UK Politics

Boris Johnson has pointed to a fear of running into a “brick wall of lawyers” when asked why the UK has not imposed sanctions on Roman Abramovich.Labour has demanded action against the Chelsea football club owner after a leaked Home Office document flagged his “links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activities and practices”.The prime minister had insisted he could not discuss individual cases, but opened up about Mr Abramovich in an interview with various European newspapers.“None of us want to live in a country where the state can take your house off you without a very high burden of proof and due process,” he said.“There’s no point saying, yeah, we’re going to go after him, and then you come up against the brick wall of lawyers. So we have to get it right. We’re also trying not to just make this about one individual.”Ministers have also refused to address criticism that the decision not to impose sanctions on Mr Abramovich will allow him to take the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea out of the country.Mr Abramovich, who became a billionaire from privatised oil assets following the collapse of the Soviet Union, has denied having close ties to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.His spokesperson has said he has not done anything that should lead to sanctions. The “net proceeds” from the sale of the football club will go to a charitable foundation to help “all victims of the war in Ukraine”.The government has been criticised for lagging behind the EU and the US in imposing sanctions on Russian oligarchs with property and other assets in the UK.New legislation will now be toughened to allow action to be taken automatically when sanctions have been imposed elsewhere and to limit human rights protections.Foreign Office lawyers had conceded that it could otherwise take “months” to sanction other prominent oligarchs, triggering tensions with ministers.And the government has backed down on allowing 18 months for foreign owners of UK properties to register those homes, cutting the proposed “grace period” to six months.The move still falls far short of the 28 days demanded by Labour, which has warned “Putin’s cronies” will be able to “launder their money out of UK property market and into another safe haven”.But Mr Johnson told the foreign reporters: “Top line of what our package on Monday will do is that the measures that you have against individual oligarchs in Europe will essentially allow us to catch them too.”The prime minister also said there is “plainly more to be done with sanctioning some banks, with tightening Swift” – access to the international payments system.“It feels to me as though Vladimir Putin – and it’s clear from what’s happening – has decided to double down,” he said.“He sees no way out of the cul-de-sac that he’s in, except to continue with the destruction, the pulverising of innocent populations, in innocent European cities. So we will have to respond together with an intensified package.” More

A former Brexit Party MEP has claimed the EU’s treatment of Northern Ireland is on a par with Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, sparking criticism.“The only difference is we bowed to the EU without a single shot being fired,” Ben Habib said – stepping up Unionist attacks on the trade rules in the Northern Ireland Protocol.The comments come as Boris Johnson admits he is backing away from triggering Article 16 of the agreement, because it would be wrong to be “talking about this subject” while the conflict rages.But Mr Habib, in an “update on defending the Union of the UK” said the prime minister was “watching events from a distance and instituting a few sanctions”, which was no excuse for failing to act.“The parallel between Ukraine and Northern Ireland seems to be lost on Mr Johnson,” the ex-MEP for Nigel Farage’s former party has written.“Admittedly, the EU has not amassed a military force to get its way but its aim with the United Kingdom is the same as Putin’s with Ukraine.“Both actors wish to exercise influence and control over their targets. They wish to neuter their independence.“Putin’s approach is through military might. The EU’s approach has been through the Protocol.”Mr Habib, the chief executive of First Property Group, said Putin wanted Ukraine to “align itself with Russia” so its “trade benefits Russia more than other countries”.“This is precisely what the EU has achieved in the United Kingdom via the Northern Ireland protocol. The only difference is we bowed to the EU without a single shot being fired,” the open letter states.Steve Peers, Professor in the School of Law at the University of Essex, said: “A treaty which both parties freely entered into (and which Mr Habib voted for!) is not remotely comparable to a murderous invasion.”The UK had insisted the EU must agree progress towards easing the trade barrier the Brexit deal created in the Irish Sea by late February – but abandoned the deadline when the Ukraine invasion was launched.In a new interview with European newspapers, the prime minister laughed when asked if he will “not be talking about Article 16 in the next months”.“I think that it is something that we could solve with goodwill and common sense,” Mr Johnson said.But he added: “It really feels pénible to be talking about this subject now” – a French word meaning uncomfortable or distressing.Steve Baker, a senior Tory MP, has also criticised the UK’s shelving of the Protocol controversy because of the Ukraine crisis, in a speech to East Belfast Conservatives.“Any suggestion that Putin has vetoed action to restore our constitutional settlement is outrageous. Brexiteers, rightly, would be shamed into silence if we attempted this ludicrous argument in reverse,” he said.“Violence doesn’t have a veto. Liz Truss must act now to keep promises made to Northern Irish and Conservative MPs.” More

A pledge to stop Vladimir Putin’s allies sending children to UK private schools and universities will be undermined by “glaring loopholes” in legislation, MPs and campaigners fear.The alarm is being raised over likely gaps in the rules that could allow sanctioned individuals to make payments through shell companies, or from places which are not imposing sanctions on Russia.The fears come amid confusion over when the measure – promised by the government more than one week ago – is coming into force and how it will operate.Schools and other education institutions are not covered by money laundering regulations and are therefore not required to carry out checks on the source of their clients’ wealth.The Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said private schools are “being used as a weapon by our enemies” and that she feared the crackdown will fail to stamp out the use of “ill-gotten gains”.“I’m very aware of the precedent of people with great wealth paying their school fees through shell companies, through alternative organisations, or even with cash,” she told The Independent.“We are now putting financial sanctions in place to cut off these dirty roubles, but my fear is that they are going to be able to play the system easily.“If these people are happy to sit back and let the children of Ukraine be blown up, they should not have their children at our schools, which they see as a fast-track to Oxbridge.”The organisation Spotlight on Corruption echoed the concerns that front organisations in tax havens are used to pay school fees – allowing sanctions to be dodged.“There are likely to be some pretty glaring loopholes that will make it easy for individuals to get around this,” said Susan Hawley, the group’s executive director.“Our understanding is that, if someone pays from a bank account outside of the UK or another jurisdiction with sanctions, then it will not be sanctioned money when it is received by the school.”More than 2,300 Russians are thought to go to private schools in the UK, which have long been viewed as a way for the country’s super-rich to achieve “legitimacy” in top circles.When Boris Johnson announced sanctions within hours of the invasion of Ukraine, officials said schools and universities would be banned from taking part in transactions with individuals targeted.On 13 have been sanctioned so far – drawing criticism of the pace of action – but No 10 has said that many, many more will be in the weeks to come.MPs were told the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, would be responsible for making the crackdown watertight, but The Independent understands his department is not involved in drawing it up.The Independent Schools Council is also waiting to hear details of how the sanction is to be enforced, it is understood.The campaign group Transparency International has highlighted how shell companies are used to fund places at top private schools and leading universities.Its investigation found 492 payments worth £4.1m made to 177 different UK educational institutions, all from firms with accounts at banks that have since been closed down by authorities.Because the institutions are not required to carry out transaction checks, it falls to the banks involved to ascertain where the money is coming from, Transparency International says.“Whether it’s those with Kremlin connections or individuals accused of corruption, sending children to private schools can be a stepping stone towards integrating into the British establishment and laundering reputations,” spokesman Ben Cowdock warned, earlier this year.Ms Kearns added: “Private schools are not competent to monitor for money-laundering – nor should they have to – but they are now being used as a weapon by our enemies.”The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been asked to set out how the legislation will operate in relation to private schools and universities. More

Well before Russian tanks and troops rolled into Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was using the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s to ostensibly offer justification for the invasion of a sovereign European country.The Russian president has been particularly focused on NATO’s bombardment of Serbia in 1999 and the West’s acceptance of Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008. He claims both created an illegal precedent that shattered international law and order, apparently giving him an excuse to invade Ukraine.Putin’s arguments, repeated several times since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, appear to follow this line: If different ex-Yugoslav republics and the former Serbian province of Kosovo could become independent with Western backing and wars, why can’t Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea peninsula and the rebel-controlled, majority Russian areas in the east of the country split from their mother nations — with Russian help?With strong U.S. support, ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo seceded over Serbia’s strong objections. Russia, a historic ally of the Serbs, argued then that this set a precedent that could trigger a series of statehood claims elsewhere in the world.In July 2010, U.N.’s highest court ruled that Kosovo’s declaration of independence was legal but did not outright endorse Kosovo’s claim to statehood.There are many differences between the Russian attack on Ukraine, seen in the West as one of the darkest moments for Europe since World War II, and the wars in the Balkans that left more than 120,000 people dead and millions homeless. There are also some similarities. WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES?NATO didn’t occupy Kosovo after driving Serbian forces out of the former Serbian province, but sent in peacekeepers. Russian troops, meanwhile, took control of Crimea even before its referendum to join Russia was held.NATO intervened in Kosovo only after significant evidence of Serbian abuses against ethnic Albanians, including mass killings and deportations. Russian forces intervened in Ukraine with no major abuses or violence reported against ethnic Russians.Kosovars declared independence but did not join their ethnic brethren in neighboring Albania in a single state. Crimea, which has a majority Russian population, signed a deal to join Russia two days after the referendum which was deemed flawed and undemocratic by the West.WHAT ARE THE MAIN SIMILARITIES?Both interventions started with false claims that ethnic minorities are being persecuted in neighboring countries. The Serb-led military unleashed a heavy barrage of artillery against towns and villages in Croatia in 1991, something similar to the initial attacks by Russian forces against Ukraine. Just as Croats, Bosnians and Kosovo Albanians feared Serbian repression during the autocratic rule of late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, ethnic Russians feared Ukrainian nationalists.WHAT DID PUTIN SAY?“(German Chancellor Olaf Scholz) has just said that the people of his generation — and I certainly belong to that generation myself — find it difficult to imagine some war in Europe,” Putin said following talks with Scholz in Moscow on Nov. 15.“But all of us were witnesses to the war in Europe that NATO unleashed against Yugoslavia,” Putin said. He recalled that it was a major military operation involving bombing strikes against a European capital, Belgrade.“It did happen. Without any sanctions by the U.N. Security Council. It is a very sad example, but it is a hard fact,” Putin said.He has argued that by intervening in Kosovo, the West created a precedent with longstanding consequences.WHAT IS THE WEST’S TAKE ON THAT?At the press conference with Putin, Scholz hit back at the Russian president’s arguments over NATO’s actions in Kosovo, saying this was done to prevent genocide, referring to the persecution of Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians by Serbian forces.Western leaders have repeatedly rejected Putin’s arguments, saying Kosovo was a unique case due to the large number of victims during the Balkan wars amid the violent breakup of Yugoslavia. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had insisted that Putin’s analogies between the West’s actions in Kosovo and Russia’s intervention in Crimea are “shameful.”WHAT COULD BE THE CONSEQUENCES?There are fears that the pro-Russian Serbian leadership could try to use the international attention focused on Ukraine to further destabilize its neighbors, particularly Bosnia where minority Serbs have been threatening to join Serbia.European Union peacekeepers in Bosnia have announced the deployment of some 500 additional troops, citing “the deterioration of the security internationally (which) has the potential to spread instability” to the region.Kosovo’s leadership fears Serbia could be encouraged by Russia to try to intervene in its former province to stop the alleged harassment of minority Serbs. Kosovo has asked NATO for a fast track to membership in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, something neither Serbia nor Russia would likely accept peacefully.Kosovo officials have rejected Putin’s parallels between the NATO intervention in Kosovo and his invasion of Ukraine as “totally baseless and ridiculous.”___AP Balkan correspondent Dusan Stojanovic covered the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s and events in Ukraine in 2014. More

Boris Johnson has backed down on plans to allow Russian oligarchs 18 months to register ownership of luxury properties in the UK, slashing the proposed “grace period” to six months.And he announced plans to streamline the process of sanctioning individuals with links to Vladimir Putin, by removing the legal requirement for government lawyers to show that measures are “appropriate” before implementing them.But the changes fall well short of demands from Labour, who had called for a maximum 28-day delay before registers must be updated to identify the true owner of a property rather than a shell company.Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said the government’s tardiness in dealing with Russian “dirty money” in London has left the UK trailing behind the US and EU in imposing sanctions on Putin’s cronies in response to the invasion of Ukraine.Mr Johnson’s decision to amend the Economic Crimes Bill before it comes before the Commons on Monday amounts to an admission that Britain’s sanctions regime has been less able to respond swiftly than its American and European allies, who have already sanctioned hundreds of individuals.Legislation passed in the wake of Brexit to allow the UK to operate its own regime independent from the EU included measures requiring a watertight legal case to be established for each individual targeted – something which officials admit could take months.Removing the “appropriateness” test will allow the designation of groups, permitting the UK to align its sanctions lists with those imposed by Washington and Brussels.Those named could have travel bans imposed as well as asset freezes which prevent them from selling, renting, visiting or even repairing UK properties with a total estimated value of well over £1bn. Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab has even suggested the homes could be seized to house Ukrainian refugees.London has so far sanctioned only 15 oligarchs, including Alisher Usmanov, who has had financial links with Arsenal and Everton football clubs.Critics have warned that delays will allow billionaires who fear being put on the UK blacklist time to sell off assets and move their money abroad. Putin associate Roman Abramovich has announced plans to sell Chelsea FC, though there has been no official indication that he is being considered for sanctions.Meanwhile, ministers said that keeping a six-month grace period for property registration would help crack down on money while giving people with legitimate reasons to hold property in overseas entities time to comply.Mr Johnson said: “The UK has led the way with the toughest package of sanctions against Putin’s regime and we’re bolstering this with new powers in our arsenal to go further and faster.“We will ramp up the pressure on those criminal elites trying to launder money on UK soil and close the net on corruption. They will have nowhere to hide.”But Mr Lammy responded: “It is totally unacceptable that Putin-linked oligarchs who should have already faced sanctions are being allowed to move their money around because of government incompetence. “Ministers should have introduced the laws needed to work in lock-step with our allies and partners months ago, not be left sanctioning hundreds fewer individuals and entities than the EU and the US.”We welcome the government’s U-turn under pressure from Labour to tighten the law so we can move on more oligarchs tied to Putin’s regime, but we must also move faster, acting against these individuals in ​days not months.” More

Sir Keir Starmer has praised Labour’s newest MP as a “great champion of working people” after she won the by-election in Birmingham Erdington. Paulette Hamilton saw off a limp Tory challenge for the constituency on Thursday night to become the city’s first black MP.She succeeds Jack Dromey, who had held the seat since 2010 before he died suddenly this year at the age of 73.Visiting the constituency on Friday, Sir Keir told reporters: “Jack would be smiling this morning … looking down seeing that baton being passed to Paulette, a champion of working people for Erdington.”Addressing the victorious candidate, he said: “You will be a fantastic champion for them, bringing them what they want most – the security of knowing they’ve got a champion for them in parliament; the prosperity that they want for themselves, their businesses, their communities; and the respect that they so richly deserve.”Ms Hamilton revealed on Friday that her father had died just days after she was picked as the Labour candidate for the seat.In the end she won a convincing victory, albeit on a rock-bottom turnout of 27 per cent – low even for a by-election.She secured 9,413 votes compared with the Tory candidate Robert Alden’s 6,146. In third place was Dave Nellist, standing under the left-wing TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) banner, who won 360 votes.Her 55 per cent of the vote was up on the 50 per cent secured by Labour in the seat at the 2019 election, though it did not match the 58 per cent secured in 2017.But the Tory candidate won his lowest share in the seat since 2015, reflecting national Tory troubles in the polls. Labour has held the constituency at every election it has contested since 1945.Ms Hamilton said: “I never thought I’d be running to be an MP, but the fact that I am now not only the MP for Erdington but the first black woman – the first woman to ever get the position – I am delighted and I am still pinching myself.” More

The Mayor of London has announced plans to extend the city’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the whole of Greater London.Sadiq Khan said in a speech on Friday that the policy would help tackle the “triple challenge” of air pollution, the climate emergency, and congestion.Under the plans, from next year motorists in vehicles that do not meet emissions standards would have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in Greater London.The policy already extends to the capital’s north and south circular roads, taking in inner London. The zone was extended to this point last year, having previously covered a smaller area in the centre of the capital. It operates in addition to the longstanding congestion charge. The Mayor’s office said extending the zone to the whole of Greater London would reduce NOx emissions from cars and vans by between 285 and 330 tonnes, cut CO2 emissions in outer London by between 135,000 to 150,000 tonnes, and reduce the most polluting cars on the roads by as many as 40,000 a day.“The triple challenges of tackling toxic air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion mean we need to further reduce emissions from vehicles in London,” Mr Khan said in his speech in Lewisham on Friday.”We simply don’t have time to waste. The climate emergency means we only have a small window of opportunity left to reduce carbon emissions to help save the planet. “And despite the world-leading progress we have made over the last few years, there is still far too much toxic air pollution permanently damaging the lungs of young Londoners and leading to thousands of deaths every year, with the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution in outer London boroughs.”The Mayor said the policy was “also a matter of social justice” because air pollution was “hitting the poorest communities the hardest”. “Nearly half of Londoners don’t own a car, but they are disproportionally feeling the damaging consequences polluting vehicles are causing,” he said.“If no additional action is taken to reduce air pollution beyond the existing polices, around 550,000 Londoners would develop diseases attributable to air pollution over the next 30 years and the cumulative cost to the NHS and the social care system is estimated to be £10.4 billion.The policy was well-received by clean air groups. Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma + Lung UK, said the announced was a “landmark moment in protecting the lives and lungs of all Londoners”.”We now want to see this scheme put into action. For it to succeed there needs to be improved walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure in outer London boroughs so people are more confident to stop using their cars and transition to cleaner travel.”Jemima Hartshorn, of the group Mums for Lungs, said: “Despite having campaigned for a London wide ULEZ since 2018, I did not dare to hope this would become reality soon. We know more about pollution and it’s harmful health impacts, especially on children, now than we did a few years ago – so we urge all policymakers to not rest until pollution in London is reduced so far that it no longer shortens lives.”Motorists can avoid paying the ULEZ by driving a cleaner car which meets modern standards – meaning the number of vehicles hit by the charge is likely to reduce over time as cars are replaced. Adam Tyndall, programme director for transport at London First, said: ​“While expanding ULEZ will bring a welcome boost to air quality across the capital, it is disappointing that the Mayor is relying on a mechanism that will run out of road in the next few years. “Simply incentivising Londoners to buy electric cars will do nothing to address the chronic congestion we see across London. We hope that this consultation leads to a more integrated scheme that is cost-effective for the essential road users and businesses who keep our city working.”Mr Khan’s administration had previously proposed a £3.50 boundary charge for all motor vehicles entering Greater London, but has since ruled this out. His office plans to consult on the ULEZ charge before implementing it.Other suggestions from the mayor include support for pay-per-mile road pricing, though there are not as yet concrete plans for this approach.But some campaigners have criticised the mayor for pushing ahead with the Silvertown road tunnel, which they say will encourage more pollution and congestion, and works against his other plans. More

Britain’s immigration minister has refused to give evidence to MPs on the UK’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis.Kevin Foster, the minister for immigration and future borders, has declined an invitation from the Home Affairs Committee to answer questions on what Britain is doing to provide support and refuge to people leaving Ukraine following the invasion by Russia.The committee said that “given the urgency of the situation” it had asked the minister to reconsider.The Home Office has come under criticism in recent days over its “bespoke humanitarian route” for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, after it emerged that the scheme excludes swathes of refugees with loved ones in the UK.Home secretary Priti Patel announced on Tuesday that it was expanding the route to include parents, grandparents, adult children and siblings of British nationals and people settled in the UK, and that a new sponsorship scheme was being established to help people fleeing the Russia invasion.But many relatives, including partners or cousins of British nationals, as well close relatives of people in the UK on work or study visas, who are not deemed to be “settled”, remain excluded from the scheme.Shadow immigration minister Yvette Cooper said earlier this week that there remained “significant questions” about “gaps in the system and delays”, and that she remained concerned about whether this would deliver the “much needed support and sanctuary in practice”.It also emerged on Wednesday that the helpline set up by the Home Office for Ukrainian refugees wishing to join loved ones in Britain under the new visa scheme was being manned by advisers who know nothing about the scheme.It comes after Mr Foster was criticised for suggesting that Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion could apply for the seasonal worker scheme in order to get into the UK.Replying to a tweet by Labour’s shadow armed forces minister Luke Pollard raising concerns that Ukrainians fleeing the conflict still have to apply for a visa to enter the UK last week, the immigration minister, in a now-deleted tweet, cited the seasonal worker scheme. The suggestion prompted calls for him to apologies – which he has not done.More than 1 million Ukrainians have already crossed the border, and the EU has said that 7 million people are likely to be displaced as a result of the conflict.Labour has today called on the government to end “ongoing confusion” over its policy on refugees fleeing President Putin’s war by making a “simple emergency visa” available to all Ukrainians that need sanctuary and protection in the UK.Despite the commitments made by the Prime Minister to join other countries in providing protecting those who have fled the Russian bombardment in Ukraine, the opposition party warned that the “rhetoric does not match the reality”.Ms Cooper said: “People need a simple and safe route to sanctuary right now. Most want to stay close to home, especially those who have had to leave relatives behind, but the UK must play its part to help people seeking support and safety in our country too.“Despite government announcements, desperate families are finding that the rhetoric doesn’t match the reality. They cannot wait for the Home Secretary’s slow and piecemeal approach which just doesn’t match the urgency of this crisis. Ukrainians need help right now to reach safety.”The Independent has set up a petition calling on the UK government to be at the forefront of the international community offering aid and support to those in Ukraine. To sign the petition click here. More