The Salisbury poisoning is the straw that broke the camel’s back in the UK’s relationship with Russia Putin has gone too far this time, says Bill Browder

Many people are wondering what’s going to happen between Britain and Russia after the Skripals’ poisoning.

I believe that Putin has finally taken a step too far − that this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of UK-Russia relations. While we have been reluctant to take any hard actions against Russia in the past, that will have to change now.

For the longest time Putin and his cronies have gotten away with murder in this country – literally.

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In 2006, the Russian government ordered the assassination of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko at the Millenium Hotel in Grosvenor Square in London unsung radioactive polonium 210. The assassination was “probably approved” by President Putin, according to Lord Owen’s report following his public inquiry.

Botch job

The Russian assassins that Putin dispatched botched the job so badly that they literally left a trail of polonium all over London, like Hansel and Gretel, for British investigators to discover.

Yet, in spite of the clear evidence that this was a Russian state-sponsored assassination, there was no consequence to Vladimir Putin and Russia.

I believe that this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of UK-Russia relations

Sure, we kicked out few Russian diplomats (who were soon replaced by others), and we issued warrants for the two suspects, despite knowing that Russia does not extradite its citizens, but that was it. There was no real consequence for Vladimir Putin. It was that lack of consequences which led to the Skripal attempted assassination in March.

Why is the British Government so weak-kneed about a flagrant crime committed by Vladimir Putin on the UK soil? I believe this is because there is a perception among politicians that our economy is supported by dirty Russian money and, if we acted tough, it would create some economic implosion.

It’s time to set the record straight.

Disruption

While certain Russians are highly visible and ostentatious, their effect on our economy is de minimis. We think that our public schools are full of Russian students. The reality is that there are less than 3,000 Russian students in independent schools in the UK. China has 12 times this number.

We talk about Russians dominating the real estate market. That may be true in Chelsea, Mayfair and Belgravia, but I dare you to find constellations of Russian oligarchs in Leeds, Glasgow or Birmingham.

Putin had the confidence to use nerve agent in Salisbury because there was no consequence to him personally in the Litvinenko case

We talk about trade being disrupted with Russia, but trade with Russia is less than one per cent of both our exports and our imports (or about $5 billion from over $500 billion).

The only thing we would be disrupting by taking strong measures is the money laundering that the Russians do.

From the investigation into the $230 million corruption uncovered by my murdered Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, we saw over US$30 million which flew to the UK bank accounts and were used to purchase luxury goods and services.

Lost lives

The UK can certainly do without the commission on laundering blood money.

The reason why Putin had the confidence to use military grade nerve agent in the heart of Salisbury was because there was no consequence to him personally in the Litvinenko case.

As a result, dozens of totally innocent civilians were exposed to a nerve agent and there has been already one tragic fatality.

I dare you to find constellations of Russian oligarchs in Leeds, Glasgow or Birmingham

Theresa May talked tough in March after the Skripals’ poisoning but so far there have been no tangible consequences for Putin, other than expelling a group of his diplomats.

If the argument behind closed doors is that acting too tough is going to hurt our economic interests, it is fallacy. Britain must act now and make action palpable for Mr Putin, so no more people die in this country because of the Russian hits.

Bill Browder is head of the Magnitsky Justice Campaign

@billbrowder