Hand back the roubles, Dave:

Clamour grows for Tory Party to return the huge donations it's been given by oligarchs and Putin cronies

Wife of Putin's former finance minister bid £160,000 to play tennis with PM
Now Labour MPs are urging Cameron to hand back the money
Meanwhile French President says he will not cancel arms sale to Russia

David Cameron was under pressure last night to return a £160,000 donation from the wife of a Vladimir Putin ally.

Lubov Chernukhin, whose billionaire husband served in the Russian president’s first administration, won an auction bid to play tennis with the Prime Minister.

Calling for the donation to be reversed, Labour said the Tories should ‘come clean’ over an estimated £1million in payments from Russian individuals and businesses.

Conservative Party sources indicated last night however that the party will keep the Chernukhins’ money.

In a further embarrassment for the Government, a report released by MPs today shows Britain was selling weapons to Russia only a few months ago.

And Paris last night accused Mr Cameron of hypocrisy for questioning a £1billion arms contract with Moscow. French president Francois Hollande has vowed not to ditch the deal and an aide yesterday said the Prime Minister should start by confronting London-based oligarchs linked to Mr Putin.

Last year the Russian leader mocked Mr Cameron over the influx of rich Russians. Britain was reported to have been dismissed as ‘a small island’ by his spokesman, who claimed nobody paid attention to it – except the ‘oligarchs who have bought Chelsea’.

In an angry statement to MPs on Monday, the Prime Minister said Mr Putin’s ‘cronies’ should be isolated because of their country’s involvement in the Flight MH17 atrocity. But Labour questioned the Prime Minister’s intention to go ahead with a doubles tennis match, auctioned off at a lavish Tory fundraising dinner at London’s Hurlingham Club earlier this month.

London Mayor Boris Johnson also agreed to play, with the Tories’ election strategist Lynton Crosby acting as a ballboy.

The successful bidder was the wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, who is a former director of Russia’s national airline Aeroflot and a former chairman of the country’s state development bank.

He received Russia’s Order of Honour from Mr Putin a decade ago.

Labour’s Chris Bryant, vice-chairman of Parliament’s all-party group on Russia, said: ‘The Prime Minister said quite categorically this week that we should be tackling Putin’s cronies.

‘What could be more of a crony than Putin’s former deputy finance minister?
French president Francois Hollande has vowed not to ditch his nation's arms deal with Russia

‘Yet it appears that the Prime Minister is not only prepared to take his family’s money, but also play tennis with him – it is two-faced.

‘David Cameron does not seem to realise that you cannot send these kind of mixed messages to Russia – they see it as a sign of weakness. He has to realise that he cannot have his caviar and eat it.’

Fellow Labour MP Sheila Gilmore said: ‘People will be surprised at the extent of Russian wealth bankrolling David Cameron’s re-election fund.

‘The Tories need to come clean about all their Russian links. There can be no impression of conflicts of interest or hypocrisy at such an important time.’

Former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft also questioned whether the Conservatives should still be accepting Russian money. In a message on Twitter he said: ‘Should the Tory Party suspend taking donations from companies owned by Russians?’

Party sources indicated the tennis match is still scheduled to go ahead, though the Chernukhins could nominate someone else to play.

One insider suggested that Mr Chernukhin had not been close to the Russian president for a decade, having been removed from his post. Mr Johnson’s office declined to comment.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: ‘All donations to the Conservative Party are fully and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission and published on their website.’

The Conservatives, in common with Labour, refuse to release details of those who attend their fundraising events. But a leaked list from last year’s Tory summer ball revealed it was attended by a number of wealthy Russians.

One was Andrey Borodin, a financier wanted in Moscow over allegations (which he denies) of a £220m fraud.

He won political asylum in the UK and now resides at the £140 million Park Place estate near Henley-on-Thames.
Labour's Chris Bryant, vice-chairman of Parliament¿s all-party group on Russia, said: 'What could be more of a crony than Putin¿s former deputy finance minister?'

In June 2013, Mr Borodin and his wife Tatiana Korsakova, a model, attended the Conservative summer party, where they sat on a table with Boris Johnson.

A company registered to his address paid £40,000 to buy a portrait of Margaret Thatcher at the night’s fundraising auction.
Tatiana Borodin and her husband Andrey Borodin. A company registered to his address paid £40,000 to buy a portrait of Margaret Thatcher at a Tory fundraising auction.

Electoral Commission records suggest the Conservatives have received donations totalling more than £900,000 from individuals with links to Russia.

Mrs Chernukhin and her husband live in a £7.2million apartment overlooking Regent’s Park in central London, according to electoral roll records.

The arms report from MPs found that ministers approved exports including components for anti-aircraft guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and military helicopters shortly before a pro-Russian uprising in Ukraine.

The critical report from Parliament’s committee on arms export controls highlighted 285 arms contracts with Russia worth £131.5million.

In March, the then foreign secretary William Hague pledged to stop selling arms to Russia after it annexed Crimea.

But MPs on the committee on arms export controls said they were concerned that only a ‘small number’ of export licences had been suspended or revoked – just 34.

Sir John Stanley, the Tory chairman of the Commons committee, warned ministers to ‘apply significantly more cautious judgments’ when approving export licences to oppressive regimes including Russia.

The committee said the Government had been ‘irresponsible’ to approve two export licences to Syria for chemicals which could be used to make weapons in January 2012 – a year into the country’s civil war.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was condemned last year for using poisons to attack opponents.
A Government spokesman said: ‘In March the former foreign secretary announced the suspension of all export licences to the Russian armed forces for any equipment that could be used against Ukraine.
‘This report covers exports in 2013 before the suspension was in place. The majority of export licences that remain in place for Russia are for commercial use but we are keeping all licences under review.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2702075/Hand-roubles-Dave-Clamour-grows-Tory-Party-return-huge-donations-given-oligarchs-Putin-cronies.html#ixzz38GpGydy0



You Really, Really have to laugh when this is the front page of The Daily Mail!!!!!!!!

Agreed.

He really should return all the cash, remove the Russians from London and let our economy recover on its own.

Opps.............  Chelsea  FC rudderless, cant see it somehow.  Shame though.