UK LoP urges PM to tackle money laundering issues to curb Russian influence in the country

Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer said that Russians have been permitted to turn London into money laundering capital in the world, The Guardian reported. Starmer has accused the Conservative government of failing to take action on the threat. Launching a scathing attack on the government’s stance on Russian influence within Britain, he insisted that the UK needed to first get their "own house in order" as they united with the West against Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

According to the figures obtained by the Observer, around 30,000 properties in England and Wales, including houses, were purchased by the wealthy Russians. The identity of the owners of most of the properties is now known after delays in a government commitment to end secret ownership of property. Starmer called for more transparency to review more powerful counter-espionage measures, and new anti-corruption laws are required to tackle money laundering in the UK. Furthermore, Starmer accused Putin of using illicit money and influence to openness and freedom of "western democracies into weaknesses." Keir Starmer stated that after almost 12 years of Tory government, the Kremlin has been permitted to come around the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported citing The Observer. 

Most property titles in England and Wales registered in BVI

According to Starmer, a cottage industry has been created that directly and indirectly does the bidding of those related to Putin. According to the report by the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International had informed that £1.5 billion of Britain property has been split by Russians alleged of corruption or linked to the Kremlin. As per the new figures in a separate analysis obtained by the Observer, BVI is a main low-tax offshore rule for companies and individuals owning property in the UK. As per the analysis by the Centre for Public Data, a UK non-profit organisation of the most recent property data has revealed 21,496 property titles in England and Wales are registered to companies in the BVI and 7,898 are registered to individuals. The BVI does not the identity of company owners and many of the individuals who are property title holders are nominees acting for offshore trusts. 

Image: AP