The henchmen who prop up Putin need to be hit where it hurts

If anyone thought Russian President, Vladimir Putin, was a strongman the West could do business with, that delusion has been punctured. Last week, Russian Bear bombers skirted by British airspace.  In January, a UK public inquiry into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, KGB agent turned UK-based dissident, heard he was murdered at Putin’s behest in an ‘act of nuclear terrorism’ on British soil. And Kremlin-backed rebels are ensuring a cease-fire with Ukraine crumbles, leaving the West looking impotent as Putin’s stare shifts menacingly to the Baltic countries of the European Union. But, are we in Britain doing everything we realistically can to curb Putin’s bullying?

Putin’s kleptocracy blurs lines between Russia’s powerful oligarchs and Kremlin stooges. The Russian President couldn’t flex a political muscle without being bankrolled by the mafia. To weaken Putin without becoming embroiled in military conflict, we need to shine a light on his shady paymasters.

With that aim, in 2012, I led a campaign that culminated in Parliament calling on the government to impose mandatory visa bans and asset freezes on individuals linked to or profiting from torture or other egregious violations of international law – in Russia and beyond.