Boris Johnson has rejected a second key strand of the Russia report, its call for a crackdown to stop London being a “laundromat” for illicit Russian cash.
The UK already has “some of the strongest controls in the world”, the prime minister’s spokesman insisted.
Downing Street also poured cold water on the report’s call for stronger action against peers who “work directly for major Russian companies linked to the Russian state”.
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No 10 is “confident” that the House of Lords is able to oversee proper rules on registration of donations to its members, the spokesman said.
The comments come after Mr Johnson sparked anger by ruling out – within one hour of the intelligence and security committee’s report – an investigation into “potential” Russian interference in the Brexit referendum.
The study warned the UK’s investor visa scheme has been abused by Russians, providing “ideal mechanisms by which illicit finance could be recycled through what has been referred to as the London ‘laundromat’”.
“The money was also invested in extending patronage and building influence across a wide sphere of the British establishment – PR firms, charities, political interests, academia and cultural institutions were all willing beneficiaries of Russian money, contributing to a ‘reputation laundering’ process,” it stated
The current rules to stamp it out were “not preventative but rather constitute damage limitation”.
But the prime minister’s spokesman hit back, pointing to a “landmark review” in 2018, carried out by the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based intergovernmental organization.
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Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes part in a judo training session at a sports complex in St Petersburg on 22 December 2010
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Putin holds a tommy gun during a visit to Izhevsk Mechanical Works, a weapons manufacturer in May 2010
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Putin plays with his dogs Buffy (L) and Yume at his residence in Novo-Ogariovo in March 2013
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Putin wears a helmet and the uniform of the Renault Formula One team before driving a F1 race car on a special track in Leningrad region outside St. Petersburg on in November 2010
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Putin sports a pair of goggles during a visit to the Technology Park of the Novosibirsk Academic Town in February 2012
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Putin holds a huge pike fish, after he caught it in the Tyva on 26 July 2013
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Putin inspects a horse in the Karatash area, near the town of Abakan in March 2010
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Putin looks down the sight of a replica kalashnikov rifle at a target range in Moscow in April 2012
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Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi on 30 August 2015
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Putin drives down a highway in St Petersburg in August 2013
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Putin takes part in a judo training session at the Moscow sports complex in St Petersburg, on 22 December 2010.
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Putin speaks with Leonardo DiCaprio on 23 November 2010 after a concert to mark the International Tiger Conservation Forum in St Petersburg
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Putin holds two ancient amphorae he found while scuba diving in Taman Bay as he visits an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on 10 August 2011
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Putin caresses a Persian leopard cub as he visits the Persian leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on 4 February 2014
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Putin rides a train in Moscow on 21 November 2019
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Putin hunts fish in southern Siberia in August 2017
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Russian President Vladimir Putin plunges into the icy waters of lake Seliger during the celebration of the Epiphany holiday in Russia’s Tver region in January 2018
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Putin measures a dead polar bear on the island Alexandra Land, part of the Franz Josef Land archipalego in the Arctic Ocean in April 2010
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Putin sits inside a T-90AM tank during a visit to an arms exhibition in the Urals town of Nizhny Tagil in September 2011
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Putin holds a Bulgarian sheperd dog given to him by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov after their press conference in Sofia on 13 November 2010
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Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes part in a judo training session at a sports complex in St Petersburg on 22 December 2010
AFP/Getty
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Putin holds a tommy gun during a visit to Izhevsk Mechanical Works, a weapons manufacturer in May 2010
AFP/Getty
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Putin plays with his dogs Buffy (L) and Yume at his residence in Novo-Ogariovo in March 2013
AFP/Getty
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Putin wears a helmet and the uniform of the Renault Formula One team before driving a F1 race car on a special track in Leningrad region outside St. Petersburg on in November 2010
Getty
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Putin sports a pair of goggles during a visit to the Technology Park of the Novosibirsk Academic Town in February 2012
Getty
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Putin holds a huge pike fish, after he caught it in the Tyva on 26 July 2013
AFP/Getty
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Putin inspects a horse in the Karatash area, near the town of Abakan in March 2010
AFP/Getty
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Putin looks down the sight of a replica kalashnikov rifle at a target range in Moscow in April 2012
AFP/Getty
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Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi on 30 August 2015
Getty
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Putin drives down a highway in St Petersburg in August 2013
AFP/Getty
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Putin takes part in a judo training session at the Moscow sports complex in St Petersburg, on 22 December 2010.
Getty
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Putin speaks with Leonardo DiCaprio on 23 November 2010 after a concert to mark the International Tiger Conservation Forum in St Petersburg
AFP/Getty
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Putin holds two ancient amphorae he found while scuba diving in Taman Bay as he visits an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on 10 August 2011
AFP/Getty
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Putin caresses a Persian leopard cub as he visits the Persian leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on 4 February 2014
AFP/Getty
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Putin rides a train in Moscow on 21 November 2019
Sputnik/AFP/Getty
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Putin hunts fish in southern Siberia in August 2017
Getty
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Russian President Vladimir Putin plunges into the icy waters of lake Seliger during the celebration of the Epiphany holiday in Russia’s Tver region in January 2018
AFP/Getty
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Putin measures a dead polar bear on the island Alexandra Land, part of the Franz Josef Land archipalego in the Arctic Ocean in April 2010
Getty
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Putin sits inside a T-90AM tank during a visit to an arms exhibition in the Urals town of Nizhny Tagil in September 2011
Getty
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Putin holds a Bulgarian sheperd dog given to him by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov after their press conference in Sofia on 13 November 2010
AFP/Getty
It had looked into “the UK regime for tackling money laundering” and “concluded that we have some of the strongest controls in the world”.
There were already new powers which had already seized “billions” from criminals’ bank accounts and an extra £48m spent on tackling money laundering.
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“We are not complacent and we will ensure the full weight of law enforcement bears down on dirty money,” the response to the Russia report stated.
Quizzed about No 10 immediately rejecting the report’s warnings about Russian meddling, the spokesman insisted Mr Johnson was “absolutely” confident the 2016 referendum result was “fair”.
“We have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU referendum,” he said.
“Our intelligence and security agencies produce regular assessments of the threat posed by hostile state activities, including any potential interference in past or current UK democratic processes.”
He also insisted there were “robust systems in place” for last December’s general election – which was held while the report was being suppressed.
Local authorities and political parties were given cyber and protective security advice, he argued.