The UK has pledged to get rid of Russian “dirty money,” as well as to tighten sanctions against Russian businesses in the country. But why is that an issue for a country that is, as George Galloway puts it, “dirty money central”?
“The City of London is afloat on dirty money and for the money that’s too dirty even for the City of London, we have our own crown dependency tax heavens, which are the toilet for dirty money,” the politician-turned-broadcaster Galloway told RT.
Ill-gotten cash from Russia does not damage UK security more than fraudulent gains, brought to the City of London from any other state across the world, according to the former MP. “Dirty money is dirty money wherever it comes from, and thieves are thieves wherever they come from,” he said, noting the lack of concern by the British government about money coming from the Middle East.
Galloway sees the craze around Russian investments as a politically motivated. “Cracking down on Russian dirty money when you’re allowing other dirty money to buy up at least 20 percent of London, is just hypocrisy,” he said.
The commentator highlighted London's change of attitude since the early 1990s, when rich Russians began parking huge amounts of money in Britain.
“Britain and its government and state authorities loved the Russia of the early nineties and laid a red carpet for the oligarchs, escaping here with Russia’s wealth. Britain loved Russia when its president [Boris Yeltsin - Ed.] was lying drunk on floor and its pockets being picked,” Galloway said. “They don’t love its current president, because he’s a real man, who’s standing up straight and recovering Russia’s lost strength and international prestige.”
The former politician added that he is for zero tolerance of emigre crime. “It doesn’t damage Britain's security except in as much as it helps to pollute the economy here as the use of stolen money always does,” he said.
“I’m against dirty money, all dirty money. All money that’s stolen should be returned to the victim of the theft, to countries from which it was stolen,” Galloway said. “Russian oligarchs involved in dirty money should be sent back to Russia. So should dirty Nigerian money be sent back to Nigeria, and Nigerian oligarchs sent back to Nigeria.”
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