Arron Banks and Leave .EU on Russia: In Their Own Words

There have been investigations and unanswered questions regarding Arron banks; his alleged extensive Russian connections, as well as alleged funding. No one knows the answers.

Opendemocracy and the FT have also implied that the accounts and amounts of wealth claimed are hard to verify, we haven’t been able to verify their claims. Curious, considering Banks became the UK’s biggest political donor, ever.

Fantastic journalists like Carole Cadwalladr and Peter Jukes have done the work to dig into the background to the story and the Kremlin connections. Carole Cadwalladr in particular has faced specific and personal alleged threats of violence, see below for a flavour.

But here’s Banks, Wigmore, Leave. eu, in their own words, archived via their social media accounts.

Leave.eu – “Well done, Russia!” “Thanks to Russia!”

2. Skripal poisoning was an “inside job”. And the Russian government is the victim, naturally.

3. The Russian invasion of Crimea

Arron / Arun sounds allegedly (according to many on Twitter) similar to Kremlin line. Many have claimed his public position fights against the European / British one. Namely that Russia invaded and annexed Crimea.

4. Somewhat sinister (considering the safety of journalists in Russia) tweets from the Russian ambassador, via Leave. EU:

5. Banks’ organisation also edited and created a video, featuring a mockup of Carole Cadwalladr, being beaten up and hit in the face, with the Russian flag and anthem playing. She is investigating Banks’ alleged connections to the Russian government and oligarchs.

The video has been removed after lawyers allegedly intervened, leave. eu allegedly refused to remove it according to the Guardian.

6. Banks, who is married to the daughter of a Kremlin official according to the Times, who drives a blue range rover with the number plate “X Mi5 SPY” according to the Spectator. Posted what many Twitter users appear to regard as an implied threat of violence, considering that many journalists who displease the Kremlin end up dead, in Russia.

Is this a joke? Or a threat?

7. Considering the Russian government’s poisoning of enemies in the UK by feeding them radioactive drinks (among many other methods). The Russian MFA’s (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) tweet was knowingly sinister.

It appears to be constructed to be both plausibly deniable, and mildly threatening. Which many Kremlin experts regard as the typical approach. This alleged threat was to the to the UK prime minister.

Arron Banks “Liked” the tweet.

8. Banks, normally the combative patriot, keen to “stand up for Britain”, seems quite consistent on echoing the Kremlin line in many of his public comments, for example his position here is similar to the Kremlin’s, while denying the British authorities’, NHS and UK police, version. Instead he chooses to discuss a version where the Kremlin is the victim and is being “set up”.

Side note, the MP he is tweeting at, Chris Bryant, was the victim of Kompromat (a picture of him in his underpants), published by the Conservative Friends of Russia forum. Dubbed “Tories For Putin“.

Matthew Elliot, CEO of vote leave, was a member of the CFoR.

9. Andy Wigmore is Banks’ sidekick/colleague, he features in the latest revelations.

Here he is ‘tagging’ them in what some felt were threatening (Carole Cadwalladr said she felt threatened) tweets from the Russian embassy.

10. And here he is boasting about Russian bots and how clever and worldly he is.

11. A non denial, denial.

12. Putin might be a little bit unorthodox. But the debt!

13. Russia: The only country “with balls”.

14. More.

15. “Come visit Russia! My guest!”

16. The other character featured in the latest leaked emails in the Guardian, is Sir Peter Hambro.

A man who allegedly (according to many Twitter users and the Guardian) made quite a lot of money in Russia. He was allegedly teaming up with Banks for a juicy Kremlin sponsored gold mine deal, according to the latest reports.

Here’s Hambro demanding the government “forget” about the spreading of radioactive poison around central London. Another “patriot”.

17. In a totally unrelated quote, some insight, more generally, from a former KGB recruiter of western assets.

18. “Remove the moors from Europe”

19. “Ok the money is from the Kremlin…But what about Goldman sachs!”