Tory minister accuses Labour of asking questions about Russian money to distract from its 'woeful' response to Salisbury attack
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A Tory minister has accused Labour of asking questions about Russian money to distract from its 'woeful' response to the Salisbury attack
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell used an urgent question in the Commons to ask the Government to reveal what action it has taken, amid concerns little has taken place in the last 12 months since he raised issues around the "Russian laundromat".
MPs heard this involved billions of pounds of criminal funds being laundered through the City of London.
But Home Office minister Ben Wallace, said the Labour Party were challenging the Government over "dirty money" laundered in the UK as a "distraction".
He said: "We saw it over the weekend, what this really is about is a distraction by the Labour Party from its woeful response last week to the national security (incident) - an attempt by the shadow chancellor to say 'Nothing to see here, look over there, it's all about oligarchs'."
Mr McDonnell voiced concerns that the National Crime Agency had estimated £90 billion is laundered through the City of London each year, with the United Nations estimating £100 billion is lost in British overseas territories.
He said: "Despite all the actions that the minister has set out, there's still a major problem here."
Mr McDonnel l went on: "There's minimal checking of the UK's own register of company ownership, indeed it was possible for a journalist to set up a company called Crooked Crook Crook Limited."
Mr Wallace claimed the Government has been "absolutely determined" to deal with the "threat posed by dirty money" going through the City of London and being "harboured" in properties in the UK.
During the debate Dame Margaret Hodge, who previously chaired the Public Accounts Committee, called on ministers to review so-called golden visas to ensure they are not being granted to "unsavoury individuals".
The Tier 1 investor visa is granted when applicants can show they have £2 million to invest, usually within three months of receiving the visa.
The Labour former minister said: "I want to raise another issue with the Minister and that's the Tier 1 investor visas, the golden visas.
"Anybody who gets one of those visas needs to demonstrate they've got £2 million that they wish to invest in the UK.
"We know that Russia is one of the two top countries taking advantage of these tier investor visas.
"What steps is the minister going to take so that we understand where the £2 million-plus comes from so that we can be assured that it is not dirty money and these are not unsavoury individuals?"
Home Office minister Ben Wallace gave the pledge that the Government would "do better" to ensure "due diligence" was done to examine where the money was coming from.
He said: "We are clear that when it comes to dealing with foreign oligarchs and overseas organised criminals it is as much about the free movement they enjoy as it is about the actual assets they are moving around and harbouring.
"We do have the powers in our visa regime already to take action and we will quite rightly as she says be looking at that tier to make sure that we do better due diligence if we need to on where the money comes from."
He added: "We have to be here to make sure that we do it on evidence, where we find wrongdoing they will be refused a visa."
Later in the debate Labour MP Stephen Doughty, who sits on the Home Affairs Committee, asked whether the Government could be sure Russian money had not made it into any "political party or think tank" in the UK.
Mr Wallace told MPs the electoral commission polices political funding, but in light of recent allegations around Tory party funding he said: "I know what he is trying to get at."
He added: "We are confident that all our donations are in accordance with the law as set out from UK citizens."