In the few short months since Brexit, which we were told would be a gift to Vladimir Putin it is now becoming clear that the British Conservative Party has strong links with the Kremlin. Which may also help explain why Russian aircraft are given free tours when they enter UK airspace, er sorry are escorted out of UK territory.
According to The Times a number of senior Conservative MPs and councilors have been writing nice things about the Kremlin’s policy in among other areas Crimea and Syria. Many also received direct benefits or benefits -in-kind. One who benefited was John Redwood (one of Britain’s leading Brexiters) who according to the UK Register of MPs interests had some connections in the Russia direction. Not that there is anything wrong with that. When asked about the money he denied he knew of its origin. Perhaps we should not be overly surprised of his naivety or stupidity, as when he was the Secretary of State for Wales he famously was unable to sing the Welsh National Anthem.
The Conservative Party has never received any money itself from bad sources although one of its previous fund raisers Sir Brian Wyldbore-Smith (yes that is his name) was involved in raising funds from interesting sources. Indeed newspaper articles from the 90s reveal a culture of secret donations but nothing illegal of course.
We should not think of course that there is any link between the increased interest in working towards a trade deal with Russia or in intelligence sharing and the incentives given to leading politicians.
This article was published on my original blog in February 2017. I have kept the original posting date. Those in doubt can check on web.archive.org.