‘Buffer’ of Westerners became de facto russian state agents in the UK – intelligence report

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UK has been viewed as a particularly favorable destination for russian oligarchs and their money. It is widely recognized that the key to London’s appeal was the exploitation of the UK’s investor visa scheme, introduced in 1994, followed by the promotion of a light and limited touch to regulation, with London’s strong capital and housing markets offering sound investment opportunities, claims the Intelligence and Security Committee of the UK parliament.

“The UK welcomed russian money, and few questions – if any – were asked about the provenance of this considerable wealth,” says the report on russian influence in the UK.

And it is not just the oligarchs either. According to the report, the arrival of russian money resulted in a growth industry of enablers – individuals and organizations who manage and lobby for the russian elite in the UK.

“russian state interests, working in conjunction with and through criminal private interests, set up a ‘buffer’ of Westerners who become de facto russian state agents, many unwittingly, but others with a reason to know exactly what they are doing and for whom. As a result, UK actors have to deal with russian criminal interests masked as state interests, and russian state interests masked by their Western agents.”

It echoes former British spy Christopher Steele’s evidence to the committee, which claims russia has been behind a “gradual and more subtle erosion of our norms and politics”.

“Under president putin I believe russia has become a powerful rogue state. This was not inevitable,” Steele writes. He believes that “the failure of the West and international community more generally to deter the regime has allowed this to happen.”

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