Reported by James Hockaday
Labour has vowed to “plug the gaps” in existing measures to prevent Russian interference in elections and to tackle the flow of “dirty money” coming into London.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said that while the UK has led the way on sanctions against Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, he’s worried they still aren’t being implemented as effectively as possible.
“The issue now is the enforcement of those sanctions and if we do have the privilege to serve, that is the area in which I will look more closely to ensure that there is the proper co-ordination across both the Foreign Office and the Treasury,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.
Asked if he thought this means not enough is being done now, Lammy said: “I remain concerned about the dirty money that continues to flow through London, I remain concerned that the full implementation of the Russia report following the interference in our elections and the work of our select committee have not been fully implemented.
“So yes, I think there are gaps and if we are successful, when the general election is held, I intend to plug those gaps.”
London has become the ‘laundromat of the world’
Speaking to Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme, Lammy said: “Of course it’s important that we stand up to Russian aggression abroad and in central Europe, but it’s hugely important that we deal with Russian aggression in our own country.
“We have been calling now for months and months for the government to implement the Russia report that our intelligence select committee reported on. We have no register of overseas property, 250,000 properties in London owned by overseas entities, they haven’t dealt with the Computer Misue Act, why?
“They have changed electoral law to allow limitless donations to political parties, it’s hard to understand. They’ve taken about £5 million worth of donations from Russian-linked donors, they should give that money back.
“We’ve been saying that we have to deal with the dirty money that’s circulating in London – London becoming the laundromat of the world – and, embarrassingly, President [Joe] Biden conveying concern that the sanctions regime that we needed is compromised because of the government’s refusal to deal with that dirty money problem.”
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