Theresa May urged to follow US sanctions on Russia over Salisbury by blocking ‘corrupt’ Kremlin money into UK
Tory rising star Tom Tugendhat said there was a ‘big question’ hanging over the UK given Washington’s intervention, after concluding it was Moscow behind the nerve agent attack
THERESA MAY has been urged to follow US sanctions on Russia over Salisbury by blocking “corrupt” Kremlin money from coming into the UK.
Tory rising star Tom Tugendhat said there was a “big question” hanging over Britain given Washington’s staggering intervention last night.
He said: “The idea we should be trading with Russia, allowing them to launder their money. We have to ask ourselves some very serious questions.
“Whose side are we on?”
In a fresh dig at Boris Johnson he added: “I am glad we now have a Foreign Secretary who is able to make relationships without laughing at people.”
The US said yesterday evening it would be imposing fresh sanctions on Russia after concluding it used a nerve agent against the Skripals in Salisbury.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid took to Twitter to welcome the move.
And in a formal statement Downing Street said the action sent an “unequivocal message to Russia that its provocative, reckless behaviour will not go unchallenged”.
But Mr Tugendhat- head of the cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee demanded the Government step up.
On Twitter he said: “Now perhaps our own government will sanction some of the corrupt money flowing through London and the proxies who launder it for the Putin regime.”
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And speaking to the BBC he added: “Controls apply to banks, to make sure (they) know where the money is coming from.
“Those controls don’t apply to lawyers, estate agents and many others.
“We’ve got to be very clear that organisations that claim to be regulatory, like the solicitors’ regulatory authority, need to be absolutely robust.”