Yesterday the government launched an “urgent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics” to be led by Whitehall longtimer Philip Rycroft. It will report before the local elections and is apparently the result of the conviction of Reform’s Nathan Gill for taking bribes from the Russian state…
The review is meant to “build on the launch last month of the Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan to disrupt and deter spying from states” and provide broad recommendations but its practical result will be to give Labour cover to impose restrictions of how Reform is funded. Especially crypto and US cash…
The key statement:
“Mr Rycroft’s report, which will be sent to the Housing Secretary and Security Minister at the end of March, will focus on the effectiveness of the UK’s political finance laws, as well as the safeguards in place to protect our democracy from illicit money from abroad, including cryptocurrencies. It will also examine the rules governing the constitution and regulation of political parties and the Electoral Commission’s enforcement powers, as well as explore the role of the current checks and balances in the system.”
The allotted time and scope of the review will not allow it to address numerous questions that would be embarrassing for Labour. Will Rycroft look into the pervasive influence of the Bangladeshi Awami League in UK politics, the party of ex-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq’s dictator auntie? A scandal which implicates Starmer…
Significant additional interference also looks to be missed out, particularly with regard to the energy sector. Will Rycroft examine the lobbyists…
It is not known, for example, what exact services UK lobbying firm Portland Communications provided to its client Gazprom or other Russian state-linked entities from 2005-2014. Portland was of course founded and run until 2019 by the current Downing Street director of communications Tim Allan. Russia has admitted that its strategic goal is to disrupt European energy self-sufficiency – including preventing shale extraction. There is no suggestion that Allan personally lobbied on behalf of Gazprom or the Russian state when the former was retained as a Portland client – any deep review would presumably examine that sort of thing. Co-conspirators can decide for themselves whether Rycroft will go there…
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