All week long, America has been convulsed by attempts to lift sanctions on Oleg Deripaska - the Putin ally close to Manafort who's being investigated by Mueller. In Britain, Deripaska's long time business associate, Lord Mandelson, appears on the BBC. Without a whisper
There are so many obstacles in Britain to a proper investigation of Russian money & influence. And Deripaska's r'ships across political spectrum are small insight into why. This NY Times piece spells out the very different treatment of Deripaska in US & UK nyti.ms/2D0KQFS
I just wish @peoplesvote_uk could put forward spokespeople who aren't knee deep in Deripaska money. Mandelson on Tuesday. Blair on Wednesday. Board member Roland Rudd is another who took the £££...Is it really so difficult to find someone who *didn't* take a wodge?
And let's not forget Lord Barker. Who's refused to give evidence to parliament about Deripaska. Because....drum roll....he's on Deripaska's pay roll. theguardian.com/politics/2018/…
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Out all day so just catching up with sweeping no-holds-barred sanctions Johnson promised if Russia invaded. Three people sanctioned. THREE! And doesn’t even include oligarch US authorities named as subverting global elections - aka @George_Osborne’s boss
We need to talk about Roman Abramovich. But first we need to talk about Oleg Deripaska.
He’s been major player in UK for more than a decade, he employs a lord & former Chancellor of Exchequer. And - according to Senate Intel Report - he subverts elections
A lot has been said about the cost to me of Arron Banks’s libel suit. But this is an optical trick. Because it’s not to do with me. It’s all about him. About why he’s spent £1m to shut my reporting down. And why he’s so bothered about my 23 words? When his own are so much worse
Why does this matter? This 2017 congressional testimony from @selectedwisdom is one of the best explainers of how Russian ‘active measures’ work. And how politicians help the Kremlin achieve its goals
That was 5 years ago & start of US investigation into Russia’s attack on its election. In Britain, we know domestic actors subverted our laws. We know they don’t work any more. But as @IanCLucas says here, we’ve had zero investigation into foreign interference. Zero new laws.
Meanwhile, this damming damning statement from the Electoral Commission today. Johnson government intends to rip apart its dependence & put it under political control
“If Ukraine is invaded, the shock will echo around the world” If Boris Johnson thinks Russian aggression is a “shock”, it’s because he suppressed Intelligence & Security Committee’s report on Russian interference & refused to act on its recommendations
In 2016, he blamed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the EU. He went on to use it as an argument for Britain to leave the European Union inews.co.uk/news/uk/boris-…
In 2018, after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, NATO called an urgency summit to discuss Russian sanctions. Johnson left it, skipped his security detail & flew to Italy where he met an ex-KGB officer whose son he later ennobled
Yay! Finally a trend we need. Knuckledusters are now a THING. The amazing Hannah designed these after seeing off a stalker. I wore them to do battle in the High Court. Today featured in @thesundaytimes. For women who punch up… thetimes.co.uk/article/bold-i…
Hannah kitted out not just me but a whole battalion of my female friends who came to court. Back story here…
There is a war on information that Putin’s winning. By exploiting the malign incentives of social media, the competitive nature of news orgs & in Britain, the compromising effects of decades of dirty money. A potential war in Europe is just one of results. And maybe not the worst
This is not a joke. And Putin’s malign & corrupting influence in our politics, elections & public life is not joke either. Yet *still* being treated like one. And that’s why lack of curiosity about latest moves by biggest funder of Brexit boggles my mind