Beasts From The East

Where did the Russian, Ukrainian and other former Soviet oligarchs come from? The same place as ours did, only a decade later. The Thatcherisation of the post-Soviet economies, the grand larceny of public assets, created the oligarchs there as it had created them here.

No wonder they like Britain so much. And no wonder both British political parties like them. Yes, both. Every Labour MP retains the whip at the pleasure of Peter Mandelson, who is a close associate of the sanctioned Oleg Deripaska. Gone are the days when Labour was led by Britain's most anti-Putin politician.

Still, the debate on energy independence is open at last. Those of us who have been forlornly making the case forever know that the reversal of Thatcherism is fundamental to the attainment of independence both from the Russian oligarchs, and from the blood-soaked princes of Saudi Arabia and of the United Arab Emirates.

But Labour cannot criticise them, either. It is back under the control of enthusiastic supporters of the war in Yemen, who describe the Saudi regime as "modern and progressive". If you stand as a candidate to make Keir Starmer Prime Minister, then you are declaring those to be your views. Unsurprisingly, no one wants to do it here at North West Durham. The same problem presumably presents itself in hundreds of other constituencies.