Russian Money in British Politics: How London's Shaped by Oligarchs - TLDR news
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
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Over recent years London (and the UK) has become increasingly influenced by Russian money and the Oligarchs who control it. So in this video, we're going to examine the impact and implications of Russian influence in Britain and why it matters now more than ever.
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An agency whose role is to investigate financial crimes being underfunded by Tories?
Who could've ever seen that coming?
Maybe it really is underfunded, but most public bodies seem to squander huge sums and cry poverty.
@@chi3i sounds like you are just parrotting daily mail headlines
@Nub93 According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "underfunded" means "receiving less money than is needed to continue or to work effectively".
As for why I think they're underfunded, it's because (according to this video) they've said that they're underfunded.
I suppose it could just be that their department head is using underfunding as an excuse to deliberately let the rich get away with financial crimes (perhaps they're friends with a number of such people), and the agency isn't really underfunded... however, I don't know who the person in charge is, so I'm not going to just assume that with no evidence.
On the other hand, I do know quite a bit about our current government, and the Tory party has a track record for making real-terms cuts to public bodies, so it seems like a safe assumption to make that this one is also underfunded.
@@chi3i you I'll
@@chi3i kkkkpkkkklnkkkjpjklo of la
I think it's also relevant to point out when Dmytro Firtash bought Old Brompton Road tube station, he bought it from the Ministry of Defence..
I used to live in the area. I wish I'd known it was on the market! :)
Tory traitors
I'm pretty sure the Russian's were very much supporters of Brexit and helped it along
It's why Boris tried to suppress the Russia report. Also told intelligence agencies to not look for any evidence of Russian interference. It's why he keeps stating that he hasn't seen any evidence of any successful Russian interference, because it wasn't looked for under his orders.
Wether or not is true. The West had been outsmarted by Putin decades ago
Whats wrong with alligning with russia when america treats us like there bitch
It is already proven. Aaron Banks, who financed Farage, got his money from Russia.
@@terrorgaming459 their* don't mean to sound a grammar person, just thought it would help a slavic bro in London improve their English
It bears worth repeating:
The son of an ex-KGB member and billionaire was given a seat in the House of Lords, part of our Parliament!
There is no such animal as an EX KGB agent!
@@Tickettoriderailway Just like an ex FBI or CIA agent!!
@@Tickettoriderailway True. :)
Saying ex kgb is like saying ex Mafia member. He either is dead , in jail or active.
Should we all be judged and discriminated against based on what our parents did?
War has began officially in Ukraine,
I wish the people there luck and safety.
It's due to Brexit
@@willmoore505 How?
@@billyfox6368 I think it’s just satire
Here's hoping for a flash thaw in the next 24 hours.
"What the government want is control. What the corporate world want is money. What both of them want is power. What neither of them care about is you." Russell Brand, on yesterdays pod.
when I realized that "two decades ago" was the 2000's... I felt old
It's feels like 9/11 was 10 years ago
"this is not a partisan point but... The party is just corrupt"
Even if you put lipstick on a pig - it' still a pig...
And blatantly so, amazing most people still can’t see it.
he's right though!
I mean... there's no real way to sugar coat it.
Oh please like labour isn't equally corrupt And ignoring the problem
As a person with a Nebula account (and have had one a long while), I wish people there would get to work on a Comment Section and an Email notification system equivalent to the Bell on YT. I think it's annoying that it is still much easier to see all the content here rather than there.
I'd been saying this since pre-Brexit. As usual, follow the money, follow the money, follow the money..... It's no different here in the US.
"You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don't know where the fuck it's gonna take you."
Guess we all saw that eps
I followed the money and found myself at Ursula von der Fuhrer's gin cabinet.
Eff me, I knew they were all corrupt but when you see it laid out like this.
God I'm so tired of how shit things are, and the ability of stupid humanity to make things worse.
I know the feeling.
I mean there are specific people to blame, not 'the whole of humanity'.
Thats a justified mood
Agreed. The invasion we need is from outer space by decent and civilised aliens.
@@idraote But the invasion we'd get would be evil war lords.
If so much UK real estate is owned by malign kleptocrats, that's yet another reason to want to see UK (and especially London) house prices collapse.
That would destroy what so many people have worked towards their entire lives. And it would mean nothing for property entrepreneurs
@@maximyles It wouldn't literally destroy the houses those people lived in, they would still be standing, they would still be the same physical bricks & mortar they always were.
As for "property entrepreneurs", investments can make losses as well as profits - a scheme whereby rich people can get guaranteed returns on the capital they already own isn't a healthy economy. Investment returns should be a reward for shouldering risk, not a paycheque for doing nothing.
@@maximyles no one's work has earned these obscene house prices you entitled boomer
@@KelticStingray Thing is, collectively, it *has* taken work. This housing shortage hasn't sprung up in a vacuum, it is the result of a concerted NIMBY campaign waged by millions of people (most of whom already own property) over decades.
This actually makes it worse, of course, than if boomers had merely been the passive recipients of historical good fortune.
Quite right, if your house is a home then a price drop is less of a worry ( barring the spectre of negative equity ) as your next home will also have dropped in price. A correction is long overdue.
I woke up today and witnessed a different Europe.
This channel has the best presented news articles I have ever seen. 100% this should be a major news channel and will be one day!
Typos in their graphics, just like mainstream media: "Bribary".
@@VanillaMacaron551 i have written to Colins and had this amendment requested to support the hard work of TLDR. End of the day can't have it all can you. I can accept a typo if the content is informative. Their ratio of success / mistake is VERY low though. Have been watching them for 3 years now.
I did celebrate new years at Brown's Hotel in London a few year aback and we relaized fairly early on that we and the staff were the only people there who weren't from Eastern Europe.
It's not just Eastern Europe but China as well.
hope Britain learn something from Neville Chamberlain's failure of appeasement. pragmatic policy sometimes just doesn't work for these dictators.
Lol, and to think the dictators up until less then a centure ago were the british
@@no_name4796 eh, at least we stopped colonising a third of the world for our economic gain
@@shinyaltaria1388 unless you count all the times we have sold weapons to various countries that routinely commit horrific war crimes, we still do plenty of colonialism, this time just without formally annexing the territory
Appeasement was more of buying time to rearm. British knew they can not negotiate peace deals with Hitler, but Germany had upper hand since they went full on military production while France and UK lagged. They were sacrificing present for future gains. That was point of appeasement. But in this point its worthless.
At least Chamberlain's failure was in good faith. This is seemingly purely profit driven.
01:40 "While only a fraction of this is likely illegitimate"
I would argue that nearly all is illegitimate if you consider that it was stolen from the Russian people by oligarchs.
If anyone wants to know more about the history of oligarchy in London, Russian and otherwise, the magazine Private Eye always has excellent reporting on the subject.
Whats wrong with it better then being owned by America
@@terrorgaming459 Nice try russian troll. Take your дезинформа́ции elsewhere.
@@terrorgaming459 I very much disagree, Russia's a oligarchic dictatorship with no issues around killing it's dissidents and journalists. The US for all it's problems, is nowhere near as bad.
Sadly the Eye is the one publication left in UK not bought by some political interest. A satire magazine does more investigative journalism than rest of UK press put together. What have we become?😳
We want Abramovich's money and we want him purchasing assets in London, but we don't want him on our soil: British "diplomacy" towards oligarchs in one statement.
Well we know why the uk ain’t doing sanctions on oligarchs
Because they don’t work and are pointless yea that’s why !
It's almost as if treating housing like an investment rather than the basic human right of shelter leads to rich people accruing power over others?
London has a massive homeless problem, and taking 6,000+ valuable properties from Russian oligarchs might help send a message to Russia and help British people at the same time.
Punish the russian people for the actions of their government, then?
@@thegrandmuftiofwakanda This isn't punishing the russian people. The riches of these oligarchs aren't passed to the people below. They hoard it all . This is payback to putin and his mates. That is where the wealth stops.
@@Veeger Every successful russian is Putin's mate, are they boy?
@@thegrandmuftiofwakanda well they wouldn't do very well if they weren't , girl.
@@Veeger Wow. Just...wow. The belief that the russian people can only be successful if in the pockets of the government is pure unadulterated xenophobia, you xenophobe.
Why need to keep myself informed on everything when TLDR will do it for me! Thanks, and as always a wonderfully informative video.
TLDR has a bias, but that can be mitigated by reviewing news from a range of sources.
@@billyfox6368 Mebyon Kernow 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
@@billyfox6368 Specify which bias they have. Do they align with as specific party or ideology? How did you spot it?
What I know they're biased on (because they said so) is their video on gay conversion therapy, for obvious reasons, and they gave bias coverage.
And arguably their video on the TLDR US video of the Chesa Boudin Scandal. They cited some stats that were opposed him while omitting the part of the stats that were in favor. But it's probably more of a mistake, the articles they cited did the same thing. Checking the primary source made it obvious that they should have included it. So anti-democat pro-lgbt bias so far.
@@kevinpearce88 What? what about them?
@@0xCAFEF00D I'd say that they're somewhat left wing. They don't align with them specifically. I note that they tend to select a presentation of specific events that support more liberal tendencies and they've even provided explicit two cents in the past.
Yes, that was explicitly and strongly biased, but as you said, it's okay due to their recognition of it. It's even okay the rest of the time. Everything's biased. It's impossible to avoid it because even trying one's hardest, one will never be able to avoid it fully. They're not massively so, though, and I still think that they're great; however, because of the inherent degree of bias in everything, the best solution is to regard an array of sources. Hence, I recommend that this commenter get informed properly rather than just watching TLDR.
I don't watch their US channel.
"They introduced Unexplained Wealth Orders (or UWOs) in 2018, which allow the government to confiscate property without a criminal investigation."
There are some limitations on this, specifically it applies to properties valued over £50,000 owned by people outside the EEA and it does need a judge to approve it.
That said, "property seized without a conviction or criminal investigation" sounds bad.
I wonder how long it will be until this is applied to British citizens with the threshold lowered, similar to asset forfeiture in the US.
Asset forfeiture requires a warrant lol.
Thank you! Exactly the content I wanted to see today
Great reporting!!! Keep up this kind of news.
Support is a two way street... Putin rewards those who help him, but the flip side is he needs to keep those who help him well paid. One risk he is running with his war is that while it might please his supporters in the military, its impact on the economy could upset the oligarchs enough that he could lose their support.... kings find their heads on pikes when the court decides to replace them.
Great video. Always informative
Excellent video, UK also has has some of the highest FDI in the world. Isn't that the problem, London being a pre-eminent financial centre?
Nothing compared to the Netherlands, also Ireland per capita is way higher pretty sure.
Is it a problem?
"Isn't it due to.." I agree.
Fact London 2nd most important financial centre in the world isn't a negative.
When taking foreign money isn't illegal but also is publically known and discussed, you know you are in a banana republic. And there the souvereingn is were the bribe money goes.
Look, the UK simply can't get rid of Russian oligarchs; if it did, who would be left for Boris to play tennis with or pay for his holidays?
"""And whether the government is taking this issue seriously""" Is that a joke? Johnson and cronies displeasing wealthy """investors"""?
The Romans had a saying about this: "money doesn't stink".
"money doesn't stink" .... but Tory politicians do.
Money does not stink
Everyone in the UK ask your MP to seize the assets of the Russian 35.
No
Ask your MP to publish a list of current and former PMs that received money for "playing tennis" with russian billionaires
I was in the Chelsea area of London on business in 2017 when my customer pointed out a new tower block of apartments being built and informed that the Russians had already bought all the residencies.
I do wish "The government needs to be scrutinized more than those not running the country" didn't have to be preceded by an explanation that said position isn't a biased one.
Also, while the RW press were pretty vocal on the "Vote Corbyn and the Hammer & sickle will be flying over Westminster", but are suspiciously quiet on the vast amounts of money the Tories have taken from Oligarchs.
How do you know about it up media quiet?
Your own private investigations? Deep research?
Well researched and presented.
It's quite cheap to buy British political parties.
Get em for a fiver in tesco mate
The city launders money from all over the world, it's a law unto itself. Johnson has a cozy relationship with Russian money, they gave money to the Conservative party too.
Starmer and Corbyn are also compromised
Money doesn't stink. "it should come from a regular source."
Is the UK finally waking up to this problem? About time, honestly.
Waking up? No. We are being told this now for a reason. Theyve always known and are choosing to tell us no now to feed a narrative.
"we are going to sanction the money they own" ~buys tons of property~ "oh they don't have any money.. guess we can't sanction them"
Sanctions will not do anything. As mentioned in this video, those monies are tied up and laundered through shell companies. They are located in tiny countries (UK included) and it is not going to be given up easily. These places have a lot to lose if they give up the goods. Also, many of the worlds uber-rich will have a lot to lose, too. This could get interesting. I am guessing our friends at Langley and Vauxhall, as well in Boulevard Mortier are looking at forcing themselves access to the money.
A friend told me it's just Britain and Germany trade sanctioning Russia the chances of them getting round it probably depends on how many countries action Russia. If it was up to me and no one else joined in I can imagine turning a blind eye and trying to slip from the gaming table before my country lost to much.
£1.5bn in London property?
X5 and you get close to the real figure
2:23 anyone else notice that that quote was attributed to Mebyon Kernow?
Great video!
Unfair to link the SNP to this. Alex Salmond started his RT show long after he left his position as leader. In fact, he was a private citizen when he took that show on. Not only is he not linked to the SNP any more, he has since formed a new political party called ALBA. So why show the SNP logo in relation to him?
Thanks for this. I think spreading this news is a great contribution to supporting Ukraine because the more people know, the more pressure BJ will be under to carry out proper sanctions.
Sanctions only hurt the people not the dictator.
It's worth noting that Lebedev not only owns the Standard, which was supportive of Johnson's election, he also owns the Independent, which is anything but supportive to Johnson. I think it's just the Tories (or maybe even the UK as a whole) being friendly with media barons (and other super-rich people) in general rather than with any one of them in particular.
Which did he own first?
The tories are really Putin's pals
Do more videos like this and spread the word!!!!!!!!
it's not enough TLDR because I need getting 2 minute reads for curisity stream in a 9 minute video
the Evening standard being owned by a Russian oligarch that makes so much sense now.
How are non-citizens allowed to contribute ANY money into the UK political system? And if they are citizens, advocating for a foreign government, maybe the Home Secretary should look at revoking their citizenship. I hear she into that sort of thing.
The government are not doing nearly enough. It's not enough to say they are not influenced by Russian money, while saying they judge Russia by it's actions rather than it's words. I see the governments actions are to accept the money as donations and it's an endorsement of Russia's actions.
The corruption HAS to stop...
Thank you.
God damn it TLDR, proof-read your videos! Every time there's typos.
*there are typos
@@leonolium oh the irony 🤦
@@lolll3360 haha, true, you've got me there. I also made a mistake.
You are lovely
it is not just Russian money
London is the capitol of finance ,money exchanges all the time just like the dollar and other monetary for trade .
Well this is timely.
Alex Salmond heads the Alba party not the SNP.
NOt "designed nationals" but "designated nationals". There's a difference!
Let's start taxing wealth. That will at the same time expose Russian and other oligarch money, and truly bring to light to severity if the problem.
Not when it's hidden offshore or hidden within a shell Co or behind a trust,,,,dream on, the Tories will never tax the SUPER rich
Wealth is just unconsumed prior income. Post tax income.
@@danielwebb8402 not if inherited
@@Jay_Johnson
If inherited. Then was taxed when earnt. And possibly again when inherited.
Just say "I want more of other people's money. Straight up. No excuses. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Yum yum yum."
@@danielwebb8402 when you inherit money you did not earn it through your own labour.
londongrad, londonistan, what else?
Londinium :D
Londonderry. Just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.
@@MolloyPolloy you beat me to it
This is sickening. Worse than I thought.
Hmm yes tensions is the word for it
Brilliant presentation. Many thanks for this video which gives beef to my previously unsubstantiated beliefs.
Excellent video, but why does UA-cam memory hole? I write a comment(no hate), it just disappears! Despite multiple times written, and no record found in "google:my activity", grrr ;-)
"Before the Reformation, more than half of the area of London was the property of Monasteries, Nunneries, and other Religious Houses;
Henry the Eighth's "Dissolution of the Monasteries" had a profound effect on the City, as nearly all of this property changed hands."
"The Dissolution of the Monasteries, occasionally referred to as The Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of Administrative and Legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry the Eighth disbanded Monasteries, Priories,
Convents, and Friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland, expropriated their Income, disposed of their Assets, and provided for their former Personnel and Functions. Although the Policy was originally envisaged as increasing the Regular income of the Crown, much former monastic property was sold off to fund Henry's military campaigns in the 1540s. He was given the Authority to do this in England and Wales by the Act of Supremacy, Passed by Parliament in 1534, which made him Supreme Head of the Church in England, thus separating England from papal authority, and by the First Suppression Act (1535), and the Second Suppression Act (1539)."
I an irritated by the constant pushing of incorrect English. The current irritation is the pronunciation of ''electoral' The stress is beinf constantly misplaced. It is not, not, not elecTORal. It is elECtoral. Get it right!
"offshore havens"-->that are part of the UK. You may want to specify that or the point looses quite some strength
I think you guys should try a different approach with the video feed of you talking. The cuts are really obvious and it doesn't add that much. Maybe if you want to be on screen a ratio of voiceover similar to the way Vox does it could make that easier.
Its been known for years that Russians own most of the property in London, this has been going on since the days of Tony Blair. In fact its been said that the only people in London with money are Russians and Arabs
"Oligarchy (from Greek (oligarkhía) 'Rule by Few'; from (olígos) 'few', and (arkho) 'to rule or to command') is a form of Power Structure in which Power rests with a small number of people.
These people may or may not be distinguished by one, or several characteristics, such as Nobility, Fame, Wealth, Education, or Corporate, Religious, Political, or Military Control.
Throughout history, Oligarchies have often been Tyrannical, relying on public obedience, or oppression to exist.
Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as meaning 'Rule by the Rich', for which another term commonly used today is Plutocracy."
I have stopped buying lottery tickets since the Tier 1 Investor visa has been removed. I will have to stay on a work visa for longer I guess...
Objectively, the UK's response to this issue has, for decades, been slow and ineffective. There has been a lot of tough talk on cracking down on overseas tax havens and shell companies, yet nearly no meaningful action.
If you look at opinions in the US and Europe, the UK Government is viewed as being actively complicit in tax evasion and money laundering, through the City of London and our overseas territories.
The EU in particular has been pushing the UK, (and to be fair the Netherlands), hard on this issue and basically been getting stonewalled. I think now Russian forces have moved in to Ukraine, UK public opinion is going to shift quite dramatically, that it will force the UK Government to finally move on this issue.
All governments are corrupt, that's the primary purpose of government. Lobbying, market manipulation, conflicts of interest, quid pro quo deals are the norm.
1. Not all of them are
2. Some are more than others
3. They only do what the population allows them to get away with
@@thecontextual1one411 1. Name one. 3. They have guns.
@@ConsumerWatchdogUK
Germany, France and Canada.
They have guns? No they dont
@@thecontextual1one411 You aren't serious, surely? Germany and France both have protectionist policies pushed by lobby groups, and taxation. In Canada they mandated vaccines, then kidnapped dissenters and stole their property. All three have armies and state police, with an abundance of evidence of this available online.
Shameful with so much corruption theses days.
Excuse me: 'Bribery" is spelled "-ery". Perhaps you are thinking of the Barbary Coast?
Facts are so powerful!
I wonder if Baron Lebegev will face questioning
The same is true for Chinese influence in US.
2:50 is there really such a difference?
JC if anything fought against Russian money with his involvement in the 2018 sanctions and money laundering bill look it up.
The Countess & Russian billionaire on netflix covered much of this ~ I can see Putins point if you steal money from Russia you better spend it well or face consequences, must admit his methods concern me
Ironically the film RocknRolla parodied the extent of Russian influence to demonstrate how Russian money is intrinsic to the British political process.
Money talks always has and always will
Another great vid, thanks. Has the 2, 5, 10 million pound ILR scheme gone for everyone? Thank you.
What does "lobbying the foreign office" mean?
The unwarranted wealth orders seem like they have some due process concerns.
This aged fast.
I don’t know how even when international focus is on Russia, the UK keeps making it about themselves… I really don’t understand it.
Despite what you might think, news worthy events continue to happen in every country even if there are more significant events elsewhere. Should we just not cover any events happening in the UK until the Ukraine situation is dealt with?
@@ryanward7649 I get that you have to make content for each of your channels but as internacional viewer, this just isn’t newsworthy. I get why TLDR EU is growing so much more than TLDR UK. I feel like I’ve completely lost my time watching this.
The complaint here seems to be that a channel called TLDR UK makes content about the UK.
@@jamesdaniels401 I would have hoped TLDR UK made Relevant content about the UK. Still appreciate the news stories you create on TLDR in general. This video blatantly wasted my time though.
I think we are past the point where we worry about "current tension in the Ukraine"...
Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Show me a man without investment and I'll tell you how long it takes to go bankrupt. Investing creates a safe heaven for the future. With the right investment choice that has at list a 2%minimum risk and with the advice of an expert, profit are interest are 100% guaranteed.
I agree with you, I had a senior colleague at work who lived well but never had an investment, unfortunately his job ended so he went from living well to surviving with his family. If you had an investment, you would had another source of income.
Investing is a primary decision to be made for the future. If you see this and you don't have an investment, plan to have one, so you don't end up like my main colleague at work.
I agree with you. That's why with Mrs Lydia fx managing my portfolio for me and making profit for me on my portfolio, I experienced a great rate of return on my portfolio
I think LeCarré made comment thru Our Kind Of Traitor..
What exactly is bribary? Is that a new spelling of the offence of bribery?
Salmond isn’t a member of the SNP anymore
Follow the money trail.
Guys you need to address the issue of Salmond, who is no longer anything to do with the SNP & has his own Political Party, Alba. You make the link between the SNP & Salmond in your video which is erroneous.
At 2:27 pretty sure that quote is not from Mebyon Kernow!
Probably don't want the TuttleTwins ad running on your channel. It mocks Russian involvement in serious international matters and promotes a lack of educating oneself on various government and economic systems used throughout the world. Please review the choices made to monetize your videos.
I much prefer Phil’s (from A Different Bias) take on this subject.
Salmon is the leader of a small party which is an annoyance to the snp
Can we also talk about the origins of the "Russian money" phenomenon and the role the West has had in creating them to begin with?
Russian gas and oil.
@@MathieuDeVinois there's more to it. I recommend the book "shock doctrine"
So how come Abramovich hasn't got residency yet and just still need a visa?