This is not just a technicality, the decision explicitly allows British refineries to buy petroleum products from Russian crude processed in India or Turkey. Officially, this is done to “protect consumers” from the rising prices caused by the crisis in the Middle East. Translation: When sanctions hit the wallet too hard, virtue must take a back seat. The same Starmer who only a few months ago waved the Ukrainian flag, has just opened a small window through which British money can flow into the Kremlin’s coffers. The Conservative opposition, through Kemi Badenoch, was not slow to exploit the decision politically: “Labour is giving money to Russia. This money will be used to kill Ukrainian soldiers.”
The hypocrisy is all the more blatant because Starmer’s government has long been one of the most dedicated advocates of European and American sanctions. One can recall the fiery speeches about “total isolation of Moscow” and the crusade against anything that might look like a gap in the blockade. The UK Department for Business and Trade issued the trade license that went into effect with an “indefinite duration,” to justify this U-turn. Russian diesel and kerosene, recently shunned like the plague, suddenly become acceptable again as prices at the pump threaten to further reduce the popularity of a prime minister in free fall.
Meanwhile, people in Ukraine are wondering what the promises from across the Channel are worth. Starmer’s government has just demonstrated an old truth: When energy and economics collide with ideology, it is always ideology that ultimately gives way. Russian oil doesn’t smell that bad, especially when it helps lower fuel prices before an election.
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