Labour partys Gordon browns russian riches

[srb7677]

I have no doubt that dirty Russian money has infested the Westminster parties.

But Thomas, you seem interested only in calling one of them out on it, which betrays your own obsessive agenda of hate towards it, a bit like Smurf with the tories.
 

[Thomas]

Good article in the spectator. While srb steve and others want to shut me down talking about keir starmers , labours and the wider lefts hypocrisy on ukraine Regarding starmers "democracy ovr dictatorship" quote , or barry gardiners chinese back handers while labour and their lefty chums scream about russian bank handers in the tory party , it seems im not the only one taking note of the hypocrisy on show from labour and their cheerleaders.

Starmer's Advisers Mandelson & Mattison Rub Shoulders With Russians

As Sir Keir demands a Putin-style closure of RT and highlights Tory links to Russians, he may want to take a look at whom his own advisers have been rubbing shoulders with. Yesterday Guido pointed out that while Labour now calls for the banning of the UK channel of Russia Today, Starmer's own head of strategy Deborah Mattinson appeared on the channel just ahead of the 2019 election. Then there's Mandy...

It's well known Mandelson's been advising Starmer – increasingly obviously as Labour plays more and more out of the New Labour playbook. In March 2014, the UK put top Putin advisor Sergei Glazyev on the sanctions list, a man who – among other things – claimed unrest in Ukraine was "financed by American institutions in cooperation with their European partners" who also "financed neo-Nazis". Who proceeded to share a stage with Glazyev two months after his sanctioning? Lord Mandelson.

According to Linkedin records, Mandy's Global Counsel, the strategy firm that definitely is not a lobbying firm, also has 5 staff working on behalf of Russian clients. What with this, Mattinson, 13 Labour MPs and Lords backing Russia over NATO, and Young Labour, perhaps Sir Keir might want to get his house in order soon if he plans on lecturing the government...

https://order-order.com/2022/02/23/starmers-advisers-mandelson-mattison-rub-shoulders-with-russians/


To paraphrase guido above , clowns like good old might want to get thier own houses in order first before trying to tar others as putin lovers.

[Thomas]

Gordon Brown's Russian riches

Labour has been trying to much political capital out of Russian-linked donations to the Tory party. Sir Keir Starmer might play the cross-party card in the House but not all on his benches share that sense of magnanimity. Liam Byrne enjoyed taking a pop at Boris Johnson's socialising with oligarchs yesterday while Rachel Reeves and David Lammy previously called for the Conservatives to return nearly two million pounds of donations made since Johnson took office in 2019.

Labour's basis for this demand is that the donors 'made money from Russia or have alleged links to the Putin regime': quite the conflation between actual Kremlin cronies and those who have simply worked and made money there. Some of course, will have chosen to leave their homeland for political or economic reasons: all of these are either individuals registered on the UK's electoral roll or UK registered companies. No shame though on Reeves and Lammy for smelling an opportunity in opposition.

Still, Labour might want to check a little closer to home when it comes to checking sums given to its party grandees. For Mr S has discovered that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown was paid over £100,000 by a newly sanctioned Russian bank. The ex-Labour leader received £124,494 for a speech he gave to Sberbank and another corporate giant, Troika Diolog in February 2012. Sberbank, which is the largest financial institution in Russia, was yesterday sanctioned by the US Treasury department, as part of its punitive actions towards 13 Russian financial institutions to 'impair' the Kremlin and Russia's economy in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.


Despite the significant fee, Brown's speech lasted only 4 hours, equating to £500 per minute or £8 a second. Kerching! Furthermore, Sberbank paid an additional £4,018 for Brown and his staff's flights and accommodation in the Russian capital. According to the US Treasury department, the bank holds the largest market share of savings deposits within Russia and is the principal creditor of the country's economy. In 2018, the US Treasury identified Sberbank's head, Herman Gref, as 'close' to President Putin. Boris Johnson is yet to add the bank to the UK's list of sanctioned institutions and individuals, though it could be included in subsequent British measures.

With regards to the fee he received, Brown wrote at the time that he was 'not receiving any money from this engagement personally' and that it was 'being held by the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown for the employment of staff to support [his] ongoing involvement in public life.' At that time, Brown was already being paid a salary of £65,738 as the MP for the Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath and earning thousands extra on the lecture circuit. Unsurprisingly, the former PM did not respond to Steerpike's request for comment.

First Peter Mandelson's strategy firm and now Gordon Brown's Russian roubles. How many more Moscow skeletons will come out of the Labour closet?

https://archive.is/TZJD1