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Jacob Rees-Mogg calls for permanent military base in Baltics to tackle Russian ‘bullying’ Jacob Rees-Mogg wants Moscow ‘hit financially’… despite links to £100mn invested in Russia
(about 3 hours later)
Jacob Rees-Mogg has called for the establishment of a permanent UK military in the Baltics to “make clear” to Russia that its “bullying” will not be tolerated. He also called on a “vigorous” response to the Skripal poisoning. Jacob Rees-Mogg has called on Theresa May to “hit” Russia by freezing assets in the UK as part of the Skripal case. It’s a brave call for a man who owns a significant part of a company which has £100 million invested in Russia.
The backbencher, who has been tipped as the favorite Tory to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, suggested the UK stop its current policy in which troops are deployed to the area on rotation. He added that the change in tactics was necessary so that the Kremlin will know that NATO is “inviolable.” The Tory MP, tipped by many as the next party leader, called for May to “hit Russia financially” – although first he might want to take out the almost £100 million (US$140 million) his company invested in the country.
“There is a rotating system of troops under NATO, where the British send forces to the Baltic. I think we should look at having a permanent establishment there to make it absolutely clear to Putin that the NATO guarantee is inviolable and the Baltic States, Poland and so on, will be protected and that we will view any further cyber-attacks, as there was on Estonia a few years ago, as requiring a response in kind,” Rees-Mogg said, Politics Home reports. The Tory backbencher wants the PM to toughen her stance on Russia in retaliation for its alleged “culpability” in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Both were poisoned with an alleged military-grade nerve agent in Salisbury last week and remain in critical condition.
“You have to stand up to bullies. Russia is a bully.” The North East Somerset MP went on to say Russia had “put itself outside the norms of international behavior” over the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. Rees-Mogg claimed expelling 23 Russian diplomats from Britain – one of the punishments imposed by the Conservative leader – is simply not enough. Britain should take it a step further in freezing the assets of Russians in the UK.
“You have a choice in these circumstances: either you accept that countries will behave in this way and let them get away with it, or you respond vigorously,” he said. “And in my view, we must respond vigorously and make it quite clear to Russia that behavior in this way will not be tolerated meekly by the Western world. Saying “we must look at hitting Russia financially,” the Old Etonian told Politics Home: "The Russians have a lot of assets in London and some of the Russians with assets are linked to Putin. If you can establish a trail and show it is his money then you should go after that and freeze their assets."
“What does that mean? First of all, just expelling a few diplomats isn’t enough. It needs to be tougher action than that. We need to look at hitting Russia financially. Political Scrapbook revealed on Thursday – the very same day the backbencher launched his tirade against Russia – that the Tory politician owns up to 15 percent of shares in a company that manages sizeable assets in Russian firms.
“The Russians have a lot of assets in London and some of the Russians with assets are linked to Putin. If you can establish a trail and show it is his money then you should go after that and freeze their assets.” According to Hargreaves Lansdown, one of Somerset Capital Management’s funds has over £90 million invested in Russian equities. The majority of that (£57 million) is invested in Sberbank, a Russian state-owned banking service.
Russia has repeatedly denied allegations of being involved in the attempted murder. The duo was found slumped on a bench in Salisbury last week after being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. The fund has performed incredibly well as its capital has grown by 45 percent in the past five years alone. Rees-Mogg, who is the founder, shareholder and director of SCM, could take a serious hit if sanctions were introduced.
Russia suggested that the UK should act in accordance with the rules of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The agency has a protocol governing how to handle suspected incidents of chemical-weapons use, which do not include ultimatums, but demand the sharing of evidence and other measures. The UK announced yesterday it will send a sample to the OPCW. Besides calling for Russian assets in the UK to be targeted, Rees-Mogg suggested Britain build a permanent base in the Baltics to counter Russian “bullying.” British troops are currently deployed on a rotating basis, but the
Tory MP said a fixed military base is needed to “make clear” to Russia that NATO is “inviolable.” There are currently 800 British troops in the Baltics.
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