Senior MPs join forces to counter Russian threat

Senior MPs have joined forces to probe the growing threat posed by Russia, amid fears over the risk of cyber attacks and disinformation from the Kremlin.

As revealed by The Independent last month, heads of several powerful Commons committees will form a cross-party group to look into "Russian malign influence", including the flow of dirty money into the UK, fake news and security matters.

Tensions with Moscow have deepened since the recent US-led airstrikes in Syria against the Russia-backed regime, promoting UK and US intelligence agencies to issue an unprecedented joint alert on the threat of "malicious cyber activity" by Russian state-sponsored hackers.

Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat will lead the new "Russia Co-ordinating Group", along with Labour's Home Affairs Committee head Yvette Cooper, Treasury Committee boss Nicky Morgan, and the heads of intelligence, defence, DCMS and national security bodies.

Mr Tugendhat said: “As unease about Russian malign influence grows, it is essential that we understand the extent of Putin’s activity. Parliament is well-placed to do this.

"House of Commons’ committees routinely hold evidence sessions in a bid to draw out information and deliver reports rooted in evidence and scrutiny. But as committees tend to operate separately, they may not have the full picture – seeing the symptoms rather than the cause."

He added: “This is a crucial time for UK-Russia relations. In areas of intelligence and security, interference in elections, disinformation as well as our co-existence post Brexit, it will be easier to respond to any aggression from an informed standpoint."

The move was prompted by overlap between the Treasury and Foreign Affairs Committees, which have already launched probes into money laundering by criminal gangs and corrupt billionaires in the UK, in the wake of the furore over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

London is regarded by some a desirable place to hide 'suspicious wealth' and transparency campaigners have identified £4.4bn worth of UK property from corrupt proceeds.

More than a fifth of those properties were bought by Russians, according to Transparency International.

The US has introduced a wave of economic sanctions against Russian business figures with links to Vladimir Putin, while Britain and other allies have also taken steps to expel diplomats, resulting in tit-for-tat actions by Moscow.

Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said relations between Moscow and the West were worse than at the time of the Cold War following the incidents in Syria and Salisbury.

Toxic levels of the military nerve agent, novichok, used to attack the Skripals could still be present in hotspots around Salisbury, according to government scientists.