Brexit Adds £8 Million to UK Sanctions Costs, 300% Increase in Personnel

Iain Overton finds that financial strain on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is a direct result of the UK’s departure from the European Union.

Brexit and the invasion of Ukraine have led to a substantial increase in the cost and complexity of managing UK sanctions, with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) faced with a surge in staffing, Byline Times has learnt. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Byline Times revealed that the number of FCDO staff dedicated to global sanctions enforcement has risen by over 300% in the last three years, pushing annual payroll costs to around £8 million. This financial strain is a direct result of the UK’s departure from the European Union, which has forced the country to shift from a centralised EU sanctions framework to an independent regime managed entirely from London. It is also a consequence of a rise in sanctions against Russians following President Putin’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. Before Brexit, the UK was part of a shared EU sanctions framework, which spread the operational and financial burden across all EU members. In contrast, since leaving the EU in January 2020, the UK has had to establish its own independent sanctions regime. According to the FOI request, the FCDO has had to expand its sanctions team from a modest 20-29 staff in 2021 to an estimated 110-120 by mid-2024—a 300% increase in personnel. Prior to Brexit, sanctions work in the FCDO was not handled by a dedicated team. As the FCDO confirmed, “our work on sanctions in 2016 would have been split between a number of different staff and teams.” The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, however, changed all this. That act provided the statutory framework for the UK’s new independent sanctions system, covering policy formulation, enforcement, and measures against individuals, companies, and states and meant many more Whitehall bureaucrats have had to be thrown at the issue.

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Timestamp:
0:00 Intro
0:28 Headline
0:55 First thoughts
2:22 Read
12:00 Final thoughts
14:00 What do you think?

#news #uknews #worldnews #reganelite #brexit #brexitnews #eu #sanctions #russia

[joaomarreiros]

Well, you are right to be angry and dissapointed, because it is easier and cheaper here (EU), since the mere existence of the Schengen Space allows for a control of borders, the banking system allows to at a "clicks" notice to freeze the accounts of Companies and Individuals, and it has happened, even people with Portuguese nationality, like Abramovich, could not get their fortune in. And even so Abramovich, allegedely, installed one of his children in Portugal, and channeled some of his wealth, but, being on the control of the State, there is a limited ammount she can have in the bank, and she cannot invest it, since it would light up red lights in the banking system. Also, before brexit, the UK did not implemented the system of verification most of the EU countries implemented, where taxes, banks, and other institutions, have crossed data mechanisms, so it is extremelly hard, I would say almost impossible, to hide wealth, and even a simple thing like a bank deposit superior to 5000 € determines the bank has to report it to the authority, identifying the person or entity depositing it, and the person or entity receiving it, and from there it is very easy to see if it is a normal situation or one demanding an investigation (multiple deposits of similar value are also suspicious).
To be blunt, any country in the EU inserts the name of a person or a company in a sanctioned data base, and its transmited to ALL EU countries, and inside the countries the information is transmited to the institutions, and if a sanctioned person or entity is detected, their assets are immediatly freezed. At the bank, as soon has the name of the person of entity is inserted or seen, it automaticaly shows an "alarm".
The British taxpayer deserves better than this, and if the UK had crossed data and a sensitive system of keeping tabs on banks and companies, none of these expenses would be necessary...

[verttikoo]

They sold the embassy in Tokio?? 😡 Who made the money out of that?? That is so criminal 😡 Someone made good money from the tax payers again 😡

[verttikoo]

One Russian sanctioned? Incredible efficiency 🎉 Seriously? Rwanda costed half a billion and UK took 2 people from the Rwanda and didn’t send anyone. Now UK has protected the Russian oligarchs by not implementing the sanctions. Unbelievable. 😮