How to end Britain’s love affair with Russian money
Oliver Bullough has traced how the British financial system has sheltered ill-gotten Russian wealth over many decades. Can the system be cleaned up?
In response to Vladimir Putin’s escalating assault on Ukraine, the UK has added more than 100 individuals and entities to its sanctions list. Boris Johnson says these measures are designed to “squeeze Russia from the global economy”.
But will they be effective? Oliver Bullough, who has been writing about the proliferation of Russian wealth in the UK for many years, tells Hannah Moore that the British banking system has long welcomed Russian money. His new book is Butler to the World: how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals. He explains how Britain became such an attractive place for Russian oligarchs to spend and invest their money, and why repeated attempts to reform the system have fallen short.
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