London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Johnson steps up Ukraine support but is accused of slowness on Russian dirty money

Johnson steps up Ukraine support but is accused of slowness on Russian dirty money

Emergency laws due to be rushed through Commons but ministers warned measures contain loopholes

Boris Johnson has pledged to send more defensive equipment and $100m to Ukraine to hold off Russian troops and mitigate financial pressures facing the country, but was accused of moving too slowly and timidly to clamp down on oligarchs’ dirty money in the UK.
Emergency legislation is due to be rushed through the House of Commons on Monday, intended to create a register of

overseas ownership of UK land and property, reform unexplained wealth orders and make it easier to prosecute those involved in breaking sanctions.

The economic crime bill will be supported by opposition parties, but ministers were warned it would still give those suspected of money laundering a “get out of London free card” and contained loopholes that could let people disguise or liquidate their assets before the new powers come into effect.

Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said he was frustrated ministers were “going slowly” and that there were “echoes of Afghanistan”, claiming the government “really only begins to get its act together and respond in the heat of the situation rather than preparing for it beforehand”.

Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, said on Sunday it could take months or even years for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to be defeated in his ambition to conquer Ukraine.

Raab said anyone who thought the crisis would be resolved in days was “deluding themselves” and that western nations would need to “show some strategic stamina”, even though Moscow’s military campaign had “stuttered”.

Johnson will host meetings in No 10 with Nato leaders – Canada’s Justin Trudeau and the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte – on Monday to keep up the international pressure on Russia to end its war on the edge of eastern Europe.

The prime minister said that since the invasion began nearly two weeks ago, the world had stood “tall in solidarity with the indomitable people of Ukraine”.

During a call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Johnson also raised concern over “the increasing threat Russia’s barbaric attacks pose to Ukrainian civilians” and blamed Putin’s forces for breaching ceasefires relied upon for helping international aid reach those stuck without food, water and electricity for days.

In an effort to clamp down on the vast sums of Russian money opaquely invested in the UK, the home secretary, Priti Patel, vowed that the upcoming economic crime bill would “go after the oligarchs”.

The measures have been welcomed by many, given transparency campaigners have long complained that foreign investors have been able to hide their wealth in UK property, using shell companies and other complicated legal structures to conceal the identity of the real owners.

Under the plans expected to be passed in a single day by MPs, a new register will be created that will list the foreign owners of any property bought in the last 20 years, or since 2014 in Scotland.

Reform of the unexplained wealth orders system would also come into force, given no such order has been issued since the end of 2019. The changes will make it easier for authorities to confiscate criminal assets.

However, some policies have been held back for a second economic crime bill.

Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s shadow business secretary, said the current plan to give oligarchs a six-month grace period to register their UK property would give “Putin’s cronies months to sell up and escape sanctions”.

He called for the window to be cut to 28 days and said the Conservatives were in effect giving allies of the Russian president a “get out of London free card”.

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said there was at least £1.1bn of property in the capital linked to the Kremlin, along with millions of pounds’ worth of goods such as art, cars and boats.

He targeted the planned 30-day “wind-down period” for companies to conclude business arrangements before sanctions come into effect, adding that it was “completely unacceptable that ministers are offering them such easy loopholes to disguise or liquidate their assets before the state can act”.

Meanwhile, Tory and Labour backbenchers have swung behind an amendment tabled by the Liberal Democrats. MP Layla Moran said it was “farcical” that another loophole existed allowing the government to grant exemptions to individuals that would otherwise feature on the register of beneficial ownership for overseas entities if it is “in the interests of the economic wellbeing of the UK”.

Cross-party support has also been secured by ex-ministers David Davis, the Tory former Brexit secretary, and Liam Byrne, Labour’s former chief secretary to the Treasury, for an amendment to clamp down on so-called “lawfare”.

The pair want to stop oligarchs using the English court system to silence their critics, including journalists uncovering their business dealings. The Guardian revealed last week that the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, was pushing for a swift overhaul of the powers, but Raab has only committed to opening a call for evidence on reforming them in weeks.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
×