UK Labour Lawmaker Asks Government for Tougher Stance on Russia

LONDON (Sputnik) – UK Labour lawmaker and shadow foreign minister Lisa Nandy on Monday said that “there is more we can do to be tough on Russia,” as she accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government of doing nothing to implement recommendations made 18 months ago to stop London being a haven for Russian “dark money.”

“For as long as this government isn’t prepared to take tough action to make sure the UK isn’t a home for some of that dark money, the message that would be received loud and clear in Moscow is that the government will say one thing but do quite another. We’d really need to see some tough and robust actions on that to show the UK’s leading by example,” Nandy told the Sky News broadcaster.

She said that Johnson “has been sitting” for 18 months on a report issued by the UK parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee that “shows how London is still haven for the dark money that helps to sustain Putin’s regime.”

“A whole series of recommendations and there is not a single one of them implemented in full,” the Labour lawmaker added.

Nandy also referred to the current migration crisis at the Belarusian-Polish border, accusing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of using “vulnerable refugees as pulse in a game.”

“We recently imposed sanctions on Belarus. If Lukashenko isn’t careful, he may as well see a united front from Europe and the United States to impose further sanctions and I certainly don’t think we should rule that out,” she said.

The situation at the border between Poland and Belarus has escalated over the past few weeks as thousands of migrants have been stranded on the Belarusian side trying to enter the EU nation. Poland has boosted security in the area, while migrants have set up camps, raising tensions.