UK Edition
Eight Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK over their links to Vladimir Putin were granted "golden visas" to live in Britain.
The eight, who Boris Johnson described as having "the blood of the Ukrainian people on their hands", were granted the right to live in the UK after promising to invest at least £2 million under the visa scheme.
Lady Williams, the Home Office minister, said the Government had identified them as holding the visas after the imposition of sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, but declined to name them or provide further details.
Since March 10, the Government has imposed sanctions on hundreds of oligarchs, businesspeople and organisations including Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea football club, and Alisher Usmanov, the steel and mining magnate whose companies have sponsored Everton.
Layla Moran, the foreign affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats who extracted the information, said: "For too long, the Government has rolled out the red carpet for Putin's cronies. These people should never have been able to buy their way into the UK with ill-gotten wealth.
"We now need to know how many others who were given 'golden visas' owe their wealth to Putin's regime, and why the Government hasn't sanctioned them too. Ministers must stop dragging their feet and finally publish the review into these visas."
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, scrapped the "golden visa" scheme in February amid growing fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. She said it was part of an effort to stop "corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities".
The Home Office has issued 2,581 investor visas to Russian citizens since the scheme was introduced in 2008. About 6,312 "golden visas" – half the number issued – have been reviewed for "possible national security risks", according to Spotlight on Corruption.
Dr Susan Hawley, the executive director of the organisation, said: "This illustrates once again just how risky the 'golden visa' regime was to the UK's national security, and is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg.
"The Government must publish its review of 'golden visas' issued between 2008 and 2015 – when minimal checks on applicants' source of wealth were made – urgently.
"We also need to know how many tier one visas issued to Russian nationals since 2008 have been found to pose a national security risk, and what steps the Government is taking to revoke visas where appropriate."