed money with the Russian banks who are subject to sanctions will be stuffed. That will probably include a good many Russians.

Not all Russians are our enemies of course.

I've had half an ear turned towards LBC all day. It would seem that most pundits and experts think Johnson has done very little today by way of sanctions. only 3 oligarchs! and 5 banks, some or all of which don't even half offices in London.

If you haven't seen the tv series Mafia I would recommend it - a good idea of how Russians exist in the UK.

Lubov Chernukhin has given £1.9million to the Tory party. She is the wife of a former Russian minister. Not appearing on a sanctions list any time soon.

Laura Kuenssberg
@bbclaurak
·
2h
Plenty of MPs, including some Tories, are making it obvious in the Commons they don't think the UK sanctions match the PM's rhetoric and don't go far enough

Yes we should work tightly together.

Sanctions agreed yes, but not detail.

Whitewavemark2

What I should have said, that by signalling a delay to hard sanctions, what it is doing is to give the oligarchs time to shift their money overseas.

I understood that these sanctions are inline with and agreed with NATO/USA/EU.

All Countries working together for the same end has got to be good, surely?

What I should have said, that by signalling a delay to hard sanctions, what it is doing is to give the oligarchs time to shift their money overseas.

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Germanshepherdsmum

I agree with GG. There will be more to come if the need arises. You don’t wheel the lot out and leave your armoury empty.

To be frank, I would have agreed with you this morning, but I have since been listening to and reading lots of contributions from military men and experienced political commentators and historians and have come to the conclusion that the only thing dictators understand is steel.

They are generally characterised as being deaf both to diplomacy and the gradual tightening of sanctions etc.

My mind has been changed.

Sounds as if you are advocating for sending on ^boots on the ground^

Then you are misunderstanding what I have said.

Whitewavemark2

Germanshepherdsmum

I agree with GG. There will be more to come if the need arises. You don’t wheel the lot out and leave your armoury empty.

To be frank, I would have agreed with you this morning, but I have since been listening to and reading lots of contributions from military men and experienced political commentators and historians and have come to the conclusion that the only thing dictators understand is steel.

They are generally characterised as being deaf both to diplomacy and the gradual tightening of sanctions etc.

My mind has been changed.

Sounds as if you are advocating for sending on boots on the ground

Germanshepherdsmum

I agree with GG. There will be more to come if the need arises. You don’t wheel the lot out and leave your armoury empty.

To be frank, I would have agreed with you this morning, but I have since been listening to and reading lots of contributions from military men and experienced political commentators and historians and have come to the conclusion that the only thing dictators understand is steel.

They are generally characterised as being deaf both to diplomacy and the gradual tightening of sanctions etc.

My mind has been changed.

I agree with GG. There will be more to come if the need arises. You don’t wheel the lot out and leave your armoury empty.

Kali2

Following a post on the other thread, the wild Party in 2018 was one of many previous parties held in Umbria by Johnson's wealthy Russian friends.

''In October 2016, Boris Johnson, the recently-appointed foreign secretary, left Whitehall behind to fly to Italy for a private weekend break. He was invited to the luxurious Umbrian villa of his wealthy friend, Evgeny Lebedev – the Russian owner of London’s Evening Standard newspaper. It was not the first time Boris had been to the secluded Palazzo Terranova in the hills near Perugia.

During his stint as London’s mayor, Boris had been to the 17th-century villa four times as Lebedev’s guest, using his friend’s private jet to fly there and back to London. His now estranged wife, Marina Wheeler, sometimes accompanied him.

Boris’s host, the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch and former KGB agent, is regarded as a ringmaster of lavish, “outrageous” gatherings which attract the elite of Britain’s stage, screen, and politics. Some of those who have experienced what one guest called Lebedev’s “full Italian experience” have told openDemocracy that “nothing is off the menu from the moment you are greeted to the moment you leave. A quiet English country house retreat it is not.”

Friends also say that Evgeny enjoys throwing “social hand grenades into his gatherings” to spice up the party atmosphere''

The Parties Prince Andrew attended were apparently mild gatherings in comparison!!!

Now I am not worried about his behaviour and morality here- as long as the ladies procured were over 18 and 'willing'- but it certainly put UK's security at huge risk.

Johnson was seen as a security risk, and it is the U.K.’s misfortune that we have him as leader at such a time.

Mr Putin is the enemy, I agree GG13, but many are concerned that he is also funding the UK government, or at least the Tory party. From what we know of the Putin, we can safely assume that the two persons I mentioned in my OP are not his enemies, we know what happens to them. The fact they are still alive indicates, to me, where their allegiance lies.

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2 you do not show your full hand in the first encounter with an enemy.

It’s good to have more up your sleeve if the enemy does not comply immediately.

Mr. Putin is the enemy not the U.K. Government

No I can’t agree. Putin will not be stopped by mush but only by steel, and that is what must be done. He needs hitting hard and fast.. That is the only way to deal with dictators.

Following a post on the other thread, the wild Party in 2018 was one of many previous parties held in Umbria by Johnson's wealthy Russian friends.

''In October 2016, Boris Johnson, the recently-appointed foreign secretary, left Whitehall behind to fly to Italy for a private weekend break. He was invited to the luxurious Umbrian villa of his wealthy friend, Evgeny Lebedev – the Russian owner of London’s Evening Standard newspaper. It was not the first time Boris had been to the secluded Palazzo Terranova in the hills near Perugia.

During his stint as London’s mayor, Boris had been to the 17th-century villa four times as Lebedev’s guest, using his friend’s private jet to fly there and back to London. His now estranged wife, Marina Wheeler, sometimes accompanied him.

Boris’s host, the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch and former KGB agent, is regarded as a ringmaster of lavish, “outrageous” gatherings which attract the elite of Britain’s stage, screen, and politics. Some of those who have experienced what one guest called Lebedev’s “full Italian experience” have told openDemocracy that “nothing is off the menu from the moment you are greeted to the moment you leave. A quiet English country house retreat it is not.”

Friends also say that Evgeny enjoys throwing “social hand grenades into his gatherings” to spice up the party atmosphere''

The Parties Prince Andrew attended were apparently mild gatherings in comparison!!!

Now I am not worried about his behaviour and morality here- as long as the ladies procured were over 18 and 'willing'- but it certainly put UK's security at huge risk.

Apparently Russian donations total £!.3 million since Johnson became P.M.! ~this is from a piece in the Guardian last November
That is donations above board.

Whitewavemark2 you do not show your full hand in the first encounter with an enemy.

It’s good to have more up your sleeve if the enemy does not comply immediately.

Mr. Putin is the enemy not the U.K. Government

I think almost without fail, the House felt that Johnson was not willing to go nearly far enough in sanctions.

You have to ask yourself “why”.

Johnson also said that he was unaware of any Russian meddling in British politics!

Where has he been for the past few years?
The intelligence and security committee produced a report in 2019 saying exactly that, and recommended various action, which Johnson has consistently refused to implement.

I don’t think Chelsea FC will be very happy either.

Well he seems to have made a good start today, if you saw him speaking in the HoC. There will be some Russians more than a little unhappy with Putin.