London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

The problem with the UK’s Russian clamp down

The problem with the UK’s Russian clamp down

I’m no apologist for oligarchs, whether they be from Russia or anywhere else. I have been writing for years about how dirty money was flooding into London’s property market, helping to price out ordinary people who just want a home.
The government should have taken action decades ago to prevent kleptocrats from laundering their money through London property and their reputations through our libel courts.

These matters could have been addressed quite easily by prohibiting property from being held in the name of overseas private companies and by reforming libel laws to stop the wealthy from threatening journalists and anyone else with eyewatering legal bills.

Yet I feel uneasy at the speed at which things seem to have turned – to the point at which government ministers seem to feel entitled to seize property and other assets without much in the way of evidence that they are ill-gotten gains. Yesterday, housing secretary Michael Gove told a committee of MPs that the government was thinking of speeding up legislation to make it easier to seize assets under so-called 'unexplained wealth orders' – which force people to provide an explanation for how they came by their money, or lose it.

It might sound reasonable enough in the context of Putin’s cronies with property in London, but it runs somewhat counter to the principle of being innocent until proven guilty. Could I prove that every penny in my bank account, or every pound with which I bought my house two decades ago, was honestly earned? I am not sure the required documentation exists. It is all too easy to see how heavy-handed legislation passed hurriedly to deal with Putin’s cronies could end up being used against ordinary taxpayers.

What must it feel like to be an honest Russian business owner in Britain at the moment? Much as some might like to think of Russia as being made up entirely of oligarchs and peasants, such people do exist. They will have been chilled to hear Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet, propose that every single Russian citizen living in Britain have their visa cancelled and be ejected from the country. Among the people Sir Roger would like to deport back to Russia are dissidents who came to Britain to escape Putin’s dictatorship, who already suffer the possibility of being served a dose of Novichok. They are people we need on our side; not trying to treat them as if they were the Russian leader’s henchmen. And to think that only a few weeks ago Sir Roger was trying to pose as the Conservative party’s moral conscience over partygate.

Go after Putin’s cronies by all means, and disarm their wealthy London lawyers (how about large fines for lawyers who use threatening letters, just as we prosecute Twitter users who made threats?). But please don’t let us descend even slightly towards the level of Putin by undermining the rule of law and having a state which helps itself to fistfuls of individuals’ money at a whim. And let’s stamp out anti-Russian prejudice before it has a chance to take hold. Ordinary Russians, just like Ukrainians, are Putin’s victims too.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
×