The Telegraph Newspaper is estimated "to have recieved many millions" from the Russian State News Agency - RIA Novosti - to run Russia reports from 2007 onwards.
During this time Telegraph's reporting on Putin softened - while the paper became increasingly anti Europe.
Various media outlets such as the Guardian & Private Eye have reported on this.
However it is still unclear how much money was diverted to the Telegraph for this.
According to some reports the figure was over 500 000 yearly for a decade.
The final figure may exceed 5 million.
The content running mostly under the title "Russia Beyond The Headlines" was created exclusively by Kremlin approved sources.
The paid for content run by the Telegraph continued without pause even during the 1st invasions of Ukraine in Crimea and eastern areas.
Interestingly during this time a certain Telegraph journalist - Boris Johnson - started changing his line.
His wages were hugely increased & his reporting on Europe - previously more humourous - became darker & blaming the EU for Crimea annexation.
During this time Boris Johnson became per word the highest paid journalist in Fleet Street despite filing merely one column a week, usually late & rapidly written.
As Ive said repeatedly much of this has been well known in Fleet Street but most of the media decline to comment on it too publicly - bar the usual honourable exceptions such as Private Eye..
While the original pages have now all been wiped from the Telegraph site you can still see the cache version and read the Telegraph publishing Putin's propaganda talking points on Syria.
Launch party filmed.
Everything written by Kremlin approved writers in the Telegraph.
And the Russians bought it for somewhere above 5 million.
Maybe many millions more - and no one will ever know the final amount.
Once again some people are being very illogical about PR and the Labour party.
So ask yourself:
“what is the best way to get PR into the U.K. political system?”
The answer is of course….
The best (& only plausible) way is:
1. Labour/LibDem coalition 2. People who want PR joining the Labour Party
So if you are saying you won’t vote Labour until it’s guaranteed PR before the debate/coalition/election is sorted you’re sabotaging the only way this can be achieved.
I want PR.
Thus I want as many people who also want PR to join the Labour Party.
This shouldn’t need explaining.
Again.
It’s literally how politics works.
The LibDems are even more pro PR than labour so a coalition with them increases its lobby power.
In 10 years time people on both sides of the current “debate” are going to be very sheepish about how they turned a complex evolving subject into a nuance-fee bloodlust culture war.
Due to my family I spend 3 months of the year in an Asian country with a long history of trans people & culture.
The contrast between how this subject is treated there and in the UK is staggering.
I always think it would be beneficial for westerners who’ve now “discovered” trans issues and have gone full culture war inside weeks to spend a bit of time in Thai/Lao culture.
It’s what is called “performative nastiness” - a concept dating from 1930s.
The point is not necessarily just a bad policy but to encourage the population to “enjoy” the performative element, to encourage complicity.
Whether the policy has any practical merit isn’t important.
Students of fascism will recognize “performative nastiness” but many people won’t get it at first.
The thrill is in the “transgression”. The enjoyment of being encouraged to be complicit in what was formerly understood to be things that are “considered wrong” or “taboo”.
Priti Patel has recieved £100,000 one of the largest single donations by an oil trader - Pierre Andurand - who is not made any donations to British political parties before nor to have shown any previous interest in UK politics.
Pierre Andurand made some of his biggest profits betting on the effects of Covid-19 pandemic and predicting a world oil price slump.
He then reversed this decision prior to the Russian invasion.
Andurand has close personal ties with Russia through both his former & ex wives.
Indeed Andurand got special permission to marry his previous wife - Yevgenia Slyusarenko - in a lavish ceremony in St. Petersburg at one of Catherine I Russia’s former palaces.
Use of Lebedev family residences by Boris Johnson “much greater than previously known”.
Total time spent by the prime minister & former foreign secretary at these homes now thought to run “into months” not days.
All time spent there without security detail or sweeps.
The use of Lebedev’s multiple homes in Italy and UK supplied by the Putin-near former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev is now known to have been - contrary to earlier reports - regular events with Johnson taking the time to visit Italy alone on at least 5-10 occasions.
While on some occasions parties were involved this was not the case every time. In some cases a much smaller more group attended.
Johnson was transported on several occasions via Alexander Lebedev’s private jet.
The same jet the Lebedev family use for their business in Russia.