Bremainers Ask ……… Terry Christian

Bremainers Ask ……… Terry Christian

Apr 29, 2022 | Bremainers Ask, News

Terry Christian is a journalist, actor, author and award-winning radio and TV broadcaster. He has presented several national television series, including Channel 4’s The Word and 6 series of ITV’s moral issues talk show, It’s My Life. He has also been a strong critic of Brexit and the Tory government, and he’s not known for mincing his words.

Valerie Chaplin: What do you think of Boris Johnson’s comments comparing Brexit to Ukraine, and the inference that Michael Gove had a hand in the speech?

This was a ridiculous thing to say. Ukraine is desperate to join the EU and be free of Russian influence. Brexit will always be compared to intangible things, anything other than the real impact and how it impoverishes us, hits businesses, destroys jobs, denies opportunities, deprives us of rights, raises costs. So, expect much more of this vague drivel – Brexit is the moon landing, the conquest of Everest: it’s simply the bluster and distraction techniques of a shady conman.

 

Steve Wilson: Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and following Partygate, it looked like Boris Johnson would be deposed. Will Teflon-coated luck keep him in office (and win him another election) or do you think he’s still vulnerable?

I don’t think he’s Teflon. The obvious truth of being a liar and self-serving, lazy charlatan sticks. What keeps him in place is immorality, shamelessness and supine Tory MPs. This horribly exposes the huge weakness in our lack of rules and constitution. The historian Peter Hennessy put it that everything relies on a “good chap theory” of government where people do the honourable thing, so there’s no need for strict rules. Now that we have someone without shame or honour, that all breaks down – it’s akin to having an honesty box which a compulsive, amoral thief turns upside down.

Would you prefer Boris Johnson to: a) depart early, allowing the Conservatives to hit the reset button again, or b) to remain in office, in the hope that he’ll be a liability come the next election?

I understand the tactical aspect of keeping someone so tarnished in place that it may help deliver a Labour government. However, personally I find it hard to overcome my visceral loathing of the man and his acolytes and I fear what further damage he and his tenth-rate appointees, like Nadine Dorries, might do. It’s like you go to buy a house – you’re certain to pick it up for a lower price if its semi-trashed with excrement smeared on the wall – but is that what you want?

 

Lisa Burton: Channel 4’s, The Word, which you presented, had some hugely controversial moments. Do you think something similar could be aired now? And what was your own personal stand out moment?

It would be seen as tame now. I never liked those “controversial” moments that allowed people to humiliate themselves for sneery laughs. It was the early poison that found its apotheosis in the ugly and deadly Jeremy Kyle bear baiting.

 

Sue Scarrott: What do you think the Tory government has in mind for the future of the NHS and what can be done to protect it?

I think they will continue to clap for it whilst trying to flog it off to their mates – it will be salami slicing and will be spread out thinly to disguise it.

As Brexit reality bites, how can we capitalise on Brexit voters who now regret their decision?

I’m probably not the one to ask – I’d advocate dunce hats, shaved heads, sack cloth and ashes for them. For those who hold their hands up and say yes, we were conned, then I guess the best thing to do is to hope that they will arrive at a more mature view of how we positively engage with our closest neighbours and allies. But even for those regretful Brexiteers, I have a feeling that once a mark, always a mark, and they will always be easy meat for yet more flag waving, foreigner-bashing conmen and grifters like Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson.

 

Derek Ironside: Do you think Labour’s best chance of success in the next General Election is with a “Progressive Alliance”?

Yes, but it may need to be a subtle nod and a wink agreement. The Tory strategy of only needing the hard-core hard-of-thinking, a smattering of bigots, and allowing the progressives to split their vote, needs to be challenged.

 

Ajay Lanyon: Should Labour support closer ties with the EU, e.g. by advocating for single market/customs union membership?

I suspect the best thing is to drift back over time, to get closer to the EEA. I also suspect that, if Europe had someone they loathe less than Johnson to deal with, they could be quite amenable to being more accommodating and flexible.

Helen Johnston: Tory MP Julian Knight questions if the Government’s privatisation of Channel 4 is being done for revenge for Channel 4’s “biased coverage of Brexit and personal attacks on the PM”. Do you think this is true, and would privatizing Channel 4 reduce the range of independent reporting on politics in the UK?

Yes – it’s a mixture of revenge and cultural vandalism – so pettiness and stupidity. To find the dumbest, most pig-ignorant MP possible and make them culture secretary tells you everything you need to know.

Our next Bremainers Ask contributor will be Alexandra Hall Hall. A former British diplomat with over 30 years’ service, Alexandra’s most recent assignment was as Brexit Counsellor and spokesperson at the British Embassy in Washington. She resigned from that position in December 2019, after concluding she could no longer represent the British Government’s position on Brexit with integrity.

She is now a frequent commentator and writer on British politics and foreign policy post-Brexit. In her latest article she argues that the time has come for serious discussions about reforming Britain’s political structures.

If you would like to submit a question for Alexandra, please email us no later than Saturday 7 May at enquiries@bremaininspain.com

Jacob Rees-Mogg argues that with Brexit “the best is yet to come”!

Jacob Rees-Mogg argues that with Brexit “the best is yet to come”!

Apr 23, 2022 | News

According to the Benefits of Brexit paper, “this is a hugely exciting time for our country, one filled with potential and opportunity”.

Sue Wilson MBE by Sue Wilson MBE

On Wednesday 20 April, the European Scrutiny Committee held an oral evidence session with Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, the subject of the meeting being ‘Regulating after Brexit’. The meeting aimed to question the minister on his new role, to consider the recent government paper ‘Benefits of Brexit’ and to discuss the Brexit freedoms bill.

The Rees-Mogg remit

Chair of the cross-party Commons committee, Sir William Cash, outlined the agenda and invited Rees-Mogg to comment about his new role. Rees-Mogg opened by explaining that his role was not the same as that previously held by Lord David Frost as he is only “focussing on the domestic side of it”. The Northern Ireland protocol and the trade and cooperation agreement now fall under the remit of the foreign secretary.

Rees-Mogg will be responsible for the forthcoming procurement bill, which he described as a “major opportunity to simplify the processes of procurement within the United Kingdom”. In addition, his responsibilities will include the Brexit opportunities bill, more formally known as the retained EU law bill.

The Northern Ireland protocol

Rees-Mogg claimed that it was “widely accepted”, though he didn’t say by whom, “that the protocol is not working and needs reform”. Once the work of reforming the protocol is completed, he said, “the Brexit freedoms that I am proposing” would also apply to Northern Ireland.

Richard Drax (Conservative) said that on fulfilling Brexit, the idea had been to leave the EU “lock, stock and barrel”. He said the aim was “to be a completely free, independent country” that made its own rules. Drax asked Rees-Mogg if he agreed that the UK had yet to achieve this goal, adding that it wouldn’t do so “until this protocol is resolved”. He asked how much longer the country would go on “bartering and negotiating and prevaricating” with the EU.

Rees-Mogg responded by saying that the protocol was only signed by the UK “on the basis that it would be reformed”. He went on to say that the UK “was much more important than any agreement with have with any foreign power”. The minister did not want to be drawn any further, in light of the Stormont elections, but did confirm that the “wheels are in motion” to resolve the protocol issue. “Ultimately”, he added, “we can do what we want”. Not quite sure that the EU will see it that way.

Brexit freedoms

The minister was questioned by Anne Marie Morris (Independent) regarding what freedoms the government had exploited since no longer being restricted by EU law. He could only give the example of the gene editing of plants. However, he professed that “the best is yet to come”. The Brexit freedoms bill – not yet available even in draft form, but expected this summer – will “provide the mechanism for updating, changing, removing retained EU law” much more quickly.

It’s worth noting that despite many attempts to identify which of these EU laws they want to remove, the government has yet to come up with an answer, even pleading with businesses last year to help them out with ideas.

When asked to expand with examples of proactive measures taken, Rees-Mogg claimed that the UK’s policy on Ukraine would not have been possible as EU members. “If you want a monument of our freedom”, he continued, “it is the extraordinary leadership the prime minister has given over Ukraine”.

Whilst it’s true that the UK have acted quickly with military assistance for Ukraine, the treatment of Ukrainian refugees could hardly be described as leadership, by any measure. Where the EU have waived visas and are offering homes, jobs and support, our ‘leader’ is offering visa applications, a ‘monument’ of bureaucracy and endless delays.

Reforming regulations

Conservative Marco Longhi asked the minister which sectors were expected to benefit from regulatory freedoms and which would find divergence “more challenging”. Rees-Mogg said the sector that would benefit the “easiest” would be financial services, but that the most exciting areas were AI and GDPR.

He did not, however, name any sectors that would struggle with divergence – he merely said we must get away from the idea that because others are taking a certain path, then so should the UK. So, little comfort for the farmers, the fishermen, the musicians, the small businesses etc. that are struggling, if the Brexit minister cannot even acknowledge there are issues.

Rees-Mogg added, “I don’t care what the EU does anymore”, nor America, nor Singapore. All that matters is “what’s right for the UK”. Many would agree with that statement, but not with his or the government’s version of what that might look like.

When Longhi asked Rees-Mogg to identify legacy or policy changes that had been made possible by Brexit, the only example given was the forthcoming procurement bill. It seems that, despite all the supposed freedoms that Brexit has given the country, the government has been slow to take advantage of any so-called Brexit ‘opportunities’. Indeed, many of the opportunities and benefits already claimed have been pure fantasy.

Crain Mackinlay (Conservative) asked the minister about his personal priorities. Rees-Mogg replied that in order to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, “our real opportunity” was to come from “reforming and removing EU regulation”. The aim was to “make the economy more efficient and to lower costs” – sometime in the future, presumably.

An easy ride

With all the questions asked of the minister coming from Conservative or Independent MPs, and none from Labour or the SNP, Rees-Mogg was never really challenged. Despite no tough questions, he still managed to avoid providing any significant responses regarding government actions minus the supposed cumbersome constraints of EU legislation.

According to the Benefits of Brexit paper, “this is a hugely exciting time for our country, one filled with potential and opportunity”. There’s as much truth in that statement as in the chair’s closing comment that this meeting was “very interesting”.

Just as well I wasn’t expecting to be surprised with a list of formerly unreported Brexit benefits. Instead, what I heard was more meaningless promises of future gravy, rather like Brexit itself. Thank goodness the “best is yet to come” – in about 50 years’ time, I understand.

Government’s plan to export refugees to Rwanda condemned as inhumane, unworkable and extortionate

Government’s plan to export refugees to Rwanda condemned as inhumane, unworkable and extortionate

Apr 20, 2022 | News

Sue Wilson MBE
by Sue Wilson MBE

 

The government is pandering to right-wing xenophobes with its abhorrent and soon-to-fail immigration plan with Rwanda, in our name

The Home Office’s ‘new plan for immigration’ is not going to work. The model is flawed, the cost is prohibitive and few outside of Conservative right-wing enclaves support it.

The latest, and most extreme, extension to the government’s anti-immigrant arsenal comes with a variety of contentious claims. The Home Office maintains that the plan will:

  • tackle the global migration crisis
  • break the business-model of people-smuggling gangs
  • deter dangerous and illegal journeys
  • give migrants the chance of a new life
  • set a new standard on asylum and resettlement

Home Secretary Priti Patel described the “ground-breaking” migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda as “world leading”. Without a hint of irony, she said that “fairness” was at the heart of their approach, asserting that “the British public have rightly had enough”. She stopped short, just, of claiming this was the ‘will of the people’.

Widespread criticism of government’s immigration plan

Criticism of the Rwanda plan has come from a variety of sources, not least from religious leaders who usually refrain from engaging in political arguments. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda did not “stand the judgment of God”, and accused the Home Office of “subcontracting our responsibilities”. He was joined by Paul Butler, the Bishop of Durham, who said it was wrong to “punish those seeking asylum”, adding that it was the traffickers “that need to be targeted and brought to justice for their terrible crimes”.

The Jewish Council for Racial Equality issued a statement and wrote an open letter to the home secretary, condemning the “inhumane plans”. They described the policy as “cruel” and an “abdication of responsibility”. They urged the government to “protect, not punish, those fleeing conflict and persecution”.

Lord Alf Dubbs – a former child refugee himself – warned the government of forthcoming problems in the House of Lords, saying, “they’re going to have real difficulties in getting this through”. He described the proposal as “a way of getting rid of people the government doesn’t want”, adding, “it’s a breach of the 1951 Geneva convention on refugees”.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council said the government was demonstrating a “total disregard for the welfare of vulnerable people”, and was “treating them as human cargo to be shipped to Rwanda and forgotten about”.

The condemnation has extended even to the home secretary’s own department, with civil service unions claiming there is widespread mutiny among their members. There have been threats of ‘mass walkouts’ following a rare direction from the home secretary to overrule civil servants’ concerns.

Unethical, unworkable and extortionate

Labour Party ministers and MPs were quick to criticise the Rwandan policy as “unethical”, “unworkable” and “extortionate”. As well as pointing out the considerable cost, they challenged Patel’s claims that the policy would have a significant impact on the numbers of refugees risking their lives to cross the Channel.

The deal with Rwanda will supposedly cost the taxpayer £120m, though this is merely the stated price for an ‘economic development programme’ for Rwanda. It does not allow for the cost of a single asylum seeker being shipped abroad. As MP Stephen Kinnock pointed out, the policy in “unravelling quickly” as further details of the proposals emerge.

Initially, it was assumed that those applying for asylum while being ‘processed’ in Rwanda would be returned to the UK if their claim was accepted. It soon became apparent, however, that the trip was one-way only. Any successful applications for asylum would mean being refugees being granted permission to stay in Rwanda, not being returned to the UK

Another dead cat distraction?

Many have questioned whether the government fully intends to progress with its outrageous, inhumane policy or whether it is merely a diversion from various scandals. Certainly, the timing of the announcement is a convenient distraction from talk of the prime minister breaking the law, and the government does have form for this. We are quite familiar with its attempts at distracting attention when things aren’t going to plan – whether that’s covid, Brexit or the cost-of-living crisis.

As George Monbiot pointed out recently on Twitter, Johnson explained the dead cat strategy back in 2006. At the time, he described his “brilliant new strategy” as to “make so many gaffes that nobody knows which one to concentrate on”, adding that it was like a “helicopter throwing out chaff”.

However, Monbiot did add the warning that, dead cat or no, that did not rule out the government’s intention of following through with this policy. Anyone who has been following the Home Office’s increasingly extremist strategies, even before Patel became home secretary, cannot doubt the desire to move further to the right.

Turning a blind eye

The Home Office claims that Rwanda has “strong experience in supporting and integrating refugees”. It has praised the country as being “internationally recognised for its safety, strong governance, low corruption, gender equality”. This is despite condemning Rwanda, just a few short months ago, for failing to investigate human rights abuses. Those abuses include the failure to protect and support victims of people trafficking. Today, Rwanda is already home to over 127,000 refugees, most of whom are living in refugee camps and unable to work.

The Home Office may be correct in its assertion that existing approaches have failed and that a new approach was necessary, but this is not it. Not even close.

Our government is turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in Rwanda while implementing abuses all its own. Where it claims to want to prevent people-smugglers from taking advantage of desperate refugees, it closes its eyes to its own plans to traffic vulnerable people abroad. As the government panders to right-wing xenophobes, it claims to do so in our name.

The welcome that’s been extended to desperate, vulnerable people from Ukraine has proved the compassion and tolerance of the British people, unlike those who claim to represent them. The government, by comparison, has shown itself to be full of heartless, bigoted zealots. They think this approach makes them appear strong and in control, but it only demonstrates their misguided, insular and damaging attitudes. The rest of the world has its eyes wide open to the shameful truth. And so do the British public. The Rwanda plan will not work. Time for a change of heart, a change of mind and a change of government.
How A Beach-side Community In Spain’s Valencia Region Opened It’s Heart To Ukrainian Refugees

How A Beach-side Community In Spain’s Valencia Region Opened It’s Heart To Ukrainian Refugees

Apr 18, 2022 | News

By Sue Wilson in Alcossebre

As Miquel Angel Jauset watched events in Ukraine unfold on his TV he, like so many of us,  felt he must do something to help..

And as Director-General of Kione Resorts, a holiday village in the coastal town of Alcossebre in the Valenciano province of Castellon he came up with an idea that was more ambitious than most.

“I saw how people crossed the border without anything and I saw myself reflected in them”, he explained in an interview last week.

Feeling a “need to go and help”, Miquel Angel launched a campaign crowd-funder to raise money to collect Ukrainian refugees from the Polish border, bring them back to Spain and “offer them the chance to start a new life”.

With the help of his Ukrainian employee, Olena Cherniek, Miquel Angel co-ordinated with volunteers in Valencia, and at the Polish border to set the project in motion.

The original plan was to bring up to 50 refugees back to Alcossebre by coach but the numbers grew and so far over 70 families have relocated with the project.

Miguel Angel Jauset with the Ukrainian refugee families

The resort is providing free accommodation for the families on their premises but also helping the families to establish themselves.

Apart from assisting with the necessary paperwork required to allow them to work, they are helping organise health insurance and providing schooling, including Spanish lessons.

The younger children started school a few days ago, the older children will do so after Easter. Some of the adults have already started working, and a few – who preferred not to remain in Alcossebre – have been helped on their onward journey to other European cities.

Help offered to refugees locally has come from a variety of quarters, including the local charity shop – The Friends of Alcossebre.

President, Carolyn Arneill, said it has always been their aim to help the local communities and our new local Ukrainian neighbours are no exception.

Volunteers, FOACC (Friends of Alcossebre and Alcala)

For every refugee, the charity is providing a gift voucher that equates to five items per person, per month of clothes, shoes, toys etc.

“We are working closely with the Ayuntamiento to provide assistance in any way we can”, she said.

“We have all seen the news of what is happening every day in Ukraine and we’re happy to be able to help provide support to the Ukrainian families here”.

On Sunday, April 3, a local event that was organised to raise funds for the refugees, attracted a crowd of over 500 locals.

Alcossebre resdidents enjoy their huge paella

Residents enjoying their 550 portions of paella

Considering the resident population of Alcossebre is just 3,000 people, this was quite a turnout. With 550 portions of paella served from the biggest paella dish I have ever seen, the event raised almost 6,000 euros net profit. All the proceeds will be used to purchase food and basic items for our new Ukrainian neighbours.

Two recipients of Alcossebre hospitality are sisters Marina Demchenko and Alena Tysenko. 36 year-old Marina and 38 year-old Alena began their journey to Alcossebre from their home in Dnipro, 1,000 kilometres east of the Polish border.

Leaving her husband behind, Maria travelled with her five-year-old son, daughter, 13, and her mother-in-law.

Marina Demchendo and her family

Marina Demchendo and her family

Travelling with them was sister Alena with her eight-year-old daughter.

When they set out, they had no idea where they were headed or which country they would end up in. They did not choose Spain, rather as Maria explained: “Spain chose us.”.

The war has separated Maria not just from her husband but from her elderly parents too, forcing her to leave behind her home and her country. She said, “in one day, we lost everything – work, peace, our past life”.

As a child, Marina’s grandmother used to say to her, “if only there was no war”. Marina is grateful that her grandmother is not alive to see the horrors the Russians are now inflicting on the Ukrainian people.

“So many people suffer because of one person”, she added. “Putin is an unhealthy person. If he were of sound mind, he would understand that you cannot achieve peace by war”.

Marina’s sister Alena described how they met volunteers from Alcossebre in Przemysl, Poland. Alena said they were offered help back in Spain of “free accommodation, meals, assistance with paperwork, Spanish lessons and a school programme for the children”.

It was an offer too good to refuse.

Alena is planning to work in Spain for “as long as the hostilities continue”. As far as the future is concerned, she said, “I don’t guess any further”.

While Alena studies Spanish and looks for work, she can’t help but worry for the well-being of her parents, unable to move to a safer place. She desperately wants to help them and to “hug them”.

With her plans for the future in tatters, Alena is at least grateful to no longer be in danger. She thanked the people of Alcossebre, and Kione in particular, for their help and support, and prays for “peace and humanity in the whole universe, like we have met in Spain”.

At present, Miquel Angel has no further plans to bring more refugees to Spain, as “we want to focus on the ones already here”.

He added: “Our project is not yet finished. When all the refugees have their own homes, with proper jobs, and are completely settled, that will be the moment to start a new trip to bring another coachload of refugees to Alcossebre, and to start the project again”.

The author of this article is Sue Wilson MBE, Chair of Bremain in Spain. Read more of her writing at the Olive Press HERE and visit the Bremain in Spain website for more.

Ukrainians in Spain: ‘Every night I wake up and worry about the lives of those I’ve left back home’ 

EXPLAINED: How can I offer my home in Spain to refugees fleeing war in Ukraine?

 

Open Letter to Lord Frost from Bremain Chair Sue Wilson MBE

Open Letter to Lord Frost from Bremain Chair Sue Wilson MBE

Apr 10, 2022 | Bylines, News

Dear David,

As we’re old friends now, I’m sure you’ll forgive the informality of my address. I thought you would rather prefer David to ‘Frosty’, with or without the ‘no-man’ handle.

I note that, despite your resignation from your role as Brexit Minister, we have not been spared your ruminations on all things Brexit-related. I know that it’s not unusual for ex-Chancellors to be asked to comment on the economy, or ex-PMs to be asked to comment on policy, but as far as I’m aware, nobody was doing any asking on this occasion.

Of course, as your latest ‘article’ – for want of a better description – was published in The Telegraph, I’m sure your incoherent and incomprehensible musings were received with open arms. After all, any newspaper that employed your former boss as a regular ‘journalist’ clearly has some judgement issues.

So, about your latest comments. Firstly, I’m sure it’ll be no surprise to you that I am an ultra-Remainer, and yes, I am mobilising. There are millions like me, and we have a democracy to save. Your suggestion that we “became a full democracy once again” thanks to Brexit just proves your complete misunderstanding of, well, everything.

If memory serves, you were once a Remainer too. Even when you couldn’t make up your mind which side you were on (who does that remind me of?), you were in favour of single market and customs union membership. You said that, for the sake of global trade, “it simply isn’t worth jeopardising access”. Even in this latest article you state that “no sensible person would deny that leaving the single market and customs union has some effect on trade in the short run”. I guess we would probably argue over how long “the short run” equates to. I think your fellow Brexiteer, Jacob Rees-Mogg might have mentioned fifty years or so. Seems quite a long run to me.

Despite having advocated your “grand new free trade agreement”, and boasted about securing the deal in just 10 months, the gilt on the deal wore off quickly. How long was it, exactly, before you and Johnson started rubbishing your own deal and demanding the EU make changes? When the EU failed to respond to your posturing, bullying nonsense, you threw in the towel and left the job to another incompetent Brexit convert. Never gave up the title, though, did you? Bet you’re giving that a lot of thought now that you’re eyeing up No. 10.

You complain in your piece about European Movement Chair, Lord Adonis, saying that “Brexit has failed. We were lied to. It’s time to rethink”. But that’s all you do – you don’t say what’s wrong with those comments, or even contest their veracity. Perhaps that’s wise, though no surprise. Disputing the truth has never been something that Brexiteers have shied away from. Quite the opposite.

To be fair, your disconnection from reality is not limited to Brexit. It applies equally to “living with Covid successfully”, and a variety of “world-leading” claims. Have you seen the Covid figures recently? Hundreds of British people are ‘dying with Covid’ every single day. And as for the UK leading the world in anything at all, I’m struggling to think of a single example. Well, any positive examples.

Your article did make me smile though. My favourite paragraph was the one where you said, “it is impossible to draw any firm conclusions from the trade figures”, adding that “the picture is reassuring”! Have you seen the latest reports from the Office of Budget Responsibility? However, it wasn’t those comments that caused my smile – it was the start of the paragraph. It began, “in reality”. Worthy of any comedy club appearance, that one.

You claimed that “what matters is not trade, but economic growth”, so I guess you are not an advocate of doing trade with the EU, or the US for that matter. Though quite how the economy is expected to grow when we’ve few friends or trading partners is beyond me. Of course, I’m no economist, or member of the House of Lords, so what would I know?

Your final piece of Brexit-related nonsense was to suggest that the next referendum on EU membership should be held in 2067. After all, we had 47 years for the EU to demonstrate “that UK membership was a good idea” and Brexit should be measured by the same standard. If you’ll excuse me for pointing out the bleeding obvious, it didn’t take 47 years for the country to benefit from EU membership, or to take note. The benefits were obvious right from the start.

Do you remember when, back in the good old days of pre-EU membership, the UK was branded as the “sick man of Europe”? I’ve got news for you. Thanks to you, your ex-boss and your Brexiteer friends, that label is back. So, keep your irrational, asinine, and frankly, boring remarks to yourself. You resigned as Brexit Minister, remember. Nobody is listening now, if they ever were.

Sue Wilson MBE

First published in West England Bylines on 10 April 2022

Woeful ignorance: a timeline of Russian interference in UK politics

Woeful ignorance: a timeline of Russian interference in UK politics

Apr 3, 2022 | Bylines, News

It has taken a war for Britain to openly acknowledge that Putin has successfully infiltrated our politics and interfered in our democracy, writes Bremain Vice Chair Lisa Burton for Yorkshire Bylines. 

10–20 minute read

It has taken a war in Europe for Britain to open its eyes and openly acknowledge what should have been accepted long ago. Vladimir Putin has successfully infiltrated British politics and society and interfered in British democracy.

The evidence was in plain sight. Warnings and evidence were ignored, and the Conservative Party, in particular, have played fast and loose with the country’s security and democracy in favour of political power and greed.

Timeline of Russian interference in British politics

1999 – Putin becomes the president of Russia.

2000, January – Putin’s forces bomb the Chechen city of Grozny. A UN report says Grozny is the most destroyed city on Earth.

2006, 23 November – Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned on British soil with polonium, a highly radioactive isotope, probably the most toxic poison known to man when swallowed or inhaled. He died 23 days later. The assassins left traces of this substance across London. It was an act of terrorism.

2007, January – Six weeks after Litvinenko dies, Russian ex-banker Lubov Golubeva makes her first donation to the Conservative Party. She is the partner of Vladimir Cherlukhin, a former Kremlin deputy finance minister. Her name will appear again later.

2008 – Labour government introduces the golden visa system – A fast track to UK citizenship via investments of at least £1m in the UK and to invest £750,000 in UK government bonds.

2008, May – Conservative MP Boris Johnson is elected mayor of London.

2008, August – Putin invades and occupies parts of the independent nation of Georgia.

2009, January – Former Russian KGB spy Alexander Lebedev buys the London Evening Standard newspaper. He appoints his son, Evgeny as senior executive director.

2010 – Johnson and Evgeny Lebedev become friends, often dining together.

2011, October – After relentlessly campaigning for five years, Litvinenko’s wife Marina eventually won the right to a coroner’s inquest into her husband’s murder.

2012, May – Lebedev’s London Evening Standard publicly backs Johnson’s mayoral re-election campaign. That year he stays at Lebedev’s castle for free, which he does every year for the next five years.

2013, July – Theresa May refuses to hold a public inquest into Litvinenko’s murder. Later she would admit her refusals were over concerns about the potential impact on “international relations”.

2014, February – Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Britain, together with Russia and the USA, were signatories to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which guaranteed Ukraine protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for giving up one of the largest nuclear arsenals in Europe. No country, including the UK, reacted appropriately to this act of aggression.

2014, July – Putin backed separatists shot down passenger Malaysian Airline’s MH17 passenger plane over Ukraine with a Russian missile killing 298 civilians.

2014, 18 September – The Scottish independence referendum – in 2020, the Russia report would confirm Russian interference in the campaign.

2014, November – Government makes changes to, and increases the golden visa scheme investment to £2m. Concerns have already arisen about the weakness of the scheme

 

 

2015, 27 January – More than eight years after his murder, the public enquiry into the assassination of Litvinenko begins.

2015, March – Metropolitan Police investigated £180m worth of UK property bought with corrupt money from offshore companies. They and anti-corruption campaigners say the problem is exacerbated by continuing secrecy, obscuring the beneficial ownership of properties held in tax havens like the Channel Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

Deutsche Bank reported “a considerable chunk of UK’s £133bn of hidden capital inflows since the mid-1990s is related to Russian capital”. An incredible £93bn of that was since 2006, with the pace accelerating since 2010 to around £1bn a month. “Hidden inflows … raise major questions over the UK’s role as a refuge for international capital flight and the need for better data and more rigorous oversight on property transactions”, they warned.

2015, September – Putin sends its air force to Syria to prop up Bashar al-Assad. Evgeny Lebedev pushes the UK to ally itself with Putin. Johnson writes a column in The Telegraph with the headline ‘Let’s deal with the devil: we should work with Putin and Bashar al-Assad in Syria’.

2015, November – Transparency International releases its aptly named 80-page report ‘Don’t look, won’t find – Weaknesses in the supervision of the UK’s anti-money laundering rules’. It stated:

 

“Billions of pounds of corruptly gained money have been laundered by criminals and foreign officials buying upmarket London properties through anonymous offshore companies, making the city the world capital of money laundering.”

 

The report made multiple recommendations and conclusions. Once again, the British government did nothing.

2016, January – Public enquiry into Litvinenko’s murder ends and finds that it was an FSB (one of the successors of the KGB ) plot and likely approved by Putin.

2016, 9 May – Johnson, then foreign secretary, comes under criticism for being a ‘Russian apologist’ after seemingly blaming Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea on the European Union. He told reporters, “If you want an example of EU foreign policymaking on the hoof and the EU’s pretensions to running a defence policy that has caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in Ukraine”. It was something then UKIP leader Nigel Farage had verbalised, along with his admiration of Putin.

Their words were a severe distortion of the facts regarding who was responsible for the worst threat to European stability and security since World War II. Both anti-EU men who just happened to be the most dominant faces of the pro-Brexit campaign.

2016, 23 June – The EU referendum: 51.9 percent of the votes cast favoured leaving the EU.

2016, 31 December – The US select committee on intelligence on Russian interference in the 2016 election releases documents.

2017, February – Head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre Ciaran Martin, asserted that the Russian government had stepped up its online aggression against western countries. He cited 188 significant cyberattacks against the UK government over three months, most connected to Russian and Chinese actors.

2017, March – Newspaper Novaya Gazeta and Reuters detail a ‘global laundromat’ involving an estimated 500 Russian individuals/organisations/bankers with connections to the FSB. $22.3bn had passed through Moldova using Russian shell companies and fictitious loans from offshore companies in Britain from 2011 to 2014. The UK government said they would investigate.

2017, November – US news outlet CNN alleges that the Russia based troll farm “internet research agency” used Twitter accounts to generate pro-Brexit messages before the UK referendum.

The intelligence and security committee of the UK parliament begins its investigation into Russian influence in British politics and society.

Theresa May, in an address to the Kremlin, says, “we know what you are doing … and you will not succeed”. She accused Moscow of attempting to “weaponise information” as part of a “sustained campaign of cyberespionage and disruption”. Russia’s actions were “threatening the international order”, she said.

2018, January – US senate released the document ‘Putin’s asymmetric assault on democracy in Russia and Europe: Implications for US National Security’. It stated that Russia had interfered in the Brexit referendum and “the Russian government has sought to influence democracy in the United Kingdom through disinformation, cyberhacking, and corruption” and, the “UK political system vulnerable to anti-democratic meddling via social media and ‘possibly illicit’ campaign funding”.

Additionally, UK campaign finance laws do not require the disclosure of political donations from the beneficial owners of non-British companies incorporated in the UK and carrying out business in the UK. The report suggests this “may have enabled Russian related money to be directed with insufficient scrutiny to various UK political actors”. Senators point out that UKIP and its then-leader Farage did not just fan anti-EU sentiment but also criticised European sanctions on Russia and provided flattering assessments of President Putin.

The University of Edinburgh asserted that more than 400 of the Internet Research Agency Twitter accounts that had been active in the US election had also been highly involved in posting about Brexit, while CNN alleged numerous accounts had also blasted out pro-Brexit messages before the UK referendum

The University of California at Berkeley and Swansea University in Wales reportedly identified 150,000 Twitter accounts with various Russian ties that disseminated messages about Brexit before the referendum.

2018, March – Russia carries out a chemical weapons attack on British soil. Former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned in the city of Salisbury with the nerve agent Novichok. Two UK police officers had minor injuries, and one detective was hospitalised. This was a terrorist attack.

The UK’s assessment that Russia was responsible was supported by 28 other countries, who expelled 153 Russian diplomats in total.

2018 – After the Skripal poisoning, the government reviews the golden visa scheme. Despite the pressure, that review has never been published. We know that 97 percent of investors were subject to scant checks on the legitimacy of their wealth. More than 3,000 people were granted investor visas between 2008 and 2015, including 705 Russians. The UK has the fastest golden visa system globally, given in just one to three weeks of applying.

2018, April – Hours after a NATO meeting, Johnson now foreign secretary, ditches his security to visit the Lebedev’s castle in Italy, where he meets Alexander Lebedev. The next day he was reported as being alone at the airport, dishevelled and hungover. He cannot explain why he did not have his 24/7 security with him.

2018, 30 June – Seven miles north of Salisbury, a public member Charlie Rowley found a perfume bottle in a litter bin and gave it to Dawn Sturges, who sprayed it on her wrist. She fell ill within 15 minutes and died. Charlie was hospitalised but survived. Three members of the GRU (Russian foreign military intelligence agency of the Russian armed forces) who had travelled to the UK were identified as responsible.

2019, October – Johnson starts his new general election campaign. The same month, Johnson is given the long-awaited Russia report but does not release it or share its contents.

2019, 11 November – After leaks, CNN released its investigative report into Russian interference under the heading the ‘UK parliament was warned about alleged Russian interference’. Sources told CNN the committee heard from multiple witnesses who alleged that Russia has “built a network of friendly British diplomats, lawyers, parliamentarians, and other influencers across the political spectrum”.

Bill Browder a financier and once one of Russia’s most prominent investors, provided testimony to the UK parliament. He said, “The people we have seen working to further Russian interests in the UK are some of the people at the highest level of the establishment. I would not have submitted these claims if I hadn’t confidence in the evidence”.

Another source accused authorities of “putting political considerations ahead of the national security and Russia is potentially the most significant threat to the UK’s institutions and its way of life”.

2019, November – Johnson states there is “absolutely no evidence that I have ever seen of any Russian interference in UK democratic process”. A couple of days later, on BBC Question Time, when probed about not releasing the Russia report, he said, “this is complete Bermuda triangle stuff”. He has now had the Russia report for a month.

2020, March – Johnson nominates Evgeny Lebedev for a peerage. British intelligence advised against the appointment on the grounds of national security. Johnson defies the security services advice.

2020, July – After nine months, parliament’s intelligence and security committee published the long-awaited Russia report, heavily redacted. It found Russia had interfered in elections and the Scottish referendum. The committee recommended an investigation of the referendum, saying:

 

“Varying statements were made by Number 10 that was categorically not true. There are facts. We know there’s a new thing where Number 10 says something, and it must be true, but these [denial statements] were clearly not. There is clear evidence. Serious questions need be asked.

“The outrage isn’t that there was interference. The outrage is that no one wanted to know if there was.”

Within an hour of the report’s release, Johnson rules out an investigation into interference in the Brexit referendum.

A key strand called for a crackdown on London being a laundromat for illicit Russian cash. The government also dismissed this, with the prime minister’s spokesperson saying the UK has “some of the strongest controls in the world”.

The report confirms many oligarchs close to Putin are integrated into the British business, social, and political scene. Several members of the House of Lords have business links to Russia or work directly for major Russian companies linked to the Russian state. It called for more scrutiny and more decisive action. Downing Street declined, saying they were confident the House of Lords could oversee proper rules on the registration of donations to its members

2020, 22 July – Johnson says in parliament, “there is no country in the western world that is more vigilant or in protecting the interests of this country or the international community from Russian interference”.

2020, 23 July – The Times reports that the Conservative Party’s finances have come under renewed scrutiny. Two of its MPs on the intelligence watchdog committee and 14 ministers had accepted donations linked to Russia.

The same day, the Tatler reports Lubov Chernukhin, the most significant female donor in the history of the Conservative Party, is the wife of a former Kremlin deputy finance minister. She has given around £2m since 2012, including paying £160,000 to play tennis with David Cameron (the then PM) and Johnson as London mayor. In December 2021, the Conservative Party accepted £80,250 from her. That was just four months ago.

2021, June – The High Court rejects a case brought by MPs to force Johnson into investigating Moscow meddling in UK politics. Ben Bradshaw MP added:

“The government has been wilfully negligent in investigating Kremlin interference in our democratic processes. Every other western democracy takes this extremely seriously. Boris Johnson is looking away.”

2021, October – Christopher Steele, once MI6’s top Kremlin expert, and former spy who wrote the infamous dossier on Donald Trump and whose advice was sought by UK officials long after he left the service, stated that Russia’s leaders believe they are “at war” with the UK and its allies, but Britain is failing to deter the threat.

2022, 17 February – Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that the golden visa scheme would end with immediate effect to help stop “corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities”.

2022, 23 February – At prime minister’s questions, Caroline Lucas accuses Johnson of “turning a blind eye” to clear evidence in the Russia report of meddling adding, “Why is he playing fast and loose with our national security?”

2022, 24 February – Russia invades the independent country of Ukraine. Civilians are bombed, and at the time of writing this article, over three million refugees have fled Ukraine.

2022, March – It transpires that so far, eight sanctioned Russian oligarchs bought their British citizenship through the golden visa system. As Chris Bryant MP said on Twitter, “a shocking indictment of how the UK sold its birth right for a mess of dodgy money for years”. By the end of March 2022, 2,581 Russians had bought their citizenship on the golden visa scheme.

Conclusion

There is only one conclusion. The United Kingdom and successive governments have failed to protect British democracy from interference. The evidence is there, and without doubt, a public enquiry would expose shocking failures. Yet Prime Minister Johnson seems unwilling to look too closely. He likely knows what would be disclosed.

That being, he was a willing participant in allowing Russian influence to grow and taint the EU referendum by Russian influences. Johnson is Brexit’s figurehead, and Brexit is the Holy Grail that the current Conservative government are trying to protect. After all, who wanted Brexit even more than Farage, Johnson, and the Eurosceptics in the Conservatives Party? Putin himself.

Acknowledgement and thanks to YouTuber Political X. Many critical dates and inspiration came from his 2020 video ‘A Timeline of Russian Interference’, which you can watch here: