Banker Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of former Russian Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Chernukhin, has paid £160,000 at a Conservative Party fundraiser in London for the privilege of playing tennis with Prime Minister David Cameron along with London Mayor Boris Johnson.
The reported donation raised eyebrows just because of its size but also raises a lot of questions because of the person making it, her relatively inconsequential previous donations, and the connections her husband potentially still has with the Russian government.
The Chernukhin’s now live in the UK where Vladimir, age 46, is best known for his £72 million purchase of the former Midland Bank building which notably starred as Fort Knox in the James Bond classic ‘Goldfinger’. He made his money principally at Vneshekonombank (VEB) and appears to have transitioned out of Russia around about 2005.
Lubov, aged 40, previously had one of her donations to the Tories invalidated in 2012 because although she was a legal citizen she was not yet a registered voter, a requirement for political donations in the UK. Accounts vary but prior to this week she had made between £3700 and £5500 in total lifetime donations to the party.
Some Tories don’t like the donation because it makes the party dependent on a small base of key donors but there seems to be no concern about Mr. Chernukhin’s previous employment by Vladimir Putin, a man greatly involved in propping up government’s in Syria, Iran and now by default in Iraq. Add that to the level of access Mrs. Chernukhin has apparently purchased and you have a number of people squirming uncomfortably in their chairs.
It doesn’t help that the event was put on by New Century Media which, according to the IB Times, is “headed by former Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside, (and) also acts for the personal foundation of the Ukrainian billionaire Dmitry Firtash, who has been indicted on bribery and corruption charges, which he denies, in the United States.”
Last year, the Times continues, New Century invited “two prominent Russians with connections to the Kremlin, including one of Vladimir Putin's judo partners, Vasily Shestakov, and the billionaire businessman, Andrei Klyamko.”
All of this potential corruption has not gone over the heads of the Labour Party opposition, but because of their own narrow vision of politics their focus shifted to repeating the talking points pre-designed to pigeonhole their opponents for time eternal. They are no doubt trying to avoid comparisons to their own corruption scandals particularly when it comes to influential union Unite, so a carefully crafted statement was required.
Subsequently they trotted out Fiona Twycross, the Labour Group's economy spokeswoman in the London Assembly. Presumably she is the most qualified person they have without connections to one of their own scandals. Her job was to attack Mr. Johnson for setting aside the time to play tennis with a donor, when he had been unable to find the time to visit a food bank. It’s the usual lefty rhetoric about the rich not caring though she doesn’t mention the last time she bagged food items for the working poor.
What she did say, referring to Johnson was: "He will happily socialise with associates of authoritarian regimes that give his party £160,000, but is unwilling to come and see what life is like for struggling Londoners. Last year Boris spent more time in Doha than Dagenham, Cannes than Canning Town and the Gulf than Greenwich. This latest incident is proof of just how out of touch the Mayor truly is. It beggars belief that Boris can find the time to play tennis with the wife of a former Russian minister, but hasn't been able to spare the time to visit a food bank in his six years in office."
We should applaud the rhyming skills of Ms. Twycross, but Greenwich, London isn’t exactly food bank central. Given that Labour leaders no doubt spend their fair share of time campaigning in one way or another one has to ask if the spokeswoman is as in touch as she claims her opponents are out of it.
One would hope that opposition parties though will raise the serious questions about Russian connections to Tory money, at least with the expectation that queries can be privately satisfied. That is of course unless they cannot be.
