I am not part of “90% of the UK-wide print media” - I’m just a concerned citizen.
Johnson and the tory party have much to brush under the carpet when it comes to Russian oligarchs. Individual Tory MPs and the party itself have been recipients of much largesse from Russians. And that is after the Russian annexing of Crimea and even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions following 2014 annexing of Crimea have not hindered Russian oligarchs coming to London and increasing their fortunes through property investment. The Magnitsky Act in the US was belatedly followed in the UK by an amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill. This should have allowed the UK to take action against oligarchs but pretty much nothing was done until the Ukraine invasion this year. In short, the UK government appears to prefer taking money from Russians rather than acting effectively to address oligarch crime. And it is very clear, from Putin down to the individual oligarchs in his pocket, Russia is a crime based economy. To me, having anything to do with oligarchs, whether attending a party or accepting donations, is to give a nod and wink to Putin that all is fine, he can invade anywhere, the UK won’t make him or his cronies suffer.
A senior Cabinet minister has refused to answer questions about Boris Johnson’s meeting with an ex-KGB agent after the prime minister admitted meeting the Russian without officials while he was foreign secretary.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng refused to comment on the meeting when asked by ITV News and walked out mid-interview when pressed on the topic.
Political Correspondent Libby Wiener said Mr Johnson met a man “who was a former KGB agent, without officials, and he says as far as he’s aware nothing relating to government business was discussed” and asked: “Is that good enough?”
The business secretary said: “I don’t know about those details” but when the journalist asked for a direct response to Mr Johnson’s letter, the minister walked away.
It was a simple question … 