UK Deputy PM said government could confiscate mansions of Russian oligarchs

[zuul]

Bianna Golodryga @biannagolodryga (CNN Senior Global Affairs analyst)

“British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the British government could confiscate the mansions of Russian oligarchs in London and use them to house Ukrainian refugees if a ‘legal basis’ is prepared for this.”

9:28 AM · Mar 4, 2022

Link to tweet

[Emrys]

1. If ... if ...

The excuses continue, to avoid concerted action.

Reportedly, part of the UK government's slowness to impose sanctions is for fear of being sued by oligarchs. FFS, let them sue, for all the good it'll do them.

The time for meaningful action is now, not in a month, telegraphed so the oligarchs and banks have plenty of time to ferret away their ill-gotten gains.

Anyone who follows UK politics knows the law is all but meaningless to this government when it suits them.

Hell, even if any legal impediments do exist, they could easily be overcome by passing new laws in double-quick time - given the current mood of the Commons and Lords, it should be easy passage.

But then the Tories are still not being held properly to account for their close links to the Putinites and the ample funding they've received from the Russians. All Johnson does when challenged during Prime Minister's Questions is flare up and deflect with accusations of racism against Russians as a whole. Bought and sold.

[RockCreek]

3. This! N/t

[nitpicker]

2. IMO this could only happen in fantasy

Like an alternative universe of Lois McMaster Bujold, where someone landed with a dower house used it to shelter the temporarily displaced.

In this world, litigation IMO would tie up those estates for years, if not decades.

[Emrys]

4. They would be one-sided battles.

Don't forget, the UK government can pass its own laws.

In the current political climate, the pressure to do so to counter any litigation from oligarchs would be immense. Hell, enraged mobs might even take care of the bricks-and-mortar problems in the mean time.

And the government's also not limited by the individual human lifespan.

Now, if you or somebody else is going to reply that such litigation's revelations could be embarrassing for the Tories or individual Tory politicians, damn right it could.

I see that as an incentive, not a problem.