The Russia Report, much delayed by No 10, highlighted a complacent establishment turning a blind eye to any potential Kremlin interference in recent elections. It pointed out the US intelligence agencies produced a report into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election within two months of the vote. Other European countries, including France and Sweden, had also acted swiftly in 2017 to protect their political systems in response to clear evidence of Russian interference.
In many ways worse, it described a situation where oligarchs had been welcomed to buy into the London property and financial scene, legitimising formerly ‘unexplained’ wealth, following the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s. The London laundromat is now too entangled to unpick with an extensive patronage having been built up across the establishment and employing an “industry of enablers” – lawyers, accountants, estate agents and PR professionals. Many members of the House of Lords have business links to Russia; and many of the Conservative Party’s top donors are Russians with Kremlin links. Lovely.
The report will be a three-day wonder with not much follow through. What is astro-intriguing are the charts of recent UK prime ministers, both right and left wing, relocated to Moscow.
Boris has his sociable Sun Venus in Gemini closely conjunct his Descendant there with Jupiter in his 4th and his slippery Neptune in the 10th. He’d be lauded and feted there and find the ambience comfortable.
For David Cameron, Moscow puts a successful Jupiter Moon on his Midheaven – definitely a success zone for him. And the same applied to Labour PM of yesteryear Harold Wilson, always deemed by the security services as a risk, because of his Russia connection – he had Jupiter Venus in his career 10th in Moscow.
Gordon Brown, Labour PM through the years when the ‘golden visa’ programme came in, effectively selling residency to the wealthy, also has Sun, Jupiter, Mars through the 10th for the Russia capital. Tony Blair oddly doesn’t have anything similar, despite being around through the late 1990s and 2000s in No 10.
Alex Salmond, formerly SNP leader, who is presently being criticised for his television show on RT, formerly Russia Today, has his Capricorn Sun in the showboating and performing 5th located to Moscow. The intelligence and security committee report on Russia found “serious distortions in the coverage provided by Russian state-owned international broadcasters such as RT and Sputnik”.
And last but not least Donald Trump transported to Red Square has his super-successful, money-oriented Jupiter/Pluto midpoint on the Midheaven; with a secretive 8th house Sun, Uranus and a financial 2nd house Moon – there’s a surprise.
None of which progresses the cause of justice, transparency and decency but in a bizarre way quite fun to see how the astrology plays out.
Communities in London have been complaining about this for years and it fell on deaf ears. We knew that those in power, including any MP we could elect, had their face in the trough somehow. The social cleansing that took place as a result of this tore communities apart in a way that the media ignored. I think this is one factor that resulted in mistrust of “mainstream media” and centre ground politics, that became one of the influences in Brexit – certainly ex-Londoners in places like Kent and Essex. It’s hard to say whether that was by design or not, but the property market money that flooded in certainly caused divisions.
Base emotions like fear and greed seem to be effective deterrents in not looking at something too deeply, especially if you’re doing alright out of it, as many politicians are. We then sleepwalk towards something and wake up to it only when it’s a crisis and too late, wondering how we let it happen. I think that’s been the Neptune transit followed by Pluto transit way.
Many members of my family are building contractors and have worked on properties in places like The Bishops Avenue since the 60’s. I have certainly heard some stories about the changes over the years.
Incidently, I’ve been listening to audiobook version of Ben Mcintyre’s amazing (I constantly find myself laughing out loud on character descriptions) “The Spy And The Traitor” on Oleg Gordievsky and late Cold War espionage in general, where MI6 emerges as the most competent actor.
However, it highlights how MI6 withheld politically “sensitive” information on Labour Leader Michael Foot prior to 1983 Elections, even if they had it from a good source (Gordievski) that Foot had received copious amounts of money from KGB, used (as he seemed to have been a “true believer) to finance struggling “Tribune” in the late-1940’s and 1950’s.
So, in a sense, this seems history repeating. Elites in Britain thinking they know better and withholding information from general public.
Wouldn’t surprise me. On Foot, I mean. Though you’d have thought after Philby, Burgess and Maclean in the 1950s that MI6 would have been more wary of burying Soviet influence.
Yes. Foot, of course, soured on The USSR after Soviets ended Prague Spring – a common story among European Left. But Soviets had this information and could have called favours once Foot was PM. So, MI6 took a gamble there, probably thinking Thatcher – who actually seems to have been incredibly savvy with Soviets, I knew she got along well with Gorbachiev on personal level, but did not know how much she worked on nstalling him – would win anyway. And the gamble worked.
I don’t know why and how the ball was dropped in the 1990’s. I guess much of it had to do with opportunities in Russia being too lucrative to pass. Also, genuine belief in Yeltsin steering the country to a more liberal direction. I’ve often thought this was Pluto in Sadgittarius development.
Greed would be most of it – and the London financial services hub. They’d have ‘done’ business with Al Capone and worse if they could see a profit in it. And they welcomed the Middle Eastern high rollers in as well.
And now there’s also Chinese money, some from Hong Kong, some from mainland China. Some of it is more or less legitimate, some of it most definitely is not. Billions are flowing into the London property markets, and elsewhere. There’ve been a few court cases re money laundering, but I fear these barely skim the surface of a filthy pond!
London has been know as Laundromat London for some time now. My sister is a Londoner and says that those Chinese and Russian owned magnificent penthouse properties remain unoccupied. Don’t forget also the shocking social cleansing that took place in many areas of the City, so that those properties could be built.
Yes, VirgoFlake and Tara – the empty properties and social cleansing have been going on for what seems like many years. I am a Londoner, fifth generation….the obsession with building so-called luxury flats etc is changing many communities all over the city. I’ve noticed similar things in various parts of Europe, where large houses remain empty for most or even all of the year. There’s been considerable investment in India, the USA and the far East too – again, empty properties or short term rentals that do nothing for communities either. Maybe this phenomenon got going when Neptune was in Capricorn in the 80’s and 90’s? Would that flag up some kind of dream of money, land and property? It would certainly be appropriate symbolism for money laundering. Russian money, for instance, began to flow in unfeasible amounts around the planet in the 1990’s.