Boris Johnson continues to face questions about specific Russian oligarchs who have been spared sanctions. They include Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, and senior members of the regime who own properties in London through shell companies that conceal their identities. The Prime Minister has promised complete transparency and to work with other parties to strengthen legislation going through Parliament. He is also right to say that this is not a campaign against Russian people but those directly responsible for the invasion. It should not descend into casual Russophobia.

Nonetheless some omissions are hard to understand, given their close links to Putin and his collaborators. There is also the matter of Russia’s facilitators, the law firms, PR companies, accountants and the like who help manage the wealth and reputations of oligarchs.

The Prime Minister said that they have all been put on notice of a crackdown should they seek to help their clients evade sanctions. But often the assistance is more insidious. The use of law firms to threaten legal action against journalists seeking to uncover the source of an individual’s wealth is a case in point. Conservative MP Bob Seely used parliamentary privilege to launch an attack on a number of lawyers and law firms which, he claimed, worked on behalf of Russian clients to thwart criticism.

The law firms insist that everyone is entitled to legal advice, that they are acting within the law, and if there is a problem it is up to Parliament to change it. If the law has allowed London to become a repository for dirty money and a nexus of intimidation then it is time it was.