EKO HOT BLOG reports that Russia on Monday said it has blacklisted 39 high-profile British citizens, including Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, former prime minister David Cameron and journalist and TV host Piers Morgan.
The UK has been one of Kyiv’s most loyal supporters after Russian president Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, and a slew of British commentators have expressed their unfavourable opinion of the Kremlin chief.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the citizens listed, most of whom were politicians, government employees and journalists, ‘contribute to the hostile course of London aimed at the demonisation of our country and its international isolation’.
‘The choice in favour of confrontation is the conscious decision of the British political establishment, which bears all responsibility for the consequences,’ the ministry added.
Moscow has banned several dozen British citizens – mostly politicians and journalists – from entering Russia since the start of its military campaign in Ukraine.
The new additions include several Labour MPs, Scottish politicians and members of the House of Lords.
Meanwhile, the likes of Jonathan Munro – the head of the BBC’s newsgathering – BBC News presenter Huw Edwards and ITV’s political editor Robert Peston joined Piers Morgan on the list of British media figures now blacklisted.
Russia’s foreign ministry said it would keep adding to the list which now includes 255 prominent Britons.
‘Given London’s destructive drive to spin the sanctions flywheel on far-fetched and absurd pretexts, work on expanding the Russian stop-list will continue,’ it said in a statement.
The majority of the blacklisted Brits are politicians, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his cabinet and a variety of MPs, along with prominent media figures, war correspondents, political editors and other commentators.
Separately, the Russian Prosecutor General’s office said it had declared the Calvert 22 Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in London, to be an ‘undesirable organisation’.
It has been established that its activity poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the Russian Federation,’ it said in a statement.
No comment was immediately available from the organisation, which was founded in 2009 by Russian-born economist Nonna Materkova and focuses on arts and culture in Russia and eastern Europe.
This is the latest list of 39 high-profile British citizens which the Russian foreign ministry today announced had been blacklisted in Moscow:
David Cameron, former British Prime Minister;
George Robertson, member of the House of Lords of the Parliament of Great Britain;
Angus Robertson, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Relations;
Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Economic, Labour and Cultural Affairs;
Keir Starmer, member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament, leader of the Labour Party of Great Britain;
David Lammy, Deputy of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from the Labour Party, the ‘shadow’ Minister for Foreign Affairs of Great Britain;
Lisa Nandy, Deputy of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from the Labor Party, ‘shadow’ Minister for Social and Economic Development of Regions and Housing;
Wendy Morton, Deputy Minister for Transport, UK;
Ian Blackford, member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament, leader of the Scottish National Party faction;
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Deputy of the House of Commons of the British Parliament from the Labor Party, ‘shadow’ Minister for International Trade;
Kate Forbes, Minister for Finance and Economics, Scottish Government;
Lorna Slater, Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Greens;
Ross John Greer, Scottish MP for the Green Party;
Alexander Cole-Hamilton, Member of the Scottish Parliament, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats;
Neil Charles Gray, Minister for Europe and International Development for Scotland;
Laurence Lee, Second Permanent Undersecretary of Defense of Great Britain;
Bate Toms, head of the British-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce;
Donald Wilson, Edinburgh City Councilor;
Peter Ricketts, Member of the House of Lords of the UK Parliament;
James Paul Gray, Member of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from the Conservative Party;
Paul Khan, partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors;
Clive Roads, founder of Royal Consulting;
Christopher Samuel, founder of Christopher Samuel Associates;
Anthony Whelan, Science Adviser, UK Department of Defence;
Liam Fox, Member of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from the Conservative Party;
Helen Bower Easton, Foreign Office Spokesperson;
David Aaronovich, columnist for The Times;
Dan Sabbagh, War News Editor, The Guardian;
James Crisp, European News Editor, Daily Telegraph;
David Rose, freelance journalist;
Caroline Wheeler, Political Editor, The Sunday Times;
John Riley, head of Sky News;
Jonathan Charles Munro, Head of BBC News;
Edward William Robert Carr, associate editor of The Economist;
Jerome Donald Starkey, military columnist for The Sun;
Robert Peston, producer of corporations ‘ITV’
Piers Morgan, presenter of TV channel ‘ITV’
Huw Edwards, BBC presenter
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