Skip to main content

The Guardian view on ending ‘golden visas’: too little and too late | Editorial

It has been 28 years since Britain opened its financial doors to tainted money from Russia and elsewhere. Closing them is a gesture, not a strategy

In government, words come cheap, but it is deeds and actions that count. Judged by the threats that Boris Johnson and his ministers make against Russia over Ukraine, you might think that Britain is fully equipped to turn its warnings into deeds. Not so. When it comes to something British ministers really could control, however, like targeting the assets of Kremlin-backed oligarchs and staunching the flows of Russian-tainted money laundered through the City of London, the rhetoric runs into the sand. In this sphere, Mr Johnson’s government does the exact reverse of what is needed. It speaks loudly, but it carries a flimsy stick.

Now, there is some prospect of action. The UK is reported to be ready to abolish its “golden visa” regime within weeks. But why so late? And how effective will this reform really be now? The fear is that it is too little, too late and too ineffectual, and that it will prove another underresourced performative stunt designed to create an impression, not achieve a material economic goal.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/5v0mGgK
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Guardian view on Covid-19, five years on: lessons still to be learned | Editorial

Though many would rather forget the pandemic, we are living with its consequences. Are we any better prepared for the next one? “When asked what was the biggest disaster of the twentieth century, almost nobody answers the Spanish flu,” notes Laura Spinney in her book Pale Rider, of an event that killed as many as one in 20 of the global population. “There is no cenotaph, no monument in London, Moscow or Washington DC.” Most of us will better understand that absence after Covid-19 , which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization five years ago this week. Some cannot put those events behind them: most obviously, many of those bereaved by the 7 million deaths worldwide (not including those indirectly caused by the pandemic ), and the significant numbers still living with long Covid . Others want to forget the loss of loved ones, the months of isolation and the costs to businesses, families and mental health. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? I...
Post a Comment
Read more