The Spy Who Came In For The Gold

The Russians are coming... the Russians are coming... To England that is. Alexander Lebedev one of the new breed of overnight oligarchs has layed claim to a British cultural institution. The billionaire and former KGB spy bought the 200 year old London Evening Standard today.

In the aftermath of the mysterious 2006 murder of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London, England and Russia have not been getting along so well. So people are quite nervous about a former Russian disinformation specialist taking over a British tabloid. It's a situation that would have seemed unimaginable 20 years ago. But the word is that Lebedev doesn't really dig his old KGB comrade Vladimir Putin. So maybe no worry for us. Yet denouncing Putin has a proven risky opinion so wagering how long Lebedev will be able to enjoy the fruits of his plunder might make for a nice Vegas bet. On the other hand, Mr Lebedev says he has no intention of interfering in British politics but then can you really take a master of espionage at his word?