Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to fight dark forces ‘at every twist and every turn’ as he hit out at those from outside the UK tying to “destabilise our democracy”
The PM warned that there ‘actors who want to divide our country’(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Keir Starmer has said there are “many actors who want to divide our country” after his family’s property was targeted in a series of Russian-linked arson attacks.
The PM vowed to fight dark forces “at every twist and every turn” as he hit out at those from outside the UK tying to “destabilise our democracy”. Two men, who were stooges for a shadowy Russian-speaking taskmaster known as El Money, were convicted of the attacks on Monday.
Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit, the PM said: “In relation to the wider question, look, there are many actors who want to divide our country and to cause conflict in our country. Some of the evidence that came out of the trial speaks for itself, but there are wider issues here.
Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc were found guilty over arson attacks on car and homes linked to Keir Starmer on orders of ‘Russian’ handler
“We see this the whole time. Every time there is an opportunity for others to divide, that has actors here in this country, has political leaders who are more than happy to indulge in tearing our country apart, and it has, I think, those from outside our country who are trying to find ways to exploit division in our country to destabilise our democracy and we need to be really clear in relation to that and we need to fight it at every twist and every turn.”
He added: “What happened in terms of the arson attack on our house clearly impacted and affected my family. I prefer not to go into the details of how that impacted them, other than it will be obvious to everybody that will have affected and impacted my family.”
Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Romanian Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, were found guilty for plotting to damage property.
Last May, a Toyota Rav4 which was once owned by Mr Starmer was set alight in a street in Kentish Town, north London. Days later, two houses were set ablaze, including a north London home occupied by the Prime Minister’s sister-in-law and her family which he still owns.
Mr Starmer on Tuesday said he was pleased his family had got justice, adding: “Obviously it was a bad attack, and all the details have now come out in court and justice has been done, so I’m pleased in that respect, particularly for my family who were affected by it.”
He added that the arson attacks on his property had to be seen in the context of the West’s support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
At the G7 summit, Downing Street announced 70 new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday morning in a bid to show UK strength against tyrant Vladimir Putin.
The Government also on Wednesday said the UK has imposed its largest ever penalty for a breach of Russian financial sanctions since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The £1million fine has been levied against a technology firm – Sabre Global Technologies Limited (SGTL) – that repeatedly breached UK financial sanctions.
